INTERVIEW CIAN HEALY:IT COULD be construed that the line of questioning in the Irish team's Killiney hotel is a little undermining. It's as if Cian Healy is being quizzed about an ominous, looming threat and we are all guilty. The Irish prop is asked how he feels about facing this week's scrum opponent, tighthead prop Martin Castrogiovanni.

The big Italian, who plays with Leicester and has a reputation for being something of a scrummage menace, represents an international benchmark in the science of the set piece.

The tone doesn’t challenge Healy’s ability as a prop or suggest that Castrogiovanni could be his nemesis. But perhaps we should be asking the Italian how he will deal with the 22-year-old from Leinster after the Murrayfield experience last May.

Castrogiovanni will know little of Healy, who, as a 20-year-old was called into the Ireland A side in 2008. At 21 years old, he was part of the Ireland A team that won the 2009 Churchill Cup 49-22 against England Saxons and at 22 made his international debut against Australia at Croke Park in November last year.

Going into his third Irish cap, Healy has a 100 per cent international record.

But he faces Castrogiovanni for the second time in eight months. The two stood toe to toe in the Heineken Cup final and Healy emerged from the match with his reputation resolutely on the rise. There was no shedding ground to the more experienced player.

He is not one to hyper ventilate or to worry about the next instalment of the scrum. He will suffer no anxiety attacks in the face of the 6ft 2in shaggy haired forward coming to Croke Park. He remembers the spring duel, but not as you might expect.

“It was alright,” he says with a shrug. “It wasn’t the worst day out ever. It was a bit tougher when Julian White came on. But that’s a different story.

“He (Castrogiovanni) is a good scrummager and he’s a clever one. He has a lot of power behind him, but he has a different pack with him this time so I can’t really go back to that experience in dealing with him.

“I’m trying to leave that behind. It’s a good while ago now, I’m sure he’s progressed as a player as I hope I have. It’s going to be a different encounter now. There is a lot more pride with a national team.

“I want to get the better of him because he’s so renowned for what he does. I’d like to turn him over.”

Healy talks a calm game but thinks a mean match. His first cap wasn’t so long ago and his last experience of Ireland was beating the world champions South Africa. Blessed with some positive reinforcement it is not a bad way to meet Italy. But the energy is for dealing with Castrogiovanni and the calm he saves for the days approaching the match.

“It was chilled out (mood before first cap). I didn’t really take it on board after the selection,” he says. “There was a lot of going to my friends houses and chilling out, and just keeping my mind off it until the day. Otherwise, you’d be mentally wrecked thinking about it four days before the game. I kept my mind off it and, come game day, I tuned in.”

In the frontrow training sessions this week the coaches had Ulster prop Tom Court on the other side trying to simulate what the Italian might do. Healy has being learning, how to ad lib, think on his feet but with due respect for what is coming around the corner and clearly working off the generally held belief that a lot of what happens in the scrum edges towards the illegal anyway.

“I think at any level scrummaging is serious. If you let your mind go off the job at any time you could get turned over or forced on to the back foot. It’s always something you have to be tuned in for,” he says.

“It’s just trying to change your own technique: it’s like if I was a straight scrummager and was then asked to go in crooked, to give it that tweak to turn it. I’ve been given another opportunity to hold onto the shirt. It’s huge for me. Marcus (Horan) is getting his game-time back, Tom (Court) is putting in huge performances for Ulster all the time, so I’m just trying to draw the best out of myself to see if it’s enough.”

It was before, for Declan Kidney and Castrogiovanni.