Garry Ringrose’s return to match fitness endured a false start or three, the tiny fracture in a shoulder uncooperative until he was cleared to return in Leinster’s United Rugby Championship (URC) semi-final defeat to the Bulls.
He sustained the injury in the last Six Nations championship match against Scotland and at the time didn’t envisage that it would preclude him from playing again until the penultimate weekend of the club season.
Several medical updates, given in good faith, suggested an earlier return. Ringrose explained the circumstances behind his rehabilitation. “It was actually really simple. I had a small fracture that didn’t need an operation, just time for the bone to heal.
“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 put my safety first and then thankfully got to a point where they were happy with the healing [process].
“It was actually a really simple injury but just timing-wise it wasn’t great. 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 didn’t exactly choose the easiest of matches in which to return: against the physically powerful Bulls at altitude at Loftus Versfeld. He hopes to run out again in that stadium on Saturday week when Ireland take on South Africa in the first of two Test matches on the summer tour.
Playing there was a new experience. “The altitude, because it was my first time down in South Africa, and also first time at altitude, I didn’t really know what to expect. You feel it in the lungs and the legs maybe a little bit sooner than you would back home. But then it just kind of plateaus as that for the rest of the game, so it’s challenging but once you get over it [it’s fine].
I think a few guys who knew what to expect having experienced it before felt it was fine. Thankfully we’re out a little bit earlier this time in Jo’burg and we can adapt in some way to it.”
Andy Farrell’s Ireland squad will stay in Johannesburg in the build-up to the first Test before travelling up to Pretoria. Leinster stayed in the shadow of the iconic Loftus Versfeld, and he enjoyed playing there and being able to tick off an item on the rugby bucket list.
“I remember watching Super Rugby and Tri-Nations games. They’re [South Africa] obviously an unbelievably proud nation and back-to-back world champions so what a challenge and opportunity for us.”
He diplomatically deflects the hoopla surrounding prematch chat from several South African players, looking to light a flame under the rivalry. “I have it that I don’t really see anything on my phone. Obviously, you hear bits but from my perspective I keep [focused on] the main thing, which would be the match. And the opportunity to play then in Pretoria, kicking things off, is pretty special.”
The Springboks bring a very specific set of skills and challenges for any opponents. Ireland have won the last three meetings, including the pool match in the World Cup, but the counter is reset to zero on Saturday week.
Ringrose explained: “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, but [also deal with] the intricacies to how they defend.
“Even talking to Jacques [Nienaber], it’s funny preparing for them, trying to understand what they’re doing ... speaking to their [former] coach and understanding their philosophy a little bit more, in what they’re trying to do, is kind of cool because you [get to] compare the kind of thinking, the perception, to the reality of it.
“And then, on attack you see last week how dangerous they are, the individuals they have, how cohesive they looked at times in that Welsh game, even with a few new faces. The group seems to be pretty consistent, or [have] a pretty consistent core over the last eight years. You need to be on it, across anything, to try to beat them.”
Ringrose is on the sharp end of trying to stop the Boks in attack, a linchpin between the frontline and edge cover. “The connection between the backfield and the frontline is massive. The decision-making at 13 and for the wingers is massive against them, because they’re so good and have backed it up with two World Cups.
[ What can Ireland learn from South Africa’s comfortable victory over Wales?Opens in new window ]
“If you get it wrong you suffer the consequences and that mightn’t be the case against other opposition, at club or international, where you can potentially make a mistake and get away with it. The guys they have don’t allow for that. It’s the beauty of the challenge, I guess.”
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