When Niall Scannell heard James Tracy was on a flight to Rome, he must have got some quivers.
When he walked into the team room just after 10am on Saturday morning only to learn he was starting as hooker against Italy, his heart must have lept.
This was exactly where he wanted to be. This was what he dreamed of when he was lining out for Pres Boys down in Cork and creasing into lads in a Dolphin jersey.
But Ireland had lost their captain and a talisman in Rory Best. A dog for every fight.
Scannell had ‘Cap 1’ stitched into a No.2 jersey that he was asked to do proud. We all watched the first lineout and first scrum to see how he’s fare. He won both. Ireland won both. He rarely lost at Stadio Olimpico.
Joe Schmidt responded to the Scannell call-up clamour last month and showed his willingness to back the new guys when he opted for himself and Tracy over the likes of experienced, Irish-qualified Richardt Strauss and Rob Herring. He won the scrap to back up Best but few expected him to make his debut from the first whistle.
That he did it and did it without a single blip was remarkable. Darts on target, part of a dominant front row, boat-loads of rucks hit, seven decent carries and a nice turnover.
One element of Scannell’s game stood out, however, and it would have made Best proud. The Munster man tackled like a hound.
As the final whistle sounded in Rome on Saturday afternoon, Scannell was listed as having made 9 tackles. Pretty good going and enough to place him second to CJ Stander [10].
However, the stats boffins at ESPNscrum have looked back on the match-footage and updated their numbers.
Stander is up to 11 and Jamie Heaslip has been credited two more, taking him up to 11. Scannell is also up two so his final number is 11.
100% at the lineout, 100% at the scrum and a penalty won against the head. Scannell made four of his tackles before the break but seven more came in the 30 second half minutes he was on the pitch. The job was well done by then but Scannell was not letting up.
When he dreamed of this moment, it must have been something like this.
