THE PROSPECT OF being without Cian Healy for a large portion of the season was justifiably met with dismay by Leinster fans, while the suspension of Jack McGrath for the final two Champions Cup pool games could have added up to loosehead disaster.
Luckily for Matt O’Connor and his coaching team, Michael Bent has stepped into the void in a convincing manner, continuing his run of good form in the 50-8 victory against Castres on Saturday evening.
The 28-year-old Kiwi native has also played at tighthead twice this season in Europe, underlining just how valuable a squad member he is. Props like Bent aren’t too common in the professional game.
It’s a largely thankless task switching over and back across the front row at different stages of the season, but Bent is about as unfussy as they come.
It’s not too bad,” says the twice-capped Ireland international. “If you’re only playing one side [for an extended time] and then have to go across, that’s going to be difficult because you’re not as aware of the changes you need to make in your technique.
“I’ve been playing both sides, chopping back and forth. I’m fairly happy with what I need to do at either side, so it doesn’t bother me too much.”
Bent’s arrival into Ireland – which famously involved being dropped directly into an international clash with South Africa – saw him predominantly viewed as a tighthead, where he started seven times for Leinster in the 2012/13 campaign.
Matt O’Connor started him only once in the number three shirt last season, and it’s been at loosehead where Bent has increasingly impressed for the province in recent months.
“It does help to be just at one side as you can build on each performance and look at what might not have gone so well, improve on that,” says Bent. “Having a few games in a row at loosehead has been quite beneficial in that sense.”
Bent remains uncapped by Ireland since November 2012, when he famously played for the national team before Leinster. That month, he appeared off the bench against the Springboks, Fiji [uncapped] and Argentina, although he has played for Emerging Ireland in the last two summers.
National team coach Joe Schmidt remains in contact with the prop and Bent will be keeping one eye on the Ireland squad announcement later this week.
“I’ve spoken to Joe earlier and he’s given me areas to work on that I’ve been trying to focus on in recent weeks,” explains Bent. “Hopefully I’m doing well in those areas enough to impress him. We’ll see how we go.”
Even if further senior international honours remain elusive, Bent is enjoying his third season with Leinster. His initial foray into Irish rugby involved much media scrutiny, but the former Taranaki man says “that’s behind me now.”
“I’m really enjoying my time here. I’ve settled into Dublin quite well and gone out to see a fair bit of the country, things like that. Here at Leinster particularly, I feel at home and I’m really happy.”
Good news for Matt O’Connor, with Bent looking likely to start at loosehead again in Saturday’s decisive Pool 2 meeting with Wasps, even if Cian Healy is registered in Leinster’s European squad before today’s midday deadline.
The Australian head coach can rest assured that Bent will get on with his job as steadfastly as ever.
“We know Wasps are going to be a strong scrum, but we’ll take confidence from the fact that we’ve got a strong scrum as well,” says Bent.
“I think we went quite well against them when they were over here [in Dublin], so we’ll have confidence in bringing that over there.”
