Our backline is complete. Now for the guys who’ll win them some ball.
August 26th marks the 20th anniversary of rugby turning professional.
To mark that date, we are putting together Ireland’s Greatest XV of the Professional Era.
You have been voting in your thousands and our backline [below] has already been decided. Today, we start putting together our front row.
Before we even list our top candidates, we must hold our hands up. While there are usually three to choose from, we felt loosehead was such a strong area that we needed to list four players. Forgive us. They are…
Nick Popplewell only got three years as a professional but, for those years, he was one of Ireland’s shining lights. The template of the ball-carrying, fending prop that mucked in a scrum and ruck time as if his life depended on it. 48 Irish caps and three for the last amateur British & Irish Lions side, in 1993.
Although he switched to the other side of the front row, later in his career, Peter Clohessy made a name for himself in the Young Munster, Munster and Ireland No.1 jerseys. As wily an abrasive character you could ever meet, Claw was a cult hero throughout his career. Named in the 1997 B&I Lions squad.
Cian Healy trains in 2011.Marcus Horan spent his first few seasons, for province and country, in Clohessy’s shadow but he quickly made up for lost time. Won 67 caps for Ireland and was part of the Triple Crown successes before he claimed the Grand Slam in 2009. Two Heineken Cup wins with Munster for good measure.
A lot was expected of Cian Healy when he first made his Test debut, against Australia, in November 2009. The Leinster prop immediately showed what he could do. One of the world’s leading looseheads, Healy has two Six Nations championships to his name and was on course for a B&I Lions Test role before injury ended his 2013 tour.
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