GRAND SLAMS ARE rare and wonderful, so most of us retain pretty clear images of our vantage point at the moment they are achieved.
James Ryan had a particularly memorable view for the dramatic finale in 2009. At 12 years of age, he had a seat in the Millenium Stadium, and at the right end too.
Ireland had a 6 – 0 deficit when they turned around after half-time to attack the end the Ryan family were seated in. So the then Lansdowne mini was in prime location to see tries from Brian O’Driscoll and Tommy Bowe, and of course the match-winning score:
“I was in the Millenium Stadium. I was facing O’Gara as he hit the drop-goal with my family, so yeah, it was pretty incredible.”
“It was one of my most memorable days as a kid,” says the Leinster lock, agreeing the experience played some part in inspiring his ascent to the professional ranks.
“It obviously played a role. Every success, whether it was Leinster winning Heineken Cups, Ireland winning the Grand Slam, it all played a role so just like any other kid really, you love seeing your team win.”
Earning his starting berth for a fourth time in the Six Nations run makes it clear that Ryan is already a first-choice for Joe Schmidt. Although the Kiwi maintains that the three-way battle for lock jerseys is a close-run thing:
“It is part of a plan over these two games that we would mix that selection up,” Schmidt said today.
“We almost did it the other way to be honest, because James Ryan had a very big game against Scotkand we thought he might benefit from coming off the bench and getting a little less time.
“But we can still manage that with Dev potentially anyway. Iain has got a little bit of time under his belt after having a couple of weeks off. We think he has probably progressed a little bit further and is more ready to go.”
Having that front-line status on top of senior caps makes this a truly incredible breakthrough year for Ryan.
He made his Test bow as recently as June, before winning his first senior cap for Leinster. Of course, Schmidt’s big plans for the big lock were well-flagged. In May, after recovering from a serious hamstring injury, he was put into Munster colours for a clash with Ireland U20s in an effort to build his match fitness for the summer tour to the US and Japan.
“It’s definitely been kind of a rollercoaster year,” says Ryan, “it’s been crazy but it’s been great.
“But I’ve been picked to do a job so I’ve a big responsibility this week, (so I won’t) be losing track of that.”
In this instance Ryan is speaking about his playing role, but he has a bit of pre-match pressure on his shoulders too after being annointed the squas DJ. So before he sets the tone physically in Twickenham, he will set the tunes all along the road from Maynooth to Twickenham. Not a straightforward task considering the 15-year age range in the squad from 20-year-old Jordan Larmour all the way up to Rory Best.
“It was a tough process, but Church believed in me and felt I had the best CV for the job,” said the Leinster man with a smile breaking through.
“The speaker’s ready for the bus now, I’ve a few songs in the queue.”
The soundtrack to an epic, and with any luck memorable, final weekend of his first Six Nations.
“Ireland don’t win Grand Slams very often, but we’ve spoken this week about not being distracted by things like that and we’re staying very focused on performance.
“We’re well aware of the magnitude of the game. Obviously, it’s no secret that it’s a big one but we’ve trained like we do every week and we’re staying focused on the task in hand and the process.”
