There was a period of Cian Healy’s career when it seemed the only time he would not start for Ireland was when the word Samoa appeared on the cover of the match programme.
In his first 47 appearances, since that memorable debut against Australia in Croke Park in 2009, the Leinster loose-head prop failed to start just twice; each time against the Polynesians.
Five months before that 2013 date with Samoa, Healy toured with the Lions in Australia, where an ankle injury denied the forward, then 25, from making any impact in the Tests, but it appeared there would be plenty of chances to do so in the future.
Professional rugby, like life, rarely follows a predictable path and four years on, the Lions are half a world away while Healy is sitting in the Ireland team hotel across from a mist-cloaked Manhattan island.
The 29-year-old is here as one of just three Ireland players with more than 50 caps, while Leinster team-mate Jack McGrath is in New Zealand dreaming of pulling on the red No 1 shirt. As injuries took hold of Healy over the past two and a bit years, McGrath took a firm grip of the loose-head position.
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After starting on the bench just twice in 47 appearances, Healy has been a replacement for 14 of his last 20 Tests, with Ireland’s Six Nations win over Italy in February his first competitive start since the World Cup quarter-final defeat to Argentina in 2015.
Healy is likely to start against the United States on Saturday at the Red Bull Arena, west of Jersey City, with a belated Lions call-up a distant possibility he feels uncomfortable discussing for fear of jinxing anyone already in New Zealand.
“I’m not really worried about that, there is an opportunity to play some good rugby here, with Ireland, and enjoy this and be a part of what is hopefully a successful tour,” he said.
“I don’t want to put any misfortune on one of those lads because I know what that’s like.”
In truth, Healy knew a second Lions tour was always a long shot this season. McGrath has been the starting loose-head in most games of importance, a situation that made it close to impossible for Healy to show Warren Gatland, the Lions head coach, how much life is left in his legs and his lungs.
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“You can’t expect to go on a tour like that when you are on the bench, you can only be hopeful,” he said.
“It is at the back of your head but I was just focused on playing rugby. I hadn’t been focused on pushing ahead of Jack for the season at all. It was just about playing as well as possible, about getting to a level where I am happy with what I am doing.
“There was such a long period where I wasn’t happy with the level I was playing at. When the body felt right again this year, after having the chance to let it rest last summer, I took it as a personal thing to get back to my own [standard].”
Healy made just five starts in 2017, including the game in Rome, and took it upon himself to voice his displeasure with his provincial superiors.
“I pulled up the Leinster coaches about it. ‘What’s going to happen if I have to play for longer [than 30 minutes]?’,” he said. “We ended up in that situation in the last game [v Scarlets in Guinness Pro12 semi-final] when Jack took a bump. I played my first 70 in four years. The tank was fairly empty by the end of that. But everything has felt quite good. I haven’t felt over exposed in any length of play I have had so happy enough.”
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Healy would welcome another 70 minutes on Saturday, but much of his focus in New Jersey and Japan will be helping bring through a new generation. He will be the perfect foil for Andrew Porter, the Leinster prop recently shifted to tight-head. “In the first stage of moving to tight-head he was getting mentored by Mike Ross with John Fogarty telling him what to do. It’s a tough road he is going to have to take,” he said.