Andrew Porter indulged in a little human origami, creasing and folding Scotland’s replacement tighthead prop Will Hurd into a position that drew the displeasure of referee James Doleman. The New Zealander didn’t like the picture and awarded Ireland a relieving penalty inside the visitors 22.
Not so much a grand gesture, because that’s not Porter’s modus operandi, but as an in-game snapshot it represented a fitting epilogue to another scrapbook full of standout moments in the 69 minutes he roamed the Murrayfield pitch during Sunday’s Six Nations game.
Ireland’s loosehead prop is a physical phenomenon, capable of eye-catching anaerobic feats, those short bursts of power-tinged energy as he ploughs into opponents, but it is his aerobic capacity that is even more mind-boggling at times. His ability to go deep into matches, time wise, without straying from the nub of the action is a selfless act of a player who embodies the team ethic.
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No matter how dishevelled, scuffed or bloodied, tracking the 29-year-old loosehead prop is relatively straightforward, just follow a game’s hotspots. His courage is unquestionable, a recent reminder, the gruesome hand injury he suffered in the first Test against South Africa during the summer; patched up returned to play a further 11 minutes and started against the Springboks the following week.
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While other props get an alternative frontrow seat and a drink in the stand somewhere between the 45th and 60th minute, Porter’s involvement stretches into the twilight of the marquee matches. In the final three matches of last season’s Six Nations against Wales, England and Scotland, the latter in which he scored a match-defining try, his sixth in Test rugby, he played a cumulative 210 of 240 minutes.
In the Autumn Nations series, he toughed it out for 74 minutes against New Zealand, 67 in the win over Argentina, 67 against Australia and last weekend at the Aviva Stadium, he got to observe the last six as Ireland beat England. He made 14 tackles alone in that match.
He reprised that relentless energy, the breath of his contribution going far beyond the traditional propping duties. Porter’s first involvement on 110 seconds, was typically forthright, ploughing into a couple of tacklers on his terms, and getting them to yield a metre of turf.
Three minutes in and he’s one of two cornerstones – Finlay Bealham had a super game while his replacement Thomas Clarkson should be proud of his cameo – in a rock-solid scrum; Scotland chased after the hit but got the square root of nothing, not a millimetre of turf.
Porter then popped up as pivot in midfield, linking play, that eventually culminated in Peter O’Mahony getting a gallop down the touchline. Some of his other touches were more prosaic, clearing out and carrying with a vigour that thrived in the collisions.
The 11th minute neatly encapsulates Porter’s multifaceted input, a dominant scrum and on-hand to carry into contact in the wider channels, or when required to set up a ruck from which James Lowe’s left boot sent the Scots scurrying to think again.
In the opening throes Porter had served notice on Ben White by coming within a taped finger of charging down a box-kick; the Scottish scrumhalf didn’t get a reprieve on 27 minutes when the prop did so and was slightly unfortunate to see the ball slew towards and over the touchline, a few metres from the Scotland line.
Porter’s workrate was indicative of the general application of the Irish players, many tries were the product of an uncompromising intensity that challenged the Scots directly in a physical manner. It was evident in the defence too, Ireland scrambled to great effect, the outstanding Jamison Gibson-Park’s tackle to get back and nail Blair Kinghorn epitomised this desire.
Porter’s three tackles in the same sequence of play two minutes after the restart underpinned the visitors’ appetite and attitude. He made 16 in total, third in the team standings behind Josh van der Flier and Caelan Doris. Ireland had to because Scotland challenged them from time to time a fact endorsed by the stat that they beat 25 defenders to Ireland’s 13, offloaded more and carried the ball for some 200 metres more than the visitors.
A fundamental difference was the quality of Ireland’s work. While they failed to capitalise on early opportunities with both Rónan Kelleher and Caelan Doris being held up over the line, they did manage to score tries at crucial times, the essence of a good team but also one that is very well organised.
Lowe’s try is an example. Team-mates fulfilled a role – Porter freed up one breakdown ball with authority to ensure that the sequence continued – with diligence. Without those constituent parts, the finer detail, the chance goes abegging.
The Irish loosehead showed decent hands and awareness in the build-up to Jack Conan’s try but it is another crucial input that’s pivotal. Fullback Hugo Keenan, another to excel, jumped and won a high ball deep inside the Scottish 22. Porter single-handedly clears out the ‘loiterers’ as the late, great BBC commentator Bill McLaren was fond of saying.
In some respects, Porter and that moment epitomise the essence of Ireland’s victory at Murrayfield. Everything is subsumed into pursuing the best interests of the team. That is an irresistible galvanising force as the Scots discovered, Porter’s performance as good an illustration as any.
