Dear Sir, There is now increasing clinical evidence that protecting the oval-shaped myopectineal oriWce (MPO), through which groin herniation occurs, is the goal of modern day hernia surgery. This is now often accomplished with the use of mesh, but does both sides of the MPO need to be protected [1]? We have used a plug and patch approach for 9 years [2] but have found large direct hernias diYcult and often troublesome to deal with. Whilst our recurrence rates are acceptable, recurrence at a median follow-up of 5 years after repair of primary direct defects (0.64%) is twice that of indirect repairs (0.29%). With this in mind we have placed other prosthetics in the preperitoneal plane using an open anterior approach with favourable short-term results. However, the ease with which the diVerent devices can be placed means there is a learning curve even for experienced surgeons [3], which raise issues regarding the training of junior surgeons as in the laparoscopic debate. Of those devices used to date the ‘memory-ring patch’ described by Pelissier [4, 5] is by far the easiest to use and correctly deploy in the pre-peritoneal space. We Wrmly endorse its use but do not feel that it is necessary when managing those indirect hernias where the deep defect is not particularly wide.