THE LOW-POINT FOR Irish rugby in 2013 occurred on the same day back-row Peter O’Mahony made his first appearance on the wing and Stephen Archer celebrated his debut.
Ireland’s injury woes were so seismic at one stage of their 22 — 15 defeat to Italy that they did not have enough medical staff to tend to the green shirts lying prone in Rome.
Then captain Jamie Heaslip tried to take the positives after a first ever Six Nations defeat to the Italians. The country would eventually benefit from so many players being blooded throughout a testing campaign. If it seemed like Heaslip was clutching at straws, he probably was.
Archer, though, is eager to get into the matchday squad for the Samoa game so he can add to that sole cap and stop the questions about 16 March, 2013.
He told TheScore.ie: “It was great getting the first cap in Italy but it wasn’t really a result or a match that you’d want to remember. It was frustrating to miss out on the summer tour [through injury] so I’d be mad happy to get in there and get another cap or a few caps.”
Archer has made eight appearances so far this season for Munster and kept BJ Botha on the bench for the home win over Leinster. He scored a try against Treviso but was also yellow-carded in the match. Both feats are rare, he remarks.
“My form is going well enough,” he said. “I’m happy with how I’ve adapted to the new rules at the scrum, as a whole, so I’m hoping to push on and get a few caps in these internationals.” A lesser ‘punch on the hit’ means hefty props are no longer necessarily dominant props. Assured footing and good body position, he says, are now rewarded.
Game time, he feels, is the main reason why Ireland have gone from capping a man straight off the plane from New Zealand [Michael Bent] to having a wealth of homegrown faces to choose from.
Ireland’s squad has six props that are playing regularly with their clubs but Samoa are bringing some heavy hitters to Lansdowne Road. “They’ve got the two Johnstons [Census and James] and Logovi’i Mulipola of Leicester Tigers. It’ll be tricky as they’re big boys and we’ll have to be on our A game to beat them,” he said.
Archer has been impressed with his first few days under the new Irish coach ticket, particularly Joe Schmidt. “He’s made into the detail and has a high demand of the players,” the 25-year-old said. “Some of the Leinster lads will know the plays by their different names so it’s just a matter of playing catch-up with them.”
A couple of names Archer is looking forward to getting acquainted with are the Franks brothers. New Zealand have named Owen and Ben Franks in their star-studded line-up for their end-of-year tour. Archer wants to introduce himself to the brothers at Lansdowne Road and show them what he has learned.
