'Another dream ticked off' for Porter as Lions Test start awaits

Irish Examiner

a day ago

It just keeps getting better for Andrew Porter.
From being a Lions Test debutant off the bench in Brisbane last Saturday to reaching the pinnacle of any Irish player's career and becoming a starter, it cannot get much better for the 29-year-old loosehead prop.
Except that the Leinster and Ireland star gets to do it in an all-Irish front row alongside Dan Sheehan and Tadhg Furlong and in a pivotal Test match against Australia that could end in a first Lions series victory for a dozen years.
At the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground and in front of an expected crowd in excess of 90,000.
If Carlsberg did perfect scenarios and all that. Definitely.
'It's a dream come true,' Porter said. 'Firstly just being a part of this squad and then hearing your name in the Test team last week was incredible. Hearing my name in the starting line-up for this week is another dream ticked off again.
'I'm just incredibly excited for the opportunity to go out there and play for this team and play with these lads who we've created such a great connection with over the last few weeks. It's incredibly exciting and looking forward to ripping into it.
'I'd say it's up there with one of the biggest games of my life. How often can you say you've done this down in the MCG with 90,000 plus people there?
'With, obviously, the series on the line like this and being able to kind of back up 2013, to win back-to-back tours. It's definitely up there with one of the highlights.
'Like, even just being on this tour up there with one of the highlights of my life and career as a professional rugby player.'
That the first squad member to congratulate Porter was the man he will replace on Saturday, Ellis Genge, made it all the sweeter as a moment to savour.
"Yeah, he was the first one. It's been said so many times but you come into this squad with perceptions of different players. You're so used to playing against them in the Champions Cup or Six Nations or wherever but your perceptions are dashed pretty much the minute you step in the door.
'Me and Ellis were rooming together as well, so I got to know him better. He's an incredible guy, an incredible player, and it's been great to build a friendship as well as learn from him. He's one of the best in the business, so it's great being able to become closer as mates and learn from each other along the way.
"But yeah, he was the first one to congratulate me yesterday and sure he handed out my cap to me last week instead of my dad. So he's the dad of the squad. He's a great fella and a great player.
'Starting or finishing, it's a huge honour to do both in a Lions Test team.
'Probably everyone would probably say starting. But, being a part of this squad is just an incredible privilege and incredibly grateful to be part of it, whether it's on the bench last week or starting this week.'
Either way, Porter has and will have given blood to the cause.
His ears were weeping as he spoke and he said: 'They're cut all year round now. They're just all year round. I can't have white pillowcases at home anymore because it looks like the Texas Chainsaw Massacre after I wake up in the morning.
'So, yeah. I've been banned from the white linens anyway at home.'
Porter now favours black pillowcases, explaining: 'You can't see anything on them. Probably disgusting though.'
The patience of Mrs Porter, Elaine, has been further stretched by her husband's lengthy absence so soon after the birth of their first child.
'What have I learned about myself? I learned that babies get very big when you're away from home. Yeah, my wife is at home looking after the baby. He's nine weeks now.
'I could say it's not easy for me, but I don't think my wife would like that too much. I wouldn't get much sympathy.
'Yeah, it's that side of it as well. My wife is at home looking after our baby at the moment. She's the one in the trenches at home at the moment. I'm in the trenches over here. Well, I can't really say that. We're looked after here quite well.
'But it's a sacrifice on both ends. She's there with sleepless nights at home looking after him and I'm here representing my family, my country, and representing the Lions. It's two different kinds of sacrifices. But I'll definitely owe her for this for a long time anyway.'
Porter is not totally without family support in Australia. His father Ernie arrived in time for the first Test and has been catching up with his sisters, Andrew's aunts Becky and Vera, both of whom left Dublin when they were young.
'My old man came down. He was down there for last weekend in Brisbane and he's down here now. So, he's having a nice old holiday. We have a load of family down here as well… all around the place. Perth, Brisbane, and most of them in Sydney.
'It's a good opportunity for him to go and meet up with all the family and everything. Yeah, I mean, it's great for me as well. There's a lot of them I wouldn't have even met before. A few cousins and stuff, a lot of them I haven't seen in years and years.
'So, it's a great opportunity, obviously, to reconnect with family as well as being down here. A lot of Porters all over the world now.
'They got most of their own tickets, in fairness. So, yeah, I'm trying to get rid of tickets now.'