LEINSTER’S WARM-UP was underway at the Aviva Stadium last Saturday when things suddenly changed for Andrew Porter.

They had already lost tighthead Tadhg Furlong to an injury late in the week, with Thomas Clarkson named to start against Connacht and Rabah Slimani offering back-up from the bench. Porter had been named as the starting loosehead prop.

But when Slimani suffered a calf injury during the warm-up, Porter was taken out of the starting side and moved into the number 18 shirt Slimani vacated.

Porter then came on at loosehead prop in the second half before he moved to tighthead when Jerry Cahir – the newly introduced replacement loosehead – was brought on in the final quarter.

In fairness, playing at tighthead is not new to Porter – he had four seasons there with Ireland and Leinster – but it had been a while. He reckons the last time he played there was briefly against the Sharks more than three years ago. His last start as a tighthead was back in 2021. 

“I suppose you kind of have that safety net of… if it doesn’t go to plan, I have nothing really to lose, I’ve just been thrown in here,” says Porter.

“But at the same time, I do have experience in that area for a few years. It was fun being thrown in there.

“I suppose you’re going to have that muscle memory of it, a small bit. I remember in the warm-up on the weekend, I hit one scrum at tighthead and I was like, ‘Jesus, it’s easy. It’s easy, isn’t it?’

“But a few in the game, I was like, ‘Jesus, my legs are gone here.’ Just a different feeling.”

He likens the sense of being back at tighthead to riding a bike after a long break, albeit “upside down.” His ears were sorer than usual after the game, given that scrummaging at tighthead means both of them are sandwiched into the scrum.

“I couldn’t go to sleep on Saturday night,” says Porter. “It was just so sore. And all the bed sheets were ruined. Blood everywhere waking up.”

Porter at tighthead against Connacht. James Crombie / INPHO James Crombie / INPHO / INPHO

The Ireland international remains a loosehead prop, but he’s not closed off to the idea of returning to tighthead again at some stage. Leinster used to have loosehead Cian Healy occasionally switch to tighthead, while always providing emergency cover on that side, even when named as a loosehead. Porter is now in that role.

“I suppose as a rugby player you have a small bit of autonomy and then you’ve got to do as you’re told as well,” he says.

“I’ll always do what’s required for the best of the team. I think I’m happy. I’m a loosehead at the moment. But down the line, you never know.”

Porter has a challenge on his hands at loosehead anyway, with 22-year-old Paddy McCarthy continuing to impress for the province after his breakthrough campaign with Ireland in November.

The experienced Porter says he’s not due any credit for helping to guide McCarthy to this point.

“He has taken the opportunity with both hands and seeing how he’s progressed from where he was last year to now and getting his first Irish cap and becoming the player he is now, it’s incredible,” says Porter.

“Seeing him and Big Joe, you can definitely see similarities between both of them in the style of play. So they were definitely doing stuff in the back garden, you can definitely tell they’ve been practising together.

“It’s great having that extra competition like him and himself and Boyler and Jerry as well. It’s the competition that drives standards but it just goes to show how hard a worker he is and how much work he has put into his game.”

Porter is continuing to learn about his craft too.

He and Ireland had a torrid time at the hands of South Africa’s scrum in November. There was a scrum penalty try against the Irish pack, many other penalties and advantages, as well as a yellow card for McCarthy in the second half at the scrum. The scrum defined that defeat for Ireland.

“I reckon it’s games like that… you can be winning all you want and then you have that game and that’s the one that will stick out,” says Porter.

“I suppose you do everything you can to rectify that and not have it happen again. I suppose it’s just one of those things. You have good days and bad days at the office. That was a bad one.”

Porter at Leinster training this week. Ryan Byrne / INPHO Ryan Byrne / INPHO / INPHO

Porter was miserable in the immediate aftermath of that game, but he says he’s glad it happened in the autumn, so he can learn from it at this stage.

“You always have teams with different tactics coming into games. You can prep all you want for pictures you’ve seen in previous games, and then something else happens in the game. I suppose it’s being able to rectify that in-game and see and feel what’s going on there, so you can do the best you can to defend against it and to block it, negate it.

“That game… I take that as a good thing. Now, obviously when it has happened, you’re not thinking that way but for that to happen now, it’s better than to have it this weekend, it’s better than it happening in the Six Nations with Ireland or down the road in the World Cup in ’27.

“So you’d rather have those learnings at this stage rather than down the line.”

Porter and his Leinster team-mates are bracing themselves for another big scrum battle this weekend against La Rochelle, who can call on some heavyweight units up front.

“You always love a challenge. I suppose as athletes, you always want that challenge. It keeps you hungry as a competitor,” says Porter.

“There’s a deep history between us and them. It’s always an exciting week. It’s about just playing the game and building and capitalising on the momentum we’ve built over the last few weeks.”