MURRAYFIELD IS A ground James Ryan likes. The colour, the noise, the build-up. For Ryan, it all adds up to one of the most enjoyable days out on the Six Nations calendar.
“When you play in Murrayfield, the bus comes in slowly and the bagpipes are on and there’s thousands of Scots there, it’s just always a very cool fixture to play in,” Ryan says.
Of course, it helps that Murrayfield doesn’t hold any bad memories for most of this Ireland squad. Ryan has never lost there, with Ireland’s last defeat in the Scottish capital coming the day the team bus ran late back in 2017.
As has become the norm, Ireland will travel to Edinburgh as favourites as Farrell’s side look to keep their Grand Slam ambitions alive.
The sense in camp out in Abbotstown yesterday – where all 37 players took part in training – was that the squad are feeling relaxed and refreshed as they look to attack the final two rounds, having seen off Wales and France in rounds one and two before labouring past Italy in Rome, where Ryan led the team in Johnny Sexton’s absence.
“Loved it,” Ryan replies when asked about captaining Ireland at the Stadio Olimpico.
Even walking around on Thursday and Friday, you got a sense of how many Irish people were over. So it was a very exciting couple of days leading into the game.
“It was very exciting to be with the lads and to get to lead my country was such an honour. And yeah. it was a good game, very close at times, but there was loads of learning in it as well.”
The manner of the performance in Italy should sharpen Ireland heading into the home straight of this championship. While Farrell’s side came away with another bonus-point win, they were far from their best and know a repeat could prove more costly against Scotland or England.
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It will have made for an interesting review but Ryan explains that Ireland boss Farrell and his assistants aren’t the type to scream and shout when the performances have been a little off-colour.
Ryan captained Ireland against Italy. Dan Sheridan / INPHO
Dan Sheridan / INPHO / INPHO
Former Ireland captain and current assistant coach Paul O’Connell has, unsurprisingly, been particularly influential in terms of Ryan’s development.
“They’re obviously unbelievable at understanding the mood of the group and then getting the mood right. They are just unbelievable coaches and speakers.
“I do a good bit with him (O’Connell) because I’m a second-row. Myself, Hendy (Iain Henderson), Tadhg Beirne and Ryan Baird would spend a good bit of time with him in terms of our set-piece stuff; a lot of looking at lineout footage and opposition footage, devising a plan every week.
“I spend a good bit of time with him, he’s actually unbelievable as a coach. I’ve learnt loads.
He’s just a great speaker, a great communicator. He really gets you up for it, every game, his attention to detail is incredible. He doesn’t miss a trick at all, he sees everything and really pushes you to be the best version of yourself.”
Ireland have won their last seven against Scotland but there is a feeling Gregor Townsend’s side have a bit more about them this year. A win against Ireland on Sunday would see the home side land a first Triple Crown since 1990 and put them in with a great chance of landing a first championship since 1999.
“I think some of their attack is really good, particularly some of the counter-attack stuff,” Ryan adds.
“One of the things we could have been better at the last couple of games is our kick-chase. When we kick the ball away we’re a little bit disconnected, I think they’ll look at that. Finn Russell and (Duhan) Van der Merwe and those guys will look at that and think they can have a crack. So how connected we can be when we kick the ball away will be huge.
“They play very wide and very deep. They like to play, they like to get the ball to space, so again defensively it’s a big challenge for us. We need to make sure we get our spacing right defensively and our width, otherwise we’ll be in trouble.
“I think they’re one of the best attacking teams we’ll face, definitely.
“Also, we were a bit narrow in our defence against Italy so we have to make sure we get that defensive width because Finn Russell likes to play nice and wide. Our spacing will be really important.”
Ryan speaking to the media in Abbotstown yesterday. Dan Sheridan / INPHO
Dan Sheridan / INPHO / INPHO
Gregor Townsend will be having similar conversations with his players. Ireland have strengths all over the park but their ability to strike early – scoring the opening try after just one minute against Wales, eight minutes against France and two minutes against Italy – is becoming a real weapon.
“I think particularly going away from home the first few rounds, the Millennium Stadium and the Olimpico, it’s just part of our focus during the week,” Ryan explains.
“Playing away from home, it’s very important you start well. You take a bit of the belief from the opposition away, it was just part of the focus for the week.
“That’s one side of it, but also it’s part of how we put ourselves under pressure when we train; to not waste any reps. To not waste any minutes, to start well. Part of that is the breath work, we do a bit of that before we go out, before we train to make sure everyone is nice and present, nice and grounded and we can be accurate then.”
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'He doesn't miss a trick' - Ryan still learning from O'Connell
LAST UPDATE | 9 Mar 2023
MURRAYFIELD IS A ground James Ryan likes. The colour, the noise, the build-up. For Ryan, it all adds up to one of the most enjoyable days out on the Six Nations calendar.
“When you play in Murrayfield, the bus comes in slowly and the bagpipes are on and there’s thousands of Scots there, it’s just always a very cool fixture to play in,” Ryan says.
Of course, it helps that Murrayfield doesn’t hold any bad memories for most of this Ireland squad. Ryan has never lost there, with Ireland’s last defeat in the Scottish capital coming the day the team bus ran late back in 2017.
As has become the norm, Ireland will travel to Edinburgh as favourites as Farrell’s side look to keep their Grand Slam ambitions alive.
The sense in camp out in Abbotstown yesterday – where all 37 players took part in training – was that the squad are feeling relaxed and refreshed as they look to attack the final two rounds, having seen off Wales and France in rounds one and two before labouring past Italy in Rome, where Ryan led the team in Johnny Sexton’s absence.
“Loved it,” Ryan replies when asked about captaining Ireland at the Stadio Olimpico.
“It was very exciting to be with the lads and to get to lead my country was such an honour. And yeah. it was a good game, very close at times, but there was loads of learning in it as well.”
The manner of the performance in Italy should sharpen Ireland heading into the home straight of this championship. While Farrell’s side came away with another bonus-point win, they were far from their best and know a repeat could prove more costly against Scotland or England.
It will have made for an interesting review but Ryan explains that Ireland boss Farrell and his assistants aren’t the type to scream and shout when the performances have been a little off-colour.
Former Ireland captain and current assistant coach Paul O’Connell has, unsurprisingly, been particularly influential in terms of Ryan’s development.
“They’re obviously unbelievable at understanding the mood of the group and then getting the mood right. They are just unbelievable coaches and speakers.
“I do a good bit with him (O’Connell) because I’m a second-row. Myself, Hendy (Iain Henderson), Tadhg Beirne and Ryan Baird would spend a good bit of time with him in terms of our set-piece stuff; a lot of looking at lineout footage and opposition footage, devising a plan every week.
“I spend a good bit of time with him, he’s actually unbelievable as a coach. I’ve learnt loads.
Ireland have won their last seven against Scotland but there is a feeling Gregor Townsend’s side have a bit more about them this year. A win against Ireland on Sunday would see the home side land a first Triple Crown since 1990 and put them in with a great chance of landing a first championship since 1999.
“I think some of their attack is really good, particularly some of the counter-attack stuff,” Ryan adds.
“One of the things we could have been better at the last couple of games is our kick-chase. When we kick the ball away we’re a little bit disconnected, I think they’ll look at that. Finn Russell and (Duhan) Van der Merwe and those guys will look at that and think they can have a crack. So how connected we can be when we kick the ball away will be huge.
“They play very wide and very deep. They like to play, they like to get the ball to space, so again defensively it’s a big challenge for us. We need to make sure we get our spacing right defensively and our width, otherwise we’ll be in trouble.
“I think they’re one of the best attacking teams we’ll face, definitely.
“Also, we were a bit narrow in our defence against Italy so we have to make sure we get that defensive width because Finn Russell likes to play nice and wide. Our spacing will be really important.”
Gregor Townsend will be having similar conversations with his players. Ireland have strengths all over the park but their ability to strike early – scoring the opening try after just one minute against Wales, eight minutes against France and two minutes against Italy – is becoming a real weapon.
“I think particularly going away from home the first few rounds, the Millennium Stadium and the Olimpico, it’s just part of our focus during the week,” Ryan explains.
“Playing away from home, it’s very important you start well. You take a bit of the belief from the opposition away, it was just part of the focus for the week.
“That’s one side of it, but also it’s part of how we put ourselves under pressure when we train; to not waste any reps. To not waste any minutes, to start well. Part of that is the breath work, we do a bit of that before we go out, before we train to make sure everyone is nice and present, nice and grounded and we can be accurate then.”
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Six Nations Ireland james ryan learning from the best