Ireland's newest international Niall Scannell was thrown in at the deep end against Italy but, looking back, he wouldn’t have changed a thing.
“Look, Rory’s not fit to go so you’ll be starting,” Joe Schmidt told the uncapped Munster hooker just a couple of hours before kick-off as it became clear that captain Rory Best had not recovered from a stomach bug.
“Obviously it was my first cap so I can’t really gauge it but all the lads said it was better being thrown in at the deep end so I’ll take their word for it and it all went okay, thanks be to God,” Scannell told RTÉ Sport.
As debuts go, it couldn’t have gone much better. Despite the reputation of Italian packs, this one was not up to scratch and Ireland coasted to a 63-10 win in Rome, to move on to six points in the Six Nations table.
Scannell made seven carries for 21 metres and threw eight perfect line-outs.
“I was happy with the start,” the 24-year-old said.
“When I reviewed my performance afterwards, there’s a few things I could tidy up on but the occasion itself went okay and it was great to see how happy my parents were with the first cap and I was obviously very happy to get it.
“I’m still learning calls and things like that so I think that’s (challenging Best) very premature and, in my opinion, I don’t really think it’s on the cards at the moment"
“Then you come back into the swing of things and you start reviewing the rugby and there’s certainly a few things we could do better but I was quite happy with the performance.”
With Leinster number 2 Sean Cronin injured, Scannell has moved up in the pecking order but is certainly not getting carried away with his promotion.
He’s having a stellar season with his province, who sit top of the Pro12 table and are in a Champions Cup quarter-final.
But for Scannell the next step is consolidation. Challenging Best, who has 101 caps, for a starting berth is not on the agenda just yet.
“At the moment, he’s our captain, he’s our leader and he’s very much helping me up here,” said Scannell.
“He’s the elder statesman so at the moment it’s not my priority; it’s just to get into the squad, trying to bed myself in to the team.
“I’m still learning calls and things like that so I think that’s very premature and, in my opinion, I don’t really think it’s on the cards at the moment. It’s not my primary objective.”
Best is back this week as Ireland prepare to meet France and Scannell is fully aware that a start against a poor Italy and a possible final 20-minute run against France is a different proposition.
“It’s a huge task, just watching them, the brand of rugby they play, they’ll certainly be in it with 20 minutes to go,” Scannell added.
“It’s just a matter of if I’ll be in it with 20 minutes to go. It would be great to get an opportunity.
“If we’re not [at the pace] it’s going to be a very tough game. We’ve learned that already [in the loss to Scotland].
“We know the level and we know where we’ve to be at the start and it’s not a case of revenge or anything: it’s just a case of we have to start well we have to be at the pitch.
“If we can get there against France it will give us a chance to be in the mix in the last few minutes.”
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