IT’S FAIR TO say the last few months have not gone the way Garry Ringrose would have liked.
On the back of injuring his shoulder during Leinster’s defeat of Leicester Tigers in January, the centre has been limited to just a handful of appearances. He featured just once during the Six Nations, coming off the bench in the round five win against Scotland, before another spell on the sidelines.
Ringrose finally returned to action in Leinster’s URC semi-final defeat to the Bulls last month before being sprung for the bench as Ireland lost to South Africa in Durban last weekend. Tomorrow, he’s set to start a game for Ireland for the first time since last year’s World Cup and with a summer break around the corner, he’d love nothing more than to bookend a frustrating six months with a win. Tomorrow’s clash will be just his sixth outing of 2024.
Ireland struggled at times against South Africa last Saturday but left Loftus Versfeld feeling they have more in the tank for tomorrow’s second Test.
“It’s a tough one, when you lose you don’t take many positives,” says Ringrose.
“I guess the opportunities that we potentially did create, and maybe didn’t take. I think there’s another level in how we can play. A credit to them, how strong they are on defence and the pressure they put you under.
“On attack they had really good variety, so having faced them once, try to level up again. There’s areas of their game we’ll try to level up and try and do the same thing. The positives, I guess, is having an opportunity to go again and knowing that we can be better and the challenges will be to improve on what they improve on.”
Ireland head to Hollywoodbets Kings Park Stadium looking to avoid suffering back-to-back defeats for the first time since the 2021 Six Nations.
“When it doesn’t work out, a lot of guys are quite hard on themselves, so it’s about just being open and honest and transparent, and putting it all out there,” Ringrose says.
“That’s what the last two days have looked like, being open and honest and what can do better.
“It’s a huge opportunity as a group for us to get a chance to go again. It’s all any of us would ever want… I guess that’s it; open and honest and transparent. Say it as it is, it’s not being hard or soft or anything, it’s just dealing with the reality of the game and trying to do better.
“I guess after a loss like that it’s a little bit more heightened to try be better, work harder in our preparation, and then let go and have the freedom to attack the game off the back of how we prepared. Without putting pressure on an outcome, now it’s to just prepare as best we can.”
The 29-year-old comes into the starting XV with Bundee Aki dropping out with a shoulder injury, as Farrell backs the all-Leinster centre pairing of Ringrose and Robbie Henshaw to take on South Africa’s unchanged midfield of Jesse Kriel and Damian de Allende, who both shone in the opening Test.
“They’ve great cohesion when they play together,” Ringrose says of the Springbok centres.
“Damian’s an unbelievably good ball player, he can pass off both hands, kicking ability, attacking kicks, and that’s before mentioning his ability to carry.
“Then you have Jesse Kriel, who on defence gets through a crazy amount of work and chases every chance, every scrap, and he’s a cornerstone of their defence. Even on Kolbe’s try you can see he [Kriel] is chasing up the inside as well. It wasn’t just a once-off or moment from Kolbe. It was him chasing the chance too.
“Then on attack, his pace and ability to take on the line is tough to deal with. We’ll have our work cut out this week.”
The hosts took great satisfaction in beating Ireland last weekend, with the rivalry between the two sides heating up considerably over the last few years. The introduction of the South African teams to the URC has been a major factor in the increased needle between the two.
“They definitely made an impact on the URC over my last couple of years playing with Leinster. With the Pro14, and maybe through Covid, the South African teams, it was maybe a bit clunky.
“Last season, and the one before, it was pretty evident that the South African teams have found their feet and are challenging European rugby, with no game being any let-up. Home or away, you have to be all-in.”
