IT WAS A small moment in the early stages of the game which served as an indication of what was to come.

There’s just over a minute on the clock when Sam Prendergast gets his second touch on the ball since kick-off, playing a short pass inside to Peter O’Mahony. As the 21-year-old releases the ball, Scotland hooker Dave Cherry lands a hit on the out-half, forcing him back. While the play moves on, James Ryan – to the left of the below clip – takes exception to Cherry’s actions and makes a point of intervening.

Ryan has spoken about wanting to bring an ‘edge’ on the pitch and he’s been an aggressive, impactful presence across Ireland’s opening two Six Nations wins against England and Scotland.

Joe McCarthy started all of Ireland’s Test matches in 2024 but with a facial injury ruling the powerful lock out of the opening Six Nations fixtures, Simon Easterby has opted for a second row combination of Ryan and Tadhg Beirne, with the experienced duo making a strong start to the championship.

For Ryan, it’s been a continuation of a fine run of form dating back to the close of the 2023/24 season. Ryan started just one game in last year’s Six Nations (v Italy) while making two further appearances off the bench (v France and Wales), before a bicep injury ruled him out of the games against England and Scotland.

He recovered from that injury to play a big part in Ireland’s summer tour to South Africa (starting the second Test) and has kicked on again with Leinster and Ireland this season. The 28-year-old feels he is playing better rugby than he was this time last year – when he was also Leinster co-captain – and has credited Leinster coach Sean O’Brien with helping him improve his ball-carrying and close contact work.

Beirne still tends to move between the second row and back row. He started four games at lock in last year’s Six Nations and stayed there for the opening Test against South Africa, before reverting to the back row for the second. In November, he was used three times at six and once in the second row.

The Munster captain tends to bring more highlight moments to games while Ryan has worked tirelessly around the pitch and been a nuisance at the breakdown.

A typical example comes in this sequence, where he has three quick involvements as Ireland threatened against England.

First, after Bundee Aki carries off a long throw at the Irish lineout, Ryan gets in to make the cleanout.

He then quickly moves back into position to act as a decoy runner in a move which sees Sam Prendergast and Mack Hansen link-up before Ryan Baird breaks out wide.

When Baird is then tackled to the ground, Ryan is alert to prevent Maro Itoje slowing down Ireland’s ball on the floor.

Ryan got through lots of this unseen work and was also important at the setpiece on a good day for the lineout. With England generally not contesting the Ireland throw, Ryan was a safe target for Rónan Kelleher, claiming two throws.

Scotland put more pressure on Ireland at the lineout, with Ryan winning one lineout and losing one.

The Leinster player made nine tackles against England and 11 against Scotland, with some of his low tackle work standing out.

This example late in the Scotland game led to Jack Conan getting in for a big turnover, killing Scotland’s momentum in the Ireland 22. 

Ryan shoots up to wrap around Gregor Brown’s legs, before Conan gets in to win possession back for Ireland.

That aggression in defence has become a big part of Ryan’s game. Earlier in the Scotland match, Ryan and Beirne both played a role as Ireland’s pressure forced Scotland to turn over the ball on halfway.

Beirne has been just as aggressive as his second row partner across the opening two games. In this example he combines with Robbie Henshaw to wrap around Duhan van der Merwe and ground the winger as Scotland look to break down the wing.

Beirne had 12 tackles against both England and Scotland, keeping a high workrate through. Here, he shoots up but recovers to catch Harry Randell as the England scrum-half tries to snipe. 

And Beirne has been a big presence at the lineout. He plucked three balls from the air against England and four in Murrayfield.

He’s also been a disrupter on opposition ball. Even when Beirne hasn’t been able to make a steal, he’s either come close or managed to get a hand in to ensure the ball isn’t delivered cleanly.

And Beirne’s athleticism and skillset has proved valuable in attack. He scored Ireland’s third try against England, running the support line after James Lowe peeled off the Munster player to break through.

And joining the Ireland attack to show good hands, such as this neat pass out the back to Prendergast.

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And this quick release to Aki while under pressure.

There’s been the usual excellent work on the ground too. Beirne won a massive turnover against England to frustrate the visitors after Freddie Steward had done well to win the ball in the air.

Yet perhaps his most impressive contributions have been as part of Ireland’s defensive maul effort.

In this example against Scotland, Beirne forces his way through and uses his strength to win the ball back.

Both locks have had some frustrating moments – Ryan giving away a cheap penalty early on against England, Beirne slipping off the odd tackle in the same game – but overall the two have been an important part of Ireland’s impressive start to the tournament.

With McCarthy hoping to get back into the mix for the round three game against Wales, it will be interesting to see if Easterby decides against breaking up a partnership that is working so well.