AMID WORRIES THAT some Ireland players might be running on fumes at this stage of a year-long season, there can be no doubt about Garry Ringrose’s energy levels for this tour of South Africa.

The Leinster centre has played just 92 minutes of rugby in the last five months.

Looking fresh and in peak physical condition, Ringrose sat in a meeting room at the IRFU’s training centre in Dublin earlier this week and explained how he has been sidelined for so much of the season.

He’s never one to get overly animated but you could sense Ringrose’s eagerness to end this campaign by making a big impact in a green jersey.

His shoulder trouble started on 20 January when he suffered an injury in Leinster’s Champions Cup win against Leicester. It meant he missed most of the Six Nations but Ringrose did make it back onto the Ireland bench for the championship-clinching win against Scotland in Dublin.

He played the closing 24 minutes on the right wing and with Scotland having just scored a try to make it 17-13 in the closing stages, Ringrose chased the restart and launched himself into a tackle on Scottish number eight Jack Dempsey.

And just like that, a new and different shoulder injury.

This one kept Ringrose sidelined for even longer, missing Leinster’s run to a Champions Cup final defeat to Toulouse.

There were a few positive updates from Leinster that didn’t translate into Ringrose’s actual return but he finally made his comeback in the URC semi-final loss to the Bulls two weekends ago.

“I just had a small fracture that was really small. I didn’t need an operation, I just needed time in the saddle for the bone to heal,” said Ringrose.

“I was still able to train – non-contact bib and stuff – and was consulting with the surgeon, Hannan Mullett in Santry, and obviously the medical team in Leinster.

“I was itching to get back but they kind of put my safety first and then thankfully it got to a point where they were happy with the healing. It was actually a really simple injury but just timing-wise it wasn’t great.”

Ringrose had previous experience of frustrating back-to-back injuries in the same part of his body.

“I remember a couple of years ago I broke my jaw and in the first game back, I broke my jaw again.

“It was just a freak inconvenience [with his shoulder]. It was a little bit frustrating but with the nature of the beast, I was happy to be able to keep training which made it a little bit easier.”

Ringrose obviously hoped to be back for Leinster winning the URC but instead returned for the disappointment of losing that semi-final in Pretoria.

He was appointed co-captain of Leinster along with James Ryan this season so coming up short hit him as hard as anyone. Having to watch the Champions Cup final loss to Toulouse without being to influence it hurt too.

Ringrose at the IRFU's training centre this week. Tom Maher / INPHO Tom Maher / INPHO / INPHO

“It’s really tough, getting so close,” said Ringrose. “It’s just that weird dichotomy of doing so well for so many different games, so many different challenges and hurdles throughout the year and then just to fall one game short, and two games short in the URC… I don’t know it, it just builds up an element of resilience along the way.

“I think everyone, even in Ireland, in the last two years of the Six Nations, being successful but I’ve been in losing groups probably more than winning groups so it makes you appreciate the good days.

“It’s just always that fight or challenge to keep going, to keep driving on.”

Ringrose is grateful to get this chance to tour with Ireland at the end of a challenging season and he’s raring for a shot at the back-to-back world champions.

As ever, Andy Farrell has strong options in midfield but there’s no doubt that Ringrose brings cutting edge in defence and attack. Robbie Henshaw, Bundee Aki, and Stuart McCloskey are all superb centres but Ringrose offers something different.

He has enjoyed playing against the Boks before, including at last year’s World Cup, and expects another ferocious challenge in South Africa.

“You just have to be on it. They’re unbelievably physical but that’s almost a given, so you just have to be physically ready for the fight at every sort of contact, battle.

“The intricacies to how they defend, even talking to Jacques [Nienaber], it’s funny preparing for them loads and trying to understand what they’re doing and then maybe speaking to their coach and understanding their philosophy a little bit more in what they’re trying to do. That’s kind of cool because you compare the thinking, the perception, to the reality of it.

“And then on attack you see last week how dangerous they are and the individuals they have and even how cohesive they looked at times in that Welsh game, even with a few new faces.

“The group seems to be pretty consistent or a pretty consistent core over the last eight years so you just need to be just on it, across anything, to try to beat them.”