JAMES RYAN HAS had 57 chances to figure out what works best for him. He’s only 27 so you can imagine where his total of Irish appearances will end up. He is well on track to be a centurion.
The experience helps him to understand what gets him ready to perform at the highest level, especially in a week like this one. Ireland play South Africa on Saturday and it will take some of Ryan’s most ferocious physicality to slow them down, but he has to be clear-headed too.
Ryan is Ireland’s lineout leader and a key decision-maker, so he needs to be calm in crucial moments. Sometimes the need for clarity will come just seconds after Ryan has had to launch himself into contact against some of the biggest men in rugby. This all takes a bit of balance.
Indeed, the whole build-up to the game is a challenge of balance. Players like Ryan can’t afford to get too hyped up, but they will struggle if they’re too chilled out.
“I think it’s just sticking to what works for you,” says Ryan of this challenge. “For me, it’s kind of managing that emotion and energy as well as you can.
“Nervous energy can be kind of wasted energy so you want to get the balance right but making sure you are conversing that energy so that’s what I’m saying – do your preparation but try and kind of chill out as much as you can so you can get to the stadium and then you feel you’re in match mode then.”
In the past, Ryan has occasionally slipped over the edge of motivation, focusing too much on getting physically stuck in and letting his technical accuracy slip as a result.
But with the edge of maturity, he feels better prepared to be in the right place with his build-up.
“My preparation for me, the early part of the week, a big part of the week is about giving me confidence so I like to prepare very thoroughly on Monday and Tuesday and Wednesday and prepare as well as I can in terms of all the detail.
“And then I feel like in the run-in to the game on Thursday and Friday, that gives me the confidence to go in and be able to enjoy the game and build maybe the emotional energy that you need.
“So that’s the way I’ve always kind of structured my week and I feel like it works for me but there probably was a stage where there was a sense of kind of working out what works best for me, what plan works for me. That’s kind of it, that’s the way I like to structure it.”
Sometimes Ryan thinks that he gets less nervous about games, but then he can be hit by a rush during the pre-match meal or as he hops on the bus to the stadium.
No matter how experienced you are, those moments hit you.
Ryan likes to listen to music to get him into the right headspace to play.
“A bit of a mix to be honest,” he says of his music choice.
“I like The 1975 at the moment, they work well for me, nice and mellow, not too much, they don’t tip me overboard.”
Saturday’s 9pm kick-off in Paris means there will be plenty of time to kill but it helps that Ireland had the same against Tonga in Nantes last weekend, as well as an 8.45pm kick-off for their final warm-up clash against Samoa in Bayonne.
“I actually didn’t mind it at all,” says Ryan. “I tried to sleep in for as long as I could. I probably go to bed a little bit later on the Friday night, just because you know the game is so late on Saturday night.
“So I tried to sleep in as long as I could and then did a little bit of prep mid-morning. I went back to bed and there was some rugby on to distract myself a bit.
“So, I didn’t mind it too much, to be honest. Some lads kind of split it into two days almost, so they got up early, had breakfast and stuff and then went back to bed for a good few hours.
“But I was okay with it. I think the Samoan game probably helped as well. We got a bit of a taste of it in Bayonne. So, hopefully this week, it will be a bit easier for us as a group to get around it.”
Ryan will switch into match mode around 7pm on Saturday as Ireland jump on their bus to the game, having done his best not to get too revved up too early.
But once they arrive at Stade de France, he will ready himself for one of the biggest battles of his career.
“They’re the reigning world champions, we have a huge amount of respect for them and we know we’ve got to really step it up this week,” says Ryan.
“So there’s that added little pressure that comes with the week but we’re very excited. Getting to play the world champions in Paris, Stade de France, World Cup week, 30,000 Irish supporters in the stadium, it is very exciting. It’s a cool week to be involved in.
“Yes, there’s an added bit of edge all week but at the same time it’s just an amazing opportunity.”