Former Blackrock College schoolboy and current UCD centre Garry Ringrose made quite an impact when he joined the Ireland squad for training last week.
Nominated for World Under-20 Player of the Year following his performances in the World Championships during the summer, Ringrose was name-checked by Ireland captain Paul O'Connell and more recently by Tommy Bowe and Ireland's defence coach Les Kiss. All three marvelled at the prodigiously talented 19-year-old young outside centre.
Bowe admitted: "He looks a classy little player, plenty of confidence. I spoke to a few of the Leinster lads about him; they really think he could be the real deal. I thought that he came in and did a great job.
“It’s always intimidating . . . whenever I came in first of all (to the national squad) I found it very intimidating with all these senior players about but he slotted in very well and looked the part.
"He's a young guy. Obviously he's going to fill, out eventually. You see (Handre) Pollard for South Africa; he's 20 years old and well able to step up to it. Given an opportunity he'll (Ringrose) be able to take it."
Kiss also spoke in glowing terms about Ringrose explaining that he’d been called up firstly so as not to further drain the provincial resources ahead of last weekend’s Guinness Pro12 matches but also because the player was someone they had identified with great potential. Kiss confirmed that they weren’t disappointed and that he was hugely impressed.
He stated: “Every now and then we try to expose a couple of players to that training group. He went on the U20s World Cup earlier in the year and he was probably Player of the Tournament from an Irish perspective. It was just a great opportunity to bring him in and expose him.
“Sometimes you’re looking at managing the numbers also for the provinces for that last game, so we didn’t want to take all the numbers from the provinces, so we could call him in and give him that exposure as well.
“It’s about managing other players to be available for the provinces and an opportunity to bring him in and expose him to that level. And he did really well by the way; he’s an impressive young man.
“There’s a lot to learn still, without a doubt. Physically he’s got good height, with his frame you know you’re going to build good bulk on it without compromising his speed and agility. It was interesting watching him in the camp; he walked around like he’d been there for a couple of camps. He’s a really level headed young man.
“You don’t like to predict it that these guys are going to nail it in the future, but there’s an opportunity for him if he’s really committed to what he’s about. He’s got a great talent base, but every level you go up talent becomes less important than attitude, commitment and all those things. In the snapshot that I’ve seen him in the last 12 months, he’s certainly got that so it’s up to him where he goes in the future. But it does look bright.”
Bowe, who missed last year's Six Nations Championship and the summer tour to Argentina through injury, is delighted to be back involved with the Ireland squad. "It's hard to watch whenever you are at home. You want to be there. I just enjoy being back here and will hopefully be involved this weekend; look to try and impose myself on the game."
He's watched closely as South Africa have amended their traditional muscular style to one that incorporates far more fluidity and onus on their back play in recent victories over the All Blacks and Australia.
“Yeah, I think that they played quite a lot more rugby. They are obviously renowned as a hard, physical side; they relied on bullying teams. This time round they have shown with the likes of Hendriks, Le Roux, JP Pietersen; these guys can run with the ball. They’re dangerous.
"Bryan Habana, he's an intelligent player. He's obviously got the physical attributes, incredibly quick, good hands; I think he's smart, he sniffs out opportunities. People might think it is lucky that you are in the right place at the right time to sniff out tries.
“It takes brains to be in the right place and know where the ball is going to be; he’s made a living out of it. He’s smart player in attack and defence.”
He’s also well aware that Ireland will have to be vigilant with their kick/chase line.
“If you kick badly to them, give them time on the ball, that’s where they will punish you. They have players who can attack, run hard but they’re also not afraid to chip the ball in behind you.
“There are threats all over the pitch. I think our defensive line is going to have to be solid. Whenever you get to international rugby that’s a non-negotiable (but) certainly against South Africa it’s going to have to be top notch.”
