Healy keen to play down hype

IRELAND v ENGLAND:CIAN HEALY is reluctant to enthusiastically embrace the hoopla surrounding Saturday's Six Nations Championship match against England at the Aviva Stadium.

It’s not as if the Ireland prop is oblivious to the connotations of the encounter with the visitors nursing Grand Slam, Triple Crown and championship aspirations or the attendant historical dynamic of this particular encounter. It’s just that he prefers more muted emotions. He acknowledges the importance of the contest in words but it’s hard to escape the feeling he’s saving his fervour for a more productive arena: the pitch.

He knows there’ll be plenty of hype and that the closer the match draws, the more he’ll feel the excitement of the occasion – if he is selected to start.

He’s not one for looking back so the officiating cock-up at the Millennium Stadium last Saturday no longer interests him, nor does the fact Ireland might have been in a similar position going into Saturday’s game if they had been a little more clinical.

Healy speaks about being professional, about concentrating on preparing properly and not looking back wistfully. He advocates that Ireland’s patterns are evolving.

“I think there was a lot of good parts. We put together good lineouts and scrums and stuff and the backs got to play off it as well. We were looking for a platform from our set-piece and that came out well. There were one or two situations where it broke down, ball off the top or whatever. Overall I was pretty happy with what we did.

“We’re sticking to the same brand that we’ve been going with. There’s not going to be anything majorly different. It’s the type of rugby we’re trying to play. We’ve said all along that’s what we’re sticking to. There’s a bit of criticism over that but there’s no point in starting to change it now. We’re starting to play it properly now and play good rugby.

“It’s been a bit frustrating because we knew we were capable of some things and we didn’t quite pull them off. But at the same time it’s been quite exciting because of the way the team has developed and come together. We’ve had a new frontrow and it’s been enjoyable to be a part of that. I can see where the team is going with the brand of rugby that has been built on since I’ve come in.

“It’s been more enjoyable being a part of that than thinking about any negativity. We will be targeting it (the match) the way we target every game, going out looking for a good performance and looking to better our last one. Whatever they bring to the table we will be just doing our own thing to get a few scores.”

As if to emphasise a desire to focus on “controlling the controllables”, he shrugs off the enquiry as to whether England are under more pressure on Saturday given what is at stake for them. “I don’t know, you’d have to ask them. This is us focusing on ourselves and what we can do. I don’t know what sort of pressure they’ll be under or how they’re going to go about the game.”

He has more important concerns to preoccupy him.