ANDY FARRELL’S IMMEDIATE review of Ireland’s brilliant defeat of England on Saturday included mention of his players “getting out of their own way.”
Shortly after Farrell had completed his media duties, Garry Ringrose entered the mixed zone interview area and was asked to shed a little light on his head coach’s words.
“Yeah, he always challenges us not to suppress ourselves, I guess,” Ringrose said.
“On the biggest stage against quality opposition and pressure moments that can happen to any individual, that you kind of suppress yourself.
“If you try and zoom out and think what do your family want to see, what do your friends want to see, what do your teammates want to see, regardless of good, bad or ugly that’s happened. People only ever want to see, the ones that are proper close to you, they only ever want to see the best version of you.
“That’s what it means to me and us. That no matter what happens result-wise, in the moment, good, bad or ugly in the game, it’s just to challenge yourself, not to suppress yourself and grow bigger and attack the next moment.”
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Easier said than done?
“It’s difficult, it’s very difficult but that’s why we have Gary Keegan that works for us and all the coaches buy in and are across the same messages. When you prepare you want things to go right, you want to deliver to your potential but that’s rarely the case and that’s the reality.
Ringrose tackles England's Jack van Poortvliet. Ben Brady / INPHO
Ben Brady / INPHO / INPHO
“Even there today, stuff goes wrong but it’s to get out of your own way and not suppress yourself, that’s always a challenge. The same can be said after France when maybe there’s negative noise outside, it’s the same message. Think of the people close to you, what do they want to see, don’t suppress yourself and keep attacking the next moment.
“That’s always the case and that’s the message he consistently drives.
“We work hard and commit to what we’re doing. The coaches put in a plan but then the players try and own a bit of the plan as well and drive it on.
“The belief is there,” Ringrose added.
“I guess after the French game, I remember doing a media thing with Virgin and they were kind of questioning the belief, which was kind of unusual because I know maybe the result wasn’t there. But the belief is always there because it’s such an honour and privilege to play for Ireland and it comes with pressure.
But that’s the nature of the beast. As I said, that wasn’t any different this week. It’s an honour, privilege, pressure and then we have that belief and thankfully it clicked out there for us at times.”
The end result was Ireland’s best performance since the 2024 win in South Africa, with Farrell’s players relentless in defence while some of their slick attacking rugby looked as sharp as it did during that brilliant run of form across 2022 and 2023.
“Yeah, I guess for us maybe trying not to look back, to try and recreate something. There’s a standard the coaches drive for us, a level that we want to perform at and I guess we did closer to that (v England) than we had the previous two weeks.
“Some of the things clicked but there’s loads of fine margins, loads of intangibles that happen in a game. When you get them right then the other stuff looks a little bit more effortless so I think there’s a bit of that there today as well.”
At 31, Ringrose is one of the senior figures in Farrell’s squad, which now has a slightly fresher feel to it. Younger or less experienced faces like Jamie Osborne, Robert Baloucoune and Tommy O’Brien are adding a different energy, while more long-serving players like Tadhg Beirne, Josh van der Flier and Jamison Gibson-Park were back to their best in London.
“I’m still hanging on to some of the young lads thankfully,” Ringrose said.
“A few of the lads were great, even someone like Stu (McCloskey), his journey, it was class to see him going as well as he is.
“For him the belief has always been there. The players trust and believe in him. He’s delivered on it as well so for me it’s class to play alongside him. The two centres that go out are representing the wider group. We work closely and he’s certainly leading from the front.”
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It was the third game in a row where Ringrose and McCloskey started alongside each other in the Ireland midfield.
“Yeah, it’s great. I feel lucky to play alongside him. He’s going particularly well and today he was brilliant. It’s kind of the off the pitch or outside of the 80 minutes, we are working hard as a centres group, as a unit to try and get things right, be adaptable as to who’s in there and all be on the same page, while also then bringing that kind of uniqueness and individual quality.
“We’re all buying into the collective and he’s properly delivering on bringing his uniqueness and individual strengths which has been evident the last few games.”
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'The belief is always there. It's an honour and privilege to play for Ireland' - Ringrose
ANDY FARRELL’S IMMEDIATE review of Ireland’s brilliant defeat of England on Saturday included mention of his players “getting out of their own way.”
Shortly after Farrell had completed his media duties, Garry Ringrose entered the mixed zone interview area and was asked to shed a little light on his head coach’s words.
“Yeah, he always challenges us not to suppress ourselves, I guess,” Ringrose said.
“On the biggest stage against quality opposition and pressure moments that can happen to any individual, that you kind of suppress yourself.
“If you try and zoom out and think what do your family want to see, what do your friends want to see, what do your teammates want to see, regardless of good, bad or ugly that’s happened. People only ever want to see, the ones that are proper close to you, they only ever want to see the best version of you.
“That’s what it means to me and us. That no matter what happens result-wise, in the moment, good, bad or ugly in the game, it’s just to challenge yourself, not to suppress yourself and grow bigger and attack the next moment.”
Easier said than done?
“It’s difficult, it’s very difficult but that’s why we have Gary Keegan that works for us and all the coaches buy in and are across the same messages. When you prepare you want things to go right, you want to deliver to your potential but that’s rarely the case and that’s the reality.
“Even there today, stuff goes wrong but it’s to get out of your own way and not suppress yourself, that’s always a challenge. The same can be said after France when maybe there’s negative noise outside, it’s the same message. Think of the people close to you, what do they want to see, don’t suppress yourself and keep attacking the next moment.
“That’s always the case and that’s the message he consistently drives.
“We work hard and commit to what we’re doing. The coaches put in a plan but then the players try and own a bit of the plan as well and drive it on.
“The belief is there,” Ringrose added.
“I guess after the French game, I remember doing a media thing with Virgin and they were kind of questioning the belief, which was kind of unusual because I know maybe the result wasn’t there. But the belief is always there because it’s such an honour and privilege to play for Ireland and it comes with pressure.
The end result was Ireland’s best performance since the 2024 win in South Africa, with Farrell’s players relentless in defence while some of their slick attacking rugby looked as sharp as it did during that brilliant run of form across 2022 and 2023.
“Yeah, I guess for us maybe trying not to look back, to try and recreate something. There’s a standard the coaches drive for us, a level that we want to perform at and I guess we did closer to that (v England) than we had the previous two weeks.
“Some of the things clicked but there’s loads of fine margins, loads of intangibles that happen in a game. When you get them right then the other stuff looks a little bit more effortless so I think there’s a bit of that there today as well.”
At 31, Ringrose is one of the senior figures in Farrell’s squad, which now has a slightly fresher feel to it. Younger or less experienced faces like Jamie Osborne, Robert Baloucoune and Tommy O’Brien are adding a different energy, while more long-serving players like Tadhg Beirne, Josh van der Flier and Jamison Gibson-Park were back to their best in London.
“I’m still hanging on to some of the young lads thankfully,” Ringrose said.
“A few of the lads were great, even someone like Stu (McCloskey), his journey, it was class to see him going as well as he is.
“For him the belief has always been there. The players trust and believe in him. He’s delivered on it as well so for me it’s class to play alongside him. The two centres that go out are representing the wider group. We work closely and he’s certainly leading from the front.”
It was the third game in a row where Ringrose and McCloskey started alongside each other in the Ireland midfield.
“Yeah, it’s great. I feel lucky to play alongside him. He’s going particularly well and today he was brilliant. It’s kind of the off the pitch or outside of the 80 minutes, we are working hard as a centres group, as a unit to try and get things right, be adaptable as to who’s in there and all be on the same page, while also then bringing that kind of uniqueness and individual quality.
“We’re all buying into the collective and he’s properly delivering on bringing his uniqueness and individual strengths which has been evident the last few games.”
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back on track Garry Ringrose Ireland Rugby Six Nations 2026