“I HAVEN’T HAD a chance to decompress at all,” Garry Ringrose says as he stands behind the tape that separates press from players in the Aviva Stadium mixed zone.
The 21-year-old Leinster centre is freshly showered and changed into his new Ireland team suit, but the lights are still on above the pitch where he made his debut against Canada, the team buses are still empty awaiting all the luggage and athletes they brought here, and Ringrose is still carrying out his role to a tee.
The number 13 made some eye-catching breaks in a Test debut that has been called for since at least the early part of this year. However, it’s the multitude of his other contributions that made his senior bow so impressive and you believe him when he calls his 19th-minute disallowed try “the least of my worries”.
A dream early score on in his debut would have made it much more difficult to be humble and pass every ounce of credit on to the back-line and coaches around him.
“I was pretty nervous, to be honest, but I was excited,” says the Dubliner.
“There were eight of us involved making our debut so a lot of the senior players stood up and made their voices heard, as well as the coaches, demanding and expecting nothing but the best out of the younger guys. Whether it be one cap or 100 caps, everyone had to be on the same page.”
You definitely don’t get the sense that Ringrose was the kind of student frantically flicking through the chapters to find the part of the textbook Joe Schmidt was reading from this week. He tackled with hunger, ran some impeccable lines and executed his skills in and out of possession with the calmness of a much more experienced man.
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Ringrose was ready for the big stage on Saturday night.
He has looked ready for much longer than just the week since he was an unused replacement in the win over the All Blacks, of course. His innate knack of doing the right thing at the right time made him a leader of the Ireland U20 side and despite some assumptions about the strength within his frame, he has excelled at every grade since.
Each step up just gives him more confidence in bounding up to the next one.
“I was lucky enough to be involved for two years at U20s under Mike Ruddock and Nigel Carolan. You learn from experience like that and it’s a step up each time.
Billy Stickland / INPHO
Billy Stickland / INPHO / INPHO
“Any exposure… high intensity international games at 20s level has a knock-on effect. That kicks on again when it comes to provincial: an opportunity to play in Pro12 games – whether it’s inter-pro derbies or European games – it’s all building so there’s never a huge leap. It’s kind of a gradual progression.”
There was one big difference that let Ringrose know he was really in the big leagues this week: in Carton House, matchday focus was required long before Saturday rolled around.
“The game starts earlier on in the week. The game effectively starts on Monday as opposed to at seven on a Saturday. You’ve really got to know your detail and learn your role in different areas in what is expected of you.
“They load the week early on in training and they really do taper off so you’ve got to be physically and mentally ready to go on Saturday. That starts on Monday.”
I was delighted to hear early on in the week that I would be starting, but I knew it meant that I had to pull the sleeves up and work hard in the lead up to it. It was a pretty cool experience.”
Peter O’Mahony had a typically succinct appraisal of Ringrose after leading the Captain’s Run on Friday: “He doesn’t look like a huge man, but God he can hit hard.” And that, combined with the Leinster tyro’s own promise to roll his sleeves up, speak volumes of the player. Despite his obvious natural skill-set, he refuses to let a lid fall on his potential.
He may have to wait another wee while before the 13 jersey regularly has his name on it, but he has proven to Joe Schmidt that he is capable of executing his role if the Kiwi needs to use him off the bench in the number 23 against the All Blacks next time around.
Even before he had ‘decompressed’ from his debut another phrase kept popping into his head, just the next job in his role.
“I will be looking forward to seeing the tape. I will see the few errors I made and try to learn from them.”
Most players dread that Monday morning review, but despite his humble protestations to the contrary, Ringrose is not most players.
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International debut was just one more step on Ringrose's way to the very top
“I HAVEN’T HAD a chance to decompress at all,” Garry Ringrose says as he stands behind the tape that separates press from players in the Aviva Stadium mixed zone.
The 21-year-old Leinster centre is freshly showered and changed into his new Ireland team suit, but the lights are still on above the pitch where he made his debut against Canada, the team buses are still empty awaiting all the luggage and athletes they brought here, and Ringrose is still carrying out his role to a tee.
The number 13 made some eye-catching breaks in a Test debut that has been called for since at least the early part of this year. However, it’s the multitude of his other contributions that made his senior bow so impressive and you believe him when he calls his 19th-minute disallowed try “the least of my worries”.
A dream early score on in his debut would have made it much more difficult to be humble and pass every ounce of credit on to the back-line and coaches around him.
“I was pretty nervous, to be honest, but I was excited,” says the Dubliner.
“There were eight of us involved making our debut so a lot of the senior players stood up and made their voices heard, as well as the coaches, demanding and expecting nothing but the best out of the younger guys. Whether it be one cap or 100 caps, everyone had to be on the same page.”
You definitely don’t get the sense that Ringrose was the kind of student frantically flicking through the chapters to find the part of the textbook Joe Schmidt was reading from this week. He tackled with hunger, ran some impeccable lines and executed his skills in and out of possession with the calmness of a much more experienced man.
Ringrose was ready for the big stage on Saturday night.
He has looked ready for much longer than just the week since he was an unused replacement in the win over the All Blacks, of course. His innate knack of doing the right thing at the right time made him a leader of the Ireland U20 side and despite some assumptions about the strength within his frame, he has excelled at every grade since.
Each step up just gives him more confidence in bounding up to the next one.
“I was lucky enough to be involved for two years at U20s under Mike Ruddock and Nigel Carolan. You learn from experience like that and it’s a step up each time.
“Any exposure… high intensity international games at 20s level has a knock-on effect. That kicks on again when it comes to provincial: an opportunity to play in Pro12 games – whether it’s inter-pro derbies or European games – it’s all building so there’s never a huge leap. It’s kind of a gradual progression.”
There was one big difference that let Ringrose know he was really in the big leagues this week: in Carton House, matchday focus was required long before Saturday rolled around.
“The game starts earlier on in the week. The game effectively starts on Monday as opposed to at seven on a Saturday. You’ve really got to know your detail and learn your role in different areas in what is expected of you.
“They load the week early on in training and they really do taper off so you’ve got to be physically and mentally ready to go on Saturday. That starts on Monday.”
Peter O’Mahony had a typically succinct appraisal of Ringrose after leading the Captain’s Run on Friday: “He doesn’t look like a huge man, but God he can hit hard.” And that, combined with the Leinster tyro’s own promise to roll his sleeves up, speak volumes of the player. Despite his obvious natural skill-set, he refuses to let a lid fall on his potential.
He may have to wait another wee while before the 13 jersey regularly has his name on it, but he has proven to Joe Schmidt that he is capable of executing his role if the Kiwi needs to use him off the bench in the number 23 against the All Blacks next time around.
Even before he had ‘decompressed’ from his debut another phrase kept popping into his head, just the next job in his role.
“I will be looking forward to seeing the tape. I will see the few errors I made and try to learn from them.”
Most players dread that Monday morning review, but despite his humble protestations to the contrary, Ringrose is not most players.
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Ireland narrowly lose out to world champions England in first November Test
‘It’s been a long journey to this point so it was nice to share that moment with them’
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Canada Garry Ringrose in stride Ireland November Tests