Jack McGrath on his plans to topple Cian Healy and button Italian lips

Jack McGrath has seen those Cian Healy photos everywhere - training, stretching, rehabbing, getting fitter, closer to a return

The Leinster loose-head was in great form, on Thursday, as he looked ahead to Ireland's Six Nations opener against Italy. Named in a front row with Rory Best and Mike Ross, McGrath will face off against the grizzly likes of Leonardo Ghiraldini and Martin Castrogiovanni. He has started three of Ireland's last five matches and played a key, bench role in the successful 2014 Six Nations campaign. Nonetheless, the perception remains that he is filling the No.1 jersey until Healy gets as fit as fit can be [or Joe Schmidt dictates]. Healy is unlikely to feature until the March 1 game against England, giving McGrath two big games [Italy and France] to stake a permanent claim for the front row position. 'Well, that's the plan anyway,' he remarks. 'Cian's obviously a world class player. I'll play this game and see how I get on then put it into Joe's hands with selection - all I can do is the best I can and if he feels he has to select me again, he has to select me again. If not, he wouldn't.' McGrath scored off the bench, last March, as the Aviva Stadium waved goodbye to Brian O'Driscoll. Facing the Azzurri in Rome, he admits, is an altogether harder task. He told us:

'With their scrum, line-out and maul, they really want to shove it that in your face. If we can meet them in that area and maybe go one better... That's what we ideally want to do, but it's not just doing it once it's going it every time, because if you give them a sniff there's massive confidence there. Especially at home, because the crowd is going to get right behind them and really rally them up . It's up to us as a pack to really get stuck into them early.'

As for battling 'Castro', the man with a mouth that would make a sailor blush, McGrath says, 'I wouldn't be worried about them too much or what they're saying to me. 'Castro's been there, over 100 caps, he's every trick in the book. With Rory and Rossy beside me I'd be confident I can go in and be able to do a job and hopefully cause a bit of damage.'