CIAN HEALY DOESN’T tend to let the game face slip but there were moments on Saturday where the occasion tugged at his emotions. How could it not? The 37-year-old is now Ireland’s most-capped player of all time, inching one clear of Brian O’Driscoll, an achievement reached in a game to mark the 150th anniversary of the IRFU, with his family by his side.
He looked every bit the proud parent as he took to the pitch with his two young sons, Russell and Beau, before kick-off. He became emotional singing an anthem he’d sung 133 times previously as an international player. It all meant that little bit more.
“I enjoyed that, it was brilliant,” said Healy, speaking in the Aviva Stadium press room with cap 134 placed proudly atop his head.
Healy wore cap 134 to the post-match press conference. Dan Sheridan / INPHO
Dan Sheridan / INPHO / INPHO
Proud too of how his sons managed the day. The pre-match went off without a hitch and post-game, the younger Healy’s got to roll around on the turf with their dad.
“Remarkably well behaved when they walked out! There was a fear one of them would take a bolt. I enjoyed it, yeah. Tricky singing Amhrán na bhFiann’. Cracked up a bit, I dunno why. There wasn’t anything particularly on my mind. A lot of emotion during the week. I wasn’t blocking it out or anything like that. I just had to take a moment.”
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He didn’t delve too deeply into what was going through his mind in that moment but you could hazard a guess.
More than once in his long career Healy feared his race was run. It’s well-known that in 2015 he had his retirement papers signed after nerve damage from neck surgery limited the mobility of his right hand. He overcame that – and other scares – to become Ireland’s most-capped player of all-time, doing it in one of the most attriotional and demanding positions on a rugby team.
The dark days have been worth it.
Healy with his son Beau after the game. Dan Sheridan / INPHO
Dan Sheridan / INPHO / INPHO
“I don’t know, a couple of times I thought I was beaten, yeah, and recovery would have went a little bit better than I expected,” he admits.
“So yeah, it’s still the hand you’re dealt and I continue to do that, you know? If I pick up something in the next couple of weeks or whatever, it will be business as usual, get it fixed and move on.”
He’s asked where that resilience comes from and searches for an answer.
Oh, I haven’t got a clue. I don’t know, I hurt myself a lot on BMXs and skates and stuff when I was younger and I always came back from that.
“So I don’t know, it’s kind of been something I’ve continuously just done. It’s a means to get back to do what you want to do and be where you want to be, so it’s kind of an easy thing to dig into.”
After the game Healy quickly checked his phone and saw the flurry on messages that had flooded in.
“There are a few mad texts I haven’t taken in yet. I got messaged by all sorts of people. I’ll have a look through them all tomorrow at some point…
“The big learning was from my 100th (cap). I tried to push everything to the side and battle what was going on a little bit and it just made it pile up and up and up, so today I was on the phone responding to as many texts as I could while keeping my game face on and going about my business, just building up for the game and not trying to shy away from it, try and walk towards it a little bit.”
Part of Healy is glad the milestone is out of the way. He’ll take a moment to look back at it this week but he’s more focused on the future. The Leinster prop hopes he will have a part to play when the 2025 Six Nations rolls around.
“I’d like to sit down and just watch the game at some point over the next few days. It’s what I do with most games and how I start my review. But it would be nice to sit down with the family and watch it at home.
“I’m not driven by the number of caps. It is not something that pushes me on like winning and success with the group, trophies and that drives me on. Please God now I can keep playing and not get injured or anything like that and Simon (Easterby) might consider me for the Six Nations.”
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'A couple of times I thought I was beaten' - Healy's hard road to Ireland record
CIAN HEALY DOESN’T tend to let the game face slip but there were moments on Saturday where the occasion tugged at his emotions. How could it not? The 37-year-old is now Ireland’s most-capped player of all time, inching one clear of Brian O’Driscoll, an achievement reached in a game to mark the 150th anniversary of the IRFU, with his family by his side.
He looked every bit the proud parent as he took to the pitch with his two young sons, Russell and Beau, before kick-off. He became emotional singing an anthem he’d sung 133 times previously as an international player. It all meant that little bit more.
“I enjoyed that, it was brilliant,” said Healy, speaking in the Aviva Stadium press room with cap 134 placed proudly atop his head.
Proud too of how his sons managed the day. The pre-match went off without a hitch and post-game, the younger Healy’s got to roll around on the turf with their dad.
“Remarkably well behaved when they walked out! There was a fear one of them would take a bolt. I enjoyed it, yeah. Tricky singing Amhrán na bhFiann’. Cracked up a bit, I dunno why. There wasn’t anything particularly on my mind. A lot of emotion during the week. I wasn’t blocking it out or anything like that. I just had to take a moment.”
He didn’t delve too deeply into what was going through his mind in that moment but you could hazard a guess.
More than once in his long career Healy feared his race was run. It’s well-known that in 2015 he had his retirement papers signed after nerve damage from neck surgery limited the mobility of his right hand. He overcame that – and other scares – to become Ireland’s most-capped player of all-time, doing it in one of the most attriotional and demanding positions on a rugby team.
The dark days have been worth it.
“I don’t know, a couple of times I thought I was beaten, yeah, and recovery would have went a little bit better than I expected,” he admits.
“So yeah, it’s still the hand you’re dealt and I continue to do that, you know? If I pick up something in the next couple of weeks or whatever, it will be business as usual, get it fixed and move on.”
He’s asked where that resilience comes from and searches for an answer.
“So I don’t know, it’s kind of been something I’ve continuously just done. It’s a means to get back to do what you want to do and be where you want to be, so it’s kind of an easy thing to dig into.”
After the game Healy quickly checked his phone and saw the flurry on messages that had flooded in.
“There are a few mad texts I haven’t taken in yet. I got messaged by all sorts of people. I’ll have a look through them all tomorrow at some point…
“The big learning was from my 100th (cap). I tried to push everything to the side and battle what was going on a little bit and it just made it pile up and up and up, so today I was on the phone responding to as many texts as I could while keeping my game face on and going about my business, just building up for the game and not trying to shy away from it, try and walk towards it a little bit.”
Part of Healy is glad the milestone is out of the way. He’ll take a moment to look back at it this week but he’s more focused on the future. The Leinster prop hopes he will have a part to play when the 2025 Six Nations rolls around.
“I’d like to sit down and just watch the game at some point over the next few days. It’s what I do with most games and how I start my review. But it would be nice to sit down with the family and watch it at home.
“I’m not driven by the number of caps. It is not something that pushes me on like winning and success with the group, trophies and that drives me on. Please God now I can keep playing and not get injured or anything like that and Simon (Easterby) might consider me for the Six Nations.”
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Cian Healy Ireland Record Breaker Rugby