Ireland fans may have been fearing the worst when Finlay Bealham went down injured against England but 'Lazarus' has made quite the recovery.
With regular tighthead Tadhg Furlong still rehabbing a troublesome calf injury, Connacht’s Bealham has stepped into his shoes, and, whisper it quietly, Ireland haven’t felt the Leinster man’s absence all that much.
The Australia-born prop went down suddenly, letting out a big shout as he did, with an ankle injury in the 27-22 win over England in round one of the Guinness Six Nations.
"Did I? Oh, I can’t remember," he said after Sunday’s 32-18 victory over Scotland on Sunday.
"I got a nasty enough one but thankfully it was all good. We made it here so it was okay."
Sunday’s contribution consisted of 13 tackles and an important turnover before Bealham (above) made way for Thomas Clarkson after 60 minutes.
"It was actually grand," explained the 33-year-old, who won his 47th cap.
"The lads are calling me Lazarus, I was getting a bit of a slagging but I’d happily enough take the slagging so I’d be here and able to play.
"I broke my ankle five years ago and I think all the hardware in there saved me from any significant damage so, like I said, I took the slagging, more attention for me which is brilliant and, yeah, I cracked on."
The IRFU said yesterday that Furlong is making good progress and that he may return to fitness for the game against Wales on 22 February.
Joe McCarthy (head) and Mack Hansen (hamstring) are also on course to face Wales, who yesterday parted ways with head coach Warren Gatland.
Ireland won eight and lost one of their own scrums against the Scots, while they were five from five against England.
In addition, the pack won numerous scrum penalties, including one where they scored in the advantage phase.
Bealham feels a lot of hard work has gone into the improving the set-piece since the underwhelming Autumn Nations Series.
He said: "I think in November we built a really good platform in terms of our scrum, working with the likes of Ró [Rónan Kelleher] and Ports (Andrew Porter], and having Sheano [Dan Sheehan] back now and the back five have been unbelievable.
"I suppose we sat down during the week and were analysing our scrums and looking forward, you have ‘Big Cheese’ James Ryan coming in and asking what more he can do and what I thought of him.
"We’re all trying to evolve that part of our game as much as we can. Look, it’s an area which is a strength for us at the minute and we’ll look to keep it that way."
Connacht boss Pete Wilkins, meanwhile, believes Bealham is playing some of the best rugby of his career.
"Finlay's been magnificent in those first two games for Ireland," Wilkins, whose side host Cardiff on Saturday evening in the URC, told RTÉ Sport.
"I think he got the opportunity of significant minutes in the autumn and came away...feeling there were a couple of errors in there not typical of himself.
"One of his great strengths is scrummaging and another is carrying the ball and handling around contact.
"What we’ve seen is him getting back to those strengths, keeping his game simple in his own mind so he can deliver enormous intensity.
"You’re seeing that in his defence, his linespeed, the small moments, his speed off the ground and his double efforts are just terrific.
"We are seeing the true Finlay, performances with lots of personality and character."
Despite facing a team on a record losing streak of 14 Tests, Bealham insists Ireland will pay Wales the utmost respect.
"It’s another away game in a really prestigious stadium," said the Canberra man.
"It’s Wales’ first game at home as well so they’ll be well up for it, backs against the wall and I’ve no doubt they’ll be coming out firing so we’ll go in with the utmost respect and do our thing."
Ireland will wrap up the Triple Crown if they account for Wales, while there are bigger prizes down the road.
Games against France in Dublin and Italy away follow in the final two rounds.
"It’s there in the background but I suppose we just stay pretty consistent in our process, take it day by day," he added about the prospect of an unprecedented third championship title in a row.
"We’ve three more games and it would be silly to look too far in the future. We take it just one game at a time and try to put our best foot forward."
Meanwhile, Wilkins said he believes Hansen's (above) future will be resolved soon.
The Ireland wing’s contract is due to expire in the summer.
"I’d like to think we could expect something soon," he said.
"There’s nothing to report but the update I had at the end of last week was things were progressing positively, and they weren’t far away.
"No formal update but on track from what I’ve been told."
Watch Munster v Scarlets in the URC on Saturday from 4.45pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player
