A few short months ago, Ben Healy’s sights were firmly focused on the fight for a regular place in the Munster team. Now, after just two caps for Scotland, he has been picked in Gregor Townsend’s squad for the Rugby World Cup and has already emerged as a more than capable back-up for Finn Russell at fly-half.
The first part of that equation may say a lot about the depth of competition within the Irish provinces, and the rapidity of Healy’s rise through the ranks with Scotland has admittedly owed something to circumstance. Stuart Hogg’s decision to retire has led Blair Kinghorn to return to his usual position of full-back and thus leave a vacancy at stand-off, while Adam Hastings ran out of time in his bid to regain full match fitness following injury.
But it would be a mistake to regard the Tipperary-born 24-year-old - who qualifies for Scotland through two grandparents - as anything like a default selection. A cameo off the bench against Italy back in March was enough to demonstrate his ability to fit in at Test level, and then a man-of-the-match performance against the same opponents last month showcased his ability to fit into a new style of game very quickly.
Now an Edinburgh player after signing from Munster, Healy will almost certainly be involved against Georgia on Saturday in Scotland’s fourth and final World Cup warm-up game. Although he came through the Irish system and played for Ireland Under-20s in 2019, he is happy with the choice he has made, and after being confirmed in the World Cup squad of 33 last week, revealed that the move had been long in the making.
“People within the SRU have kept in contact with me since I came out of school, to be honest,” he said. “Once they found I was Scottish-qualified they were always keen to get me over. It didn’t materialise until I was about four or five years into playing with Munster and decided to make the jump. But they were always keen.
“I’ve gone at the right time. I enjoyed my time with Munster and ended up winning a trophy there. But I can’t wait to get stuck in here over the next few years and see where we can take it.
“It’s funny how things go. If someone had mentioned this possibility to me a year ago I’m not sure what I would have said. I was just trying to get my place in the Munster team - that came before any international honours. But I would have bitten your hand off if you’d said to me a year ago I’d be in the Scotland World Cup squad.”
His friends back in Ireland might wish that Healy had stayed at home and fought for a cap there, but his mother, for one, is over the moon with the choice he has made.
“My mum’s obviously been delighted with everything, since she’s Scottish. She never pushed me or anything, but I could see she was really happy when I made my decision.
“She was actually born in England, but moved to Turriff when she was quite young. Both of my grandparents are Scottish.
“We used to go over once or twice a year. I could never understand anyone, but it’s certainly a nice part of the world.
“My mum’s obviously proud to be Scottish and that was a big part of my childhood. Many a time I’ve had haggis for dinner!
“I feel proud and so do my family. I’m just happy that it’s all worked out.
“But this is only the start for me. It doesn’t mean much to just go to a World Cup – you want to actually play in a World Cup.
“This is the first step for me. I want to play for Scotland for many more years to come. This is just a really exciting way to kick it all off.”
If you had to determine a reason for the speed with which Healy has adapted to Scotland’s style of play under Townsend, you would surely decide it had a lot to do with his intelligent reading of a game and his natural ability. However, he believes that a lot of the credit has to go to Russell and to Townsend himself.
“Finn has been great with me. Between him and Gregor, I’d say those are the two I’ve learned the most from. Gregor obviously played 10 and as a head coach is always keeping an eye on you and making sure you can do better. “But I’ve been picking Finn’s brains as much as possible and just watching him in games. I would have always watched him in the past but I’m doing so a little bit more closely now that I’m involved.
“If I see something he’s done in training or in games I’ll just ask, ‘What were you thinking there?’ and he’s very open. He’s just keen for me to be as good as I can be, as that’s going to help the team.”
