Talk at the World Cup was how well a 22-year old Robbie Henshaw was coping in the Irish centre. Just eight months older than Henshaw, Tadhg Furlong was being asked to fill a tighthead prop position where experience tends to have a much greater bearing.
Of the five props on the Irish squad, Furlong was three years younger than Jack McGrath, five years younger than Cian Healy, 11 years younger than Nathan White and 12 years younger than Mike Ross.
While White and Ross were the first choice tighthead picks for Joe Schmidt with Furlong getting a run against Romania in Ireland's record-setting second game, his World Cup was a preparation for what was to come. (Marty Moore missed out through injury).
Today Furlong wonders how Schmidt will configure his Six Nations squad. The hamstring of Ross may curb his re-entry to international rugby while Moore is expected to leave Leinster for Wasps at the end of the season. Consideration The tighthead side of the scrum may demand a lot of consideration from Schmidt with Furlong hoping this week's game against Bath will give him a chance to spring forward. Moore has been on the field nine times for Leinster in competitive games, Furlong five times. Then, of course, there's Michael Bent. It hasn't been easy for Furlong to arm wrestle game time.
“It’s just the position I found myself in,” he says. “With four good tightheads here, Michael Bent, Mike Ross, Marty (Moore) and myself, you’re not always going to get to trot out at the weekend.
"It's disappointing but you have faith that Leo (Cullen) is going to rotate the squad and you'll eventually get your chance down the line. You take it on the chin. There is not much you can do about it. I had a small quad [injury] last week that I was carrying from the Munster game."
David Nucifora is on record as saying that home-based players will be preferred over others and while Moore remains in Ireland, long-term thoughts at IRFU level may well tend towards the dynamic Furlong.
“Yeah, I honestly don’t know which way the Six Nations is going to go,” he says. “Whether they bring three or four tightheads in, I don’t know. So I suppose over the next few weeks, you still want to have the opportunity to try to force your way into that squad.
"That's what I'm aiming for. I have a real narrow focus, starting with Bath this weekend and that's what I'm aiming for. I'm focusing on this game and doing well in it. I'd loved to be involved in the Six Nations. To be there you have to be playing well." Dead rubbers There has to be a selfish side to the next two games for many of the Leinster players. Dead rubbers have always struggled to inspire teams in the past with Leinster facing two such in Bath on Saturday and Wasps in The Ricoh Arena the following week.
But you can see the IRFU doing their sums on this one. Ross was 37-years-old on December 21 and Connacht’s White was 35-years-old in September. Are the IRFU thinking of Six Nations, the main cash cow for Irish rugby and never to be underestimated or dare they think in four year cycles for World Cups. It’s a combination of both probably.
But with the injury prone Moore, who was second to Ross last season, expected to leave for Wasps, the future in Leinster now is Furlong and Bent, who is 30 in April. In that scenario there’s a lot for Furlong to play for over the next few weeks.
“Look as a person, you always want to play well and put your best foot forward because you want to get selected and help your mates out,” says Furlong.
“Is there more on the line for me? Like, If I played really well and lost, I couldn’t care (that I played well). You’re buying into the team, the team ethos, and individuality doesn’t really work well within that.
"Look, you always try to push well and help the man beside you. Think of that in a scrum context. If I was just going on my own, hitting by myself, staying out of sync with say Jack (McGrath) and Richardt (Strauss), I'd be putting them in a bad situation. You have to look after your team and your team-mates first."
