'Drive for success as strong as ever': Ireland's Cian Healy signs new one-year IRFU deal
Cian Healy has become the latest long-serving Ireland player to sign an IRFU extension, following the trend recently set by Iain Henderson, Johnny Sexton and Peter O'Mahony who all committed their futures to their respective Ulster, Leinster and Munster provinces.
The rub with Leinster's Healy, though, is that his extension is only for just one year as was the case with Sexton. Now 33, the loosehead is his country's most capped prop, earning his 107th Ireland cap coming off the bench in Rome in last Saturday's Guinness Six Nations win over Italy.
It has been an extraordinary landmark for Healy to reach given he was on the verge of retiring from playing in 2015 due to a neck injury causing issues with his nerves and robbing him of movement in his right hand.
He couldn't even write his own name at the time but he recovered enough to gain selection for the 2015 World Cup and hasn't looked back since, going on to again become a regular presence in the Ireland and Leinster line-ups. “My drive for success at both Leinster and Ireland is as strong as ever," said Healy after signing off on his latest deal.
"I'm lucky enough to currently be part of two teams with the same mentality which is special and I look forward to another season of pushing boundaries and achieving our goals. I’m loving my rugby as much now as I did at the very start of my career and looking forward to having our supporters back in stadia.”
IRFU performance director David Nucifora added: “Cian has been a cornerstone of both the Irish and Leinster packs for over a decade. He has shown incredible resilience to come back from serious injury and perform at the highest level. Cian has a lot to contribute to Irish rugby and we are delighted that he has signed on for another year.”
Healy made his Ireland debut against Australia in November 2009 and was selected for the 2013 British and Irish Lions tour of Australia, making two appearances before an injury ended his involvement. He has won three Six Nations titles with Ireland and represented Leinster on 226 occasions, winning four Heineken Cup titles.
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It might be legal but he’s sailing pretty close to the wind. Not a lot needs to go wrong for Finau to end up in the bin. Was it late? Not quite, but borderline. High? A couple of CM within the laws, no room for error with that one. Did he wrap the arms? There was a token effort to wrap one arm, the intent was clearly to hit with the shoulder. So yeah, it’s legal, just. But as we all know, a very slight change in the dynamics could easily have him seeing red. Hopefully not when it really matters.
Go to commentsYou forget this is Rassie Erasmus who is still holding the Springbok keys. Even with Felix Jones orchestrating a really tight RWC SF last year. It still wasn't enough to get England past their particular Springbok Monkey in world cups. The reason is FJ was going off of what they did in 2019 not necessarily adapting to current Springboks. So yes, Australia can get passed England because let's be honest, England have a one track strategy, Springboks do not. Even with rush defense I wouldn't be surprised if Rassie continually tweaks it. Also bear in mind Rassie is happy to sacrifice a few mid year and inter World Cup matches to pin point how opposition plays and how to again tweak strategies to get his Springboks in peak performance for the next World Cup. As much as most teams like to win games in front of them and try to win everything, Rassie always makes sure to learn and train for the greatest showdown International Rugby has to offer. Tbh, most people remember World Cup wins and ignore intermediate losses as a result but will remember also WC losses, Ireland, even if they won games in the interim. So even if games are won against the Springboks, it's likely Rassie is just getting a feel for how opposition is moving and adapt accordingly…in time. For Rassie, a loss is never a loss because he uses it as a chance to learn and improve. Sometimes during a game, again like the England match in last year's Semi Final.
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