It is just under a year since Andrew Porter last played for Ireland, and he admits he has dwelled on the unhappy memory of his most recent appearance.
Porter featured in Leinster’s Champions Cup final defeat last season, but calf problems ruled him out of the province’s URC final win and also two Test windows. He missed the Six Nations and summer tour, leaving him time to reflect on Ireland’s defeat by South Africa in the last of the autumn Tests last November.
The Springboks’ 24-13 victory was their first in Dublin for 13 years. In the aftermath, Porter’s former Leinster frontrow colleague James Tracy explained how Ireland’s scrum had been “obliterated”.
Tracy identified issues throughout the pack’s set-piece performance, but particularly with the frontrow. Dan Sheehan and Tadhg Furlong had difficult evenings, while Porter and his loosehead replacement, Paddy McCarthy, were among four Ireland players shown yellow cards.
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Having seen Thomas du Toit and Boan Venter make significant inroads, Rassie Erasmus replaced both starting props with Gerhard Steenekamp and Wilco Louw before half-time. Porter was subsequently sent to the sinbin by referee Matthew Carley, and Ireland were temporarily down to 12 men as they conceded a penalty try.
Porter’s yellow followed the concession of four consecutive scrum penalties and Tracy suggested his former team-mate’s positioning alongside Sheehan had contributed to the damage, leaving the Irish frontrow exposed to South Africa’s renowned power.
Across 16 scrums, South Africa won six penalties, including a penalty try, and earned penalty advantage on four further occasions. Ireland were deemed to have transgressed 10 times in the 12 scrums that did not need to be reset.
Porter has spent quite some time considering how Ireland can avoid a repeat, whether against Argentina on Friday night or when South Africa return to the Aviva Stadium in just over a fortnight’s time.
“That’s the great thing about sport,” the 30-year-old said. “If you’re lucky enough to keep playing, you get another opportunity, another swing at it, and that’s the way I look at it.
“Incredibly excited to face that challenge and that opportunity head on. The cliche is you can’t look too far ahead. It’s a huge game this week, next week [against Fiji], and then South Africa.”
While away from the Test set-up, Porter has concentrated on the set-piece, particularly the scrum and lineout, which he regards as central to the strength of leading sides such as South Africa, New Zealand and France.
He insists Ireland have made headway. “That’s something we’ll be really looking to test ourselves with this November,” he said.
Porter believes that his own scrummaging has remained broadly consistent over the past five or six years, and that the key to a successful approach is adapting to the opposition on any given day.
“It’s just being smart with it,” he said. “It’s not trying to hit and go on every one, which I’ve been guilty of in the past. Where you just want to get one up on your opposite number, but that’s not what it’s all about. It’s about being a unit. It’s about playing smarter, not harder, all the time. It’s just getting a balance between both.”
His time away has allowed him to refine his technique and work on his fitness, with support from Leinster scrum coaches John Fogarty and Robin McBryde, but Porter describes his time away from Ireland as “incredibly frustrating”.
He felt a little out of touch and missing the summer tour was difficult, although he now sees a benefit in having had extra time to recover rather than rushing back.
“I could get things 100 per cent and cover all bases, I really enjoyed that as well,” Porter said. “It was tough, but I really enjoyed just getting stuck into work, making myself better and hopefully it pays off now.
“It was a small bit of a blessing in disguise that you do get that forced rest. I got plenty of time with my family, which was another plus. I’m just going to hit the ground running from game one. That’s all we’re looking for, we’re looking for performance after performance. That starts on Friday.
“It started for me when I got injured. What game would I get back for? So I’m incredibly lucky to be in here, incredibly excited to be back and to be able to show what I can do for the team.”
