Cian Healy has boots and will play.
After more than 300 games of professional rugby at loosehead prop, at the age of 33 he decided to retrain himself as a tighthead when Leinster were stuck for numbers early last season, filling in there on occasion this season when needed.
Last Sunday, he completed the full front row set, playing just over 30 minutes as an emergency hooker after Ireland had seen both Dan Sheehan and Rónan Kelleher hit with injury during the 22-7 Guinness Six Nations win against Scotland.
Despite his lack of experience in the centre of the front row, Ireland's scrum actually thrived, comfortably dealing with the Scottish setpiece, winning one particular penalty which gave them the field position from which they scored their second try through James Lowe.
While he's never played hooker for Ireland, Healy has been an emergency option in all three front row positions in recent seasons, something which is a lot more significant than it first seems.
In the official teamsheet on the day of games, management must indicate which front row positions players are capable of playing. In the case of Tadhg Furlong, for example, there's an X beside tighthead, for Andrew Porter both tight and loose and marked off, while Healy is listed as an option for all three positions.
Crucially, his ability to slot in at hooker saved Ireland losing an extra player. Had Ireland not had a third hooking option in their matchday 23, the game would have had to go to uncontested scrums. And with World Rugby's laws targeted at teams trying to manipulate that situation, Ireland would have been forced to go down to 14 players but for Healy's versatility.
"I don't mind if someone lifted me up out of the middle of a scrum, I can take that, but we ended up with 15 men on the field, when we could have been with 14, and that's the greater cause," the Ireland prop said.
While he played as a hooker in his schools days for Belvedere College, Healy admits it had been a while since he packed down and hit a live scrum in that position.
And because of that, he says he had to take a less nuanced approach at Murrayfield on Sunday, reminiscent of the O'Donovan brothers pulling like a dog at Rio 2016.
"I think the last time I hit a scrum [at hooker] was about 2008. I've done a couple of set-ups here and there, but to go live, it's been a while," he added.
"Front row is front row in my opinion. There are technicalities you can iron out but at the end of the day you just have to hit and push and strike.
"I went into the middle of two of the best props in the world, so I'm in a relatively good starting place. Just give it a lash, have a shot, nothing to lose."
The 122-cap Ireland international may have glossed over how technically difficult it is to switch between the front row positions, but the fact it's been done so rarely at Test level only illustrates how difficult it is to do.
Springbok legend John Smit is probably the most famous recent example, playing most of his career at hooker while occasionally featuring at prop, while another former South Africa captain Adriaan Strauss did similar. Both of those players however were primarily hookers, while Argentina's Eusabio Guinazu is one of the only recent examples who has started a Test in all three front row positions.
Healy's front row partner Tadhg Furlong was quick to praise his teammate's versatility.
"I think a hooker and tighthead are not relatively similar, but more similar than loosehead to tighthead in terms of chest position, head position, and the way you balance weight on both shoulders.
"I think the thing Church [Healy] did unbelievably well was transitioning from loosehead to tighthead, and then hooker, and to pick up all three so quickly.
"It's a testament to Church, because it's not easy to do, and you can swamp yourself overthinking. The man just went for it, and did it so well."
Listen to live radio commentary of Ireland v England (Saturday 5pm) on Saturday Sport on RTÉ Radio 1, and follow our live blog on RTÉ.ie/Sport and the RTÉ News app.
