How They Met: Laura Smith melted Cian Healy's heart in Marbella

As romantic gestures go staging a barbecue to reconnect with a lost love is pretty sweet but then again it's not every day you realise you've let the love of your life slip through your fingers.

Cian Healy is set to make a record-breaking appearance at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday during Ireland's bout against Australia. If he plays, he'll beat Brian O'Driscoll's cap record and no doubt cheering him on the loudest will be his wife Laura Smith.

After first meeting in 2008, the couple has gone the distance, converting relationship setbacks into personal tries and eventually tying the knot in 2019 but just how did these two lovebirds become teammates for life? Well...

How they met

2008 proved to be a summer of love for Cian and Laura when they first clapped on each other on a group friend trip to Marbella.

He previously told EVOKE that it was love at first sight at a Bull's-Eye BBQ launch. 'It was outside Glam nightclub in Puerto Banús. She was a friend of my friends and I met her there. We were all in a close group, I just hadn't met her before.'

Early days

Despite beginning their romance under the sizzling Spanish sun, the fledgling couple was keen not to rush into anything too soon back home partly because of Laura's big brother!

'We took it slow enough because I knew her brother, he was a year or two above me,' Cian said.

Life will tear us apart

Laura and Cian were later pulled in separate directions in 2012 when she moved to The Big Apple for work but the story was far from over. 'Then came the hiatus and we found our way back,' he said remembering their time apart. 

Back in the game

Their love story took another twist when Cian heard that Laura was back on Irish soil and he put his love of cooking and barbecuing to good use.

He explained: 'Laura was working in New York and she was coming home to see people and I staged a barbecue, shamelessly, staged a barbecue and the girls got her to come.'

In it for the long haul

From that point, Cian and Laura have been inseparable and announced their engagement in 2017 and subsequently tied the knot two years later in an intimate ceremony in front of family and friends and his teammates at Ballynahinch Castle.

Cian was 'very nervous' for his nuptials with Laura, so much so that he couldn't eat for the majority of their special day but it was his first look at his bride that made him properly emotional.

He recalled: 'Ah [I was] full of tears like, I didn't think I would be but full of tears. I was very nervous for speaking. I was grand for everything else but for the speaking, I couldn't even have my food,

'That got the better of me but I got a dinner brought to me after that so it was alright.'

Home sweet home

Not ones to rest on their laurels, days after walking down the aisle the pair were hard at work remodelling their dream home in Dublin.

He captioned photos of the newlyweds on the building site: 'Quick change out of the tux and dress, straight to the building site! First time seeing the windows in and it made me bloody excited!!!'

Babies on board

Laura and Cian grew their little family when they welcomed their first child together, a baby boy named Beau, in January 2021 after an under-the-radar pregnancy.

The rugby star said at the time: ''We welcomed baby Beau Healy to the world on 15th January and every day since we have been loving and learning. I could sit and stare at him all day long!'

Little brother Russell joined the team in September 2022 and Cian said of his wife: 'I'm so proud of @ssssmithser and how she approached birth and guided him into our world. It's hard to describe such immeasurable strength and love.'

In it to win it

Years on from exchanging vows, the couple is happier than ever. Cian paid tribute to his other half on their anniversary in 2023 with a throwback pic to their special day and wrote: 'Four years married to this incredible woman, friend, and partner in crime. It started with one, now there are three guys in the house that absolutely worship the ground she walks on.'

When previously asked whether they return to Marbella where their love story started all those years ago, Cian said: 'We've been back plenty since together, not in the last while, we've done a bit of Italy and stuff like that on holidays.

'We're trying to keep doing somewhere new and do a bit of exploring so we know our way around a bit more than just Spain, we did that for enough years in a row.'

Making rugby history

Cian became Leinster's record appearance holder, overtaking Devin Toner, when he played his 281st game for the side in September.

Ahead of the match, the sportsman shared Leinster's team list and teased Dev saying he was 'sorry' along with a kiss emoji.

He then wrote himself into the record books again in November when he matched Brian O'Driscoll's cap record during his 133th international appearance against Argentina and now he's set to smash that record.