Ciarán Kennedy Reports from London

GARRY RINGROSE WAS still easing himself back into normal life after the Rugby World Cup when a call came through from Leo Cullen. The Leinster head coach had a plan, and wanted to meet Ringrose and his Leinster teammate James Ryan to talk it through over coffee.

Cullen was sizing up what life will look like in a Leinster squad without Johnny Sexton and figured the best solution to the captaincy question was to double up, asking Ringrose and Ryan to share the responsibility as co-captains – not a totally new idea by any stretch, but one that’s still a novelty in terms of Irish rugby teams.

In Ryan and Ringrose, Cullen had two outstanding candidates. Ryan has long been earmarked as a potential Ireland captain but leadership came later to Ringrose, who has stepped up that area of his game in recent seasons, first captaining Leinster in the 2020 Pro14 final defeat of Munster.

“I’ve been lucky to play under some unbelievable captains in Leinster with say Isa (Nacewa) and Johnny, and then Ireland, Bestie (Rory Best) and Johnny as well,” said Ringrose, speaking at the launch of the 2023/23 Investec Champions Cup season in London yesterday.

“I guess any of those groups I’ve been in have had really good leaders within the group and the kind of guys who can pull their weight and step up at different times.

Ringrose speaking to the media in London yesterday. Billy Stickland / INPHO Billy Stickland / INPHO / INPHO

“The element of the captain or co-captain, there’s a bit of ceremony around it in the sense of the referee and the coin toss and maybe extra media obligations, but when it comes to the group it’s different leaders stepping up at different times. Myself and James can share the load but there’s loads of lads in the group who can do the same thing, so it’s the first time I’ve been involved in that but it’s nothing new to the Leinster group anyway in terms of sharing the load.”

It’s early days yet, so the pair are still ironing out some of the kinks that come with selecting two men for what is usually a one-man job.

“In terms of the coin toss and stuff like that, we said we’d figure that out as we go along. It doesn’t really matter at the end of the day. In terms of talking with the ref, I remember last year captaining Leinster and I remember telling the ref if there’s anything that needs to be said you can just talk to James as opposed to stopping the game and calling me in closer, so it naturally happens that way anyway with whoever is closer to the action.

“Even sometimes it’s happened where we might get a penalty or there might be a decision and Ross Byrne is there, and I certainly don’t need to be doing any talking or neither does James, so he kind of leads it. There’s an element of figuring it out but it isn’t anything we haven’t done already, without it being officially said like it is now.”

And Ringrose is happy to let Ryan take the lead with any pre-match talk in the dressing rooms.

“We just go off feel, one or the other. We’ve played long enough together, we still are learning but we just have a feel or a sense. If his plate’s full with lineout stuff, or some other detail he might be concerned about he might just say will you take the reigns on that, or vice versa. James is brilliant, an inspirational speaker, he can invoke emotion really well. Sometimes I like hearing him talk as well so I’d be saying, you take this one.”  

Europe was naturally the main focus in the impressive surroundings of the Tottenham Hotspur stadium yesterday but before the Champions Cup comes into view, Leinster have the small matter of a URC derby meeting with Munster to negotiate this weekend, before visiting Connacht the following Saturday. After those two Irish derbies, attention will turn to a blockbuster opening Champions Cup clash away to La Rochelle, by which point South Africa’s two-time World Cup winning coach Jacques Nienaber should be settling into his new role in Dublin.

“Defensive, talking to the Munster lads and any of the South African lads, they say there’s no ego with him,” Ringrose said.

“He loves coaching rugby and getting the best out of people, I’m excited to work with him from that perspective. You see defensively how strong South Africa are but how hard they work for each other. Maybe it looks a bit chaotic sometimes but there’s more to it than that.

I’d be interested to lift the veil and see behind it all. He’s won at the top, it’s what Leinster have struggled to do over the last two, three years, that final hurdle in those big games with tight margins, falling on the right side of them.

“His track record would suggest that he’s fallen on the right side, so picking his brains on that one too.”

The hope within Leinster is that Nienaber can help the side finally get over the line in Europe again, have lost the last two Champions Cup finals at the hands of La Rochelle.

“I am sure with Rassie and the (South Africa) players that were there, he definitely has an insight into how to win.

“It will be interesting to pick his brain, how he influences us or how he challenges us. South Africa can be really tough to play against, I don’t think we are an easy team to play against in the first place, but if he can have that impact and make us tougher to play against in that area or help us to improve in that area it will be a massive gain on the big day.”