JACK CONAN is keeping quiet on what Leinster’s Springboks are calling Ireland’s bench press — but he believes it can lift the team to another level.
Conan helped Ireland to a 27-22 win over England in their Six Nations opener on Saturday with Simon Easterby’s use of his replacements changing the game.
Leinster back row Conan and hooker Dan Sheehan came on and had a dramatic effect, while Robbie Henshaw and Jack Crowley made their mark.
It is not quite South Africa’s ‘Bomb Squad’, as the Boks often unleash six or seven forwards at the same time.
But it proved just as explosive for England, whose head coach Steve Borthwick acknowledged that Ireland’s replacements won the match.
And Conan admits that Leinster’s South African coach Jacques Nienaber and second row RG Snyman have been suggesting a nickname for the bench press.
He said: “I don’t know what we were calling it at Leinster. There was a different name for it but it was not a bomb squad.
“RG and Jacques were driving that one and I can’t remember what it was called. It’s slipped my mind at the moment but maybe it’s not PG enough to say!
“Modern-day rugby is never just about the 15. It’s about the 23 and even the lads who aren’t playing. They are putting us under savage pressure.
“I’d carry the water if I felt I could make a difference for the team. I’m glad I got a decent stint of 30 minutes.
“When you’re coming off the bench, you want an opportunity to make an impact.”
But Conan — making his first Ireland appearance since last March, having picked up a calf injury in pre-season — admitted that he hopes his cameo can earn him a starting slot next week against Scotland.
He said: “You always want to be starting, It’s not ego but you want to have as much of an effect as you can. I’m probably guilty of being decent off the bench so I kind of fit that mould well.
“But when I retire, I won’t look back and say I had 20 starts and 30 off the bench. It won’t matter.
“It’s about just wearing the jersey, having those memories and winning things.
“I am fortunate enough to have won — and lost — a lot of things in my career at international and club level.”
But Saturday was special for another reason, as Conan’s seven-month old daughter Remi was in attendance at an Ireland game for the first time.
She was born last July, meaning Conan missed last summer’s tour to South Africa.
But last week’s training camp in Portugal was the first time he was away from her.
The No 8 said: “It was a long week in Portugal without her.
“She’s only seven months old, but I feel like I’ve come back and she’s gained weight, stretched out and is babbling more.
“It was her first Ireland game, so it’s huge.
“It’s something I always thought about and it’s something I loved when I was younger with other lads having their kids there.
“And to finally have that be me and have my daughter there was incredible.
“She’s gone to two Leinster games and I got injured in both of them and came off early. Luckily she’s started off well in the green jersey!”
