Leinster's trip to South Africa for Pro 14 games against the Southern Kings and the Cheetas has been a logistical nightmare so far, but the latest mishap is nothing short of bizarre.
Having been forced to send the squad out on separate flights due to costs and then having to do without Isa Nacewa and Jamison Gibson-Park for the Southern Kings game as they were stranded in Johannesburg due to visa issues, those involved behind the scenes at Leinster would have thought little else could go wrong.
Incredibly, Ruaidhri O’Connor reports for Independent.ie from Cape Town that when the squad flew out for their game with the Cheetahs, the plane was turned around in order to have Cian Healy removed.
You would think that such a drastic action would have been brought on by the Ireland prop doing something out of order, but seemingly it was all down to Healy reviewing game footage on his laptop.
The 29-year-old was reviewing Saturday’s game against the Southern Kings on his laptop after the passengers were told to stop using electronic equipment.
To the surprise of the player, his fellow squad members and passengers a member of the South African Express cabin crew asked that the plane be turned around and the player was asked to leave when it returned to the terminal.
The police were not asked to get involved and after making an apology Healy was booked on to the next flight with the same airline later that afternoon.
That is just mad. You get the feeling that the Leinster management will be delighted when this mini-tour of South Africa is finished.
It has been marked down as a misunderstanding, which must have been incredibly strange for the other Leinster players who would have witness Healy being removed over the most minor of offenses.
An official statement from Leinster confirmed the news and also the fact that Healy has since joined up with the squad in Cape Town.
Leinster Rugby can confirm that Cian Healy was asked to leave yesterday afternoon's flight from Port Elizabeth to Cape Town. The issue related to a misunderstanding around the use of a laptop during the approach to take off.
Cian disembarked the plane and took the next available flight to Cape Town with the same airline.
Cian apologised sincerely to all concerned at the time for any inconvenience caused.
He re-joined the squad last night in Cape Town and trained today in Bishop's College.
Again, for having his laptop on while there was a temporary ban on electronics? That sounds like a farcical reason to turn a plane around.
Hopefully those involved see the funny side of things, although we expect that the former Belvedere prop will take more than his fair share of stick the next time he steps foot on a plane with his teammates.
