One hell of a man.
After some stout Scottish defending allowed Greg Laidlaw kick them into a three-point lead, Ireland came roaring back in an absorbing clash at the Aviva Stadium.
Jacob Stockdale intercepted Peter Horne’s pass and sprinted away for Ireland’s first try before grabbing another one on the stroke of half-time as Joe Schmidt’s men went into the interval 14-3 to the good.
However, while Stockdale attracted lavish praise on Twitter, Cian Healy certainly had his fair share of admirers during a herculean effort in what was a gripping half of Six Nations rugby.
But that wasn’t the main talking point, unfortunately. After taking a big hit from Stuart Hogg, Ireland’s medical team were heavily criticsed for allowing the prop to play on instead of sending him for an HIA, despite the fact that he looked seriously groggy.
It may be a question the IRFU will have to answer in the coming days.
Unbelievable that the medic and the referee allowed that to happen. A sport can talk about being serious about concussion but actions speak louder than words pic.twitter.com/qTCh9mT5nP
— Cahair O'Kane (@CahairOKane1) March 10, 2018
Some of the responses to Healy being sent back on straight away have been damning.
Sorry but @IrishRugby should hang your head in shame. @ProperChurch had two major sparked out head knocks yet treat a shoulder to stay on. You have a duty of care to all players regardless. He was hit and should min have HIA. Absolute shambles.
— David Pro iSco, iWales & EU (@DavidIndySco) March 10, 2018
So Cian Healy got a good old knock to the head off Stuart Hogg's elbow, and they threw him straight back into the game before properly checking him up?
— Kyle Walsh (@kwalsh96) March 10, 2018
As a neutral there is no way Cian Healy should be on the pitch. Should be off for a HIA – all over the place there.
— Cal (@cal08h) March 10, 2018
After the hit Cian Healy took he should be going for a HIA not getting stuck back into the action #IRESCO #TeamOfUs
— Sinéad (Carberry) Murphy (@Shinners17) March 10, 2018
https://twitter.com/Rugby_Marvel/status/972489135545044992
Cian Healy staggering round like he’d been on the Guinness but refusing to come off… is this the opposite to the French medical team? 🤔😬 #WhatHIA 🙄 pic.twitter.com/JUZP1bQM5q
— ✨Abi✨ (@_abidavies1) March 10, 2018
Medical negligence re Cian Healy? #IREvSCO
— CK1 (@clarkeykatt) March 10, 2018
