McGrath primed to grab his chance to shine while Healy remains on the injured list

"All the McGraths are taking over!" declares Jack. "Muwhahaha!" Okay, he didn't append the evil laugh. But he did offer a chortle. And why not?

While Mick and Luke remain on the periphery, their namesake is in a different time and space.

For this is Jack McGrath's time.

Fate has as much a role to play in professional sport as talent; when desire and skill are flicked by the fickle finger of fate, that is when the individual must pounce.

For this is Jack McGrath's opportunity.

Cian Healy's horrific, self-inflicted hamstring rupture has utterly ruined his chances of playing again in 2014; the Clontarf man was lucklessly betrayed by his own freakish strength.

Demonic

McGrath is not possessed of the demonic dimensions that have transformed Healy into one of the top three loose-heads in world rugby; it may not take more than a pint for the barstool jury to debate whether or not he is, indeed, the globe's finest in the No 1 jersey.

So, simply, McGrath is not better than Healy; not yet, anyway. Healy's premature promotion to prominence reflected his pre-eminence at such a young age; McGrath is two years younger and geography, more than ability, has stunted his progress.

And yet in Joe Schmidt's final season McGrath had already played more times that the lauded Springbok Heinke van der Merwe; he saw the writing on the wall and moved to France.

Schmidt had no hesitation in preferring McGrath to Van der Merwe in his farewell Amlin Challenge Cup final win; months later, he would give the player his debut against Samoa. The player responded to the challenge by earning man of the match; few of the grunts win such a bauble against the Pacific behemoths.

He returned to riding pine in the spring – he once confessed to having a dark time when being benched so often in his early Leinster days, getting handfuls of minutes here and there – but under Schmidt, the number 23 is as valuable as the number one.

A prime example was the Italian game, when the bench arrived to propel Ireland to what was ultimately the points difference that won Ireland the title; McGrath's 80th-minute try was, of itself, a defining moment of the Championship.

Now he must prepare himself for many more moments such as these; a November series, beginning with the marauding giants of South Africa, not to mention Leinster’s European campaign, all of which is preceded by this weekend’s local squabble against the men of Munster.

Some may view it as a lucky chance; and yet McGrath's tunnelled perspective had already been formed even before cruel injury struck his friend and rival to the floor.

"I think so, yeah," McGrath responds when it is charged that he was ready, in any event, to  challenge the longstanding supremacy of Healy.

"We play well together, we suit each other that I can start and he can come on and make a difference, and vice versa.

"It's massively disappointing for us as a squad for him to be injured. To lose a world-class player is never great.

"As a squad, it's going to tighten us up and it is an opportunity for me to hopefully put a few good performances together and hopefully put my hand up for selection for the Irish team. It’s disappointing but definitely an opportunity."

Schmidt's incessant quest to cover every detail of World Cup preparation has led him to size up McGrath as a tight-head option too, as he did so briefly on the summer tour.

Matt O'Connor's comments a few weeks back seem to suggest that, although Schmidt's influence is writ large in all four provinces during this keynote season, this is one experiment that won’t be repeated.

"Jack won't be playing tight-head for us," said O'Connor last month. "He did a bit of time there in Argentina. I don't know what (Ireland) have been doing with him out in camp over the last couple of days.

"We certainly wouldn't want to water down his ability to be as good on the other side of the scrum as he can be. We think he's a fantastic loose-head and that's where he will be playing for us."

In any event, McGrath appreciates that he has enough competition for the green jersey as it stands; it will stare him in the face this weekend when he confronts David Kilcoyne and James Cronin.

"I suppose it is a bit of pressure but I hadn't really thought about it like that because there are two guys in Munster, a guy in Connacht and a guy in Ulster ready to take your spot if you slip up or you're not performing.

"And the thing about the Irish coaching staff is that you're picked on performance and not reputation; just because one guy is gone it doesn't really make a difference, you have to concentrate on your own game."

Snapping

And, as much as he has challenged Healy, now there are others snapping at his heels; Leinster finished the Cardiff game with the youngest front-row in their history in Ed Byrne, Brian Byrne and Tadhg Furlong.

And McGrath himself has had a recent injury scare; injuring a calf in the defeat to Connacht two Fridays ago which temporarily put the skids on his campaign.

"I'm all good and ready for selection this weekend and raring to go," he reports with understandable relief. "It was just my calf, a bit of a grade one in the scrum against Connacht just before half-time.

"It tightened up as we warmed down during the 15-minute break and that was always going to happen, then I just felt it in the second half. It was a week, 10 days rest off it, then finally a bit of rehab."

He is primed for this definitive test of the season.

"I don't know, it's funny," he says of a derby that continues to retain its lustre among diehards.

"You always get a sold-out crowd with it and it's just it's always been Leinster and Munster against each other, it just goes back years.

"I remember as a kid it was always number one. If you're not a massive rugby fan, that's what you come out for. This will be tougher than any European game."