ON TUESDAY AT Carton House, Joe Schmidt’s senior Ireland side came face to face with an Irish team that had just claimed the scalp of England.
While Schmidt’s men suffered a 21-10 defeat in Twickenham on Saturday, Nigel Carolan’s U20s had notched a first win in their own championship with a stunning 26-20 victory over the English in Newcastle the night before.
Having trailed 20-6 at one point, all the signs were that Ireland were heading for a third consecutive defeat after losing to Wales and France in the opening rounds of the U20 Six Nations.
Instead, they carried out a remarkable comeback and, unsurprisingly, captain James Ryan was inspirational in the turnaround.
Superb against the Welsh and French in rounds one and two, the Lansdowne man once again showed his complete game, offloading, scoring a try, powering into tackles and carries, and performing reliably well at set-piece time.
There wasn’t a big moment or anything, passes just started to stick, we got a bit of luck and things started to click,” says 108kg Ryan of the comeback. “When we got that first score, we had a bit of belief and pushed on from there.
“Beating them away was great for the lads’ belief to be honest. We’re looking forward to going again. We kind of put it behind us, we are one from three and we’re not going to get too far ahead of ourselves, but it is still a big win.”
The visit of Italy to Donnybrook tomorrow week provides Carolan’s side with an opportunity to rise up the table from their current position of fifth, before they will hope to beat Scotland on the final weekend of the championship and provide a more accurate illustration of the ability they believe is within the squad.
Having trained with Schmidt’s senior squad before the England game, another outing at Carton House on Tuesday was important for Ryan and his teammates.
“That was our second training session now with the seniors, so that was great for us,” says the 6’8″ Ryan. “We reaped the benefits of the last session and I think this one will help us too.
Even just being in amongst them and getting some shoulder hits on, that kind of thing. The lads know they’re not that far away. It helps confidence-wise if they can physically step up out there, then it shouldn’t be a big issue when we take on the other teams.”
Ryan is the outstanding prospect in this Ireland U20s squad. Like all underage stars, he is a player who has some physical and skillset improvements to make yet, but his ceiling of potential looks to be extremely high.
His try-saving tackle against France was one of the best defensive moments of the season at any level of the sport.
Indeed, some commentators have already gone as far as to compare Ryan to Paul O’Connell, suggesting that the former St. Michael’s man is ready for senior rugby at this early stage.
“It’s going ok at the moment,” says Ryan by way of brushing off such comments.”I’m just really enjoying playing with this bunch of lads and it’s much easier to perform when we have a great set-up.
“We’ve all got goals, collectively and ourselves. Personally I’m going ok, but I’m more concerned with us pushing on as a team.”
Ryan says seeing the likes of Josh van der Flier and Ultan Dillane, both only 22, playing for Ireland is “encouraging” for every young player in the country, but his maturity means he’s focused solely on helping Ireland to a strong finish in the U20 Six Nations.
This summer, a World Rugby U20 Championship awaits, and with it is likely to come further evidence of Ryan’s ability and potential.
