SPORTING A BLACK beard these days, James Ryan looks the part of the grizzled, experienced lock.
It doesn’t seem that long ago that a fresh-faced Ryan was exploding onto the international scene and playing a major role in Ireland’s 2018 Grand Slam success in his first Six Nations campaign.
The Dublin man hasn’t missed a Six Nations since. Yes, there have been injuries that kept him out of certain games but Ryan has played at least twice in every championship since his debut in the competition. He started all five wins of the 2023 Grand Slam.
He’s still only 28 but already has 67 caps for his country, meaning he’s well on the way to joining the centurions’ club.
The Leinster second row has a good sense of what it takes to excel at the highest level but it’s not like he’s resting on his laurels. You might have noticed how his ball-carrying has been more explosive this season.
It’s something Ryan has spent time working on in the last few months. He does his technical ‘extras’ out on the pitch after training and has benefited from analysis sessions with one of the best-ever Irish ball carriers and now one of his Leinster coaches.
“Sean O’Brien has been great for me,” says Ryan. “We’ve done a bit of work around different things.
“Obviously, he was such a good carrier when he played so it’s been useful to have some conversations with him and he’s given me a few cues that I’ve tried to work with and I think have worked well for me.”
Ryan’s two big linebreaks against Clermont in December were great reminders of his athleticism.
“It doesn’t happen very often, so it’s fun,” says Ryan.
“It’s very different from the nuts and bolts of being a lock, it’s good craic. I got a bit of slagging over it but it’s good fun.”
The improvement in Ryan’s ball-carrying has been just one part of his excellent form since the end of last season when he returned from a bicep injury to play a big role in Ireland beating the Springboks in their second Test in Durban.
He has continued in that vein this season, delivering consistently strong performances for province and county. His Ireland forwards coach, Paul O’Connell, is thrilled with Ryan’s form ahead of this weekend’s Six Nations opener against England.
“Even this morning we showed James McNabney an image of James Ryan lineout jumping and his drill and how he’s gone about delivering that,” says O’Connell.
“I think his carry this year has been the best it’s been in a long time. When he came on to the scene first he carried a lot of ball. It probably wasn’t as structured as it is now but I think his carry this year has been excellent.
“His tackle for the last two years has been in a phenomenal place in terms of his collision winning and in terms of his height for a tall man. He’s held in high regard by the group. He doesn’t say a lot, James, but when he speaks he’s very accurate.”
O’Connell underlined that Ryan needs to be playing well because of the competition in the second row. The experienced Tadhg Beirne and Iain Henderson are in that mix, Joe McCarthy has burst onto the scene since 2022, while Cormac Izuchukwu is developing strongly too.
McCarthy’s emergence as a heavy, powerful tighthead lock has meant Ryan has switched to the loosehead side of the scrum which always seemed a more natural fit but he says there isn’t much difference between the roles.
“For me, there’s not much difference between four and five, really, at all. Scrummaging at tighthead lock isn’t necessarily harder than scrummaging at four. They’re very similar for me.”
It’s hard to escape the impression that Ryan is just more relaxed about his rugby these days. It never seemed like being the captain for Leinster or Ireland was a completely comfortable fit for Ryan. He is no longer the co-captain of Leinster and he steps up to do the job less often for both sides.
Throw in the fact that Beirne has become the primary lineout caller with Ireland and it seems as though Ryan is enjoying a narrower focus on his own jobs as a second row.
Those who work with him say that Ryan remains incredibly studious and on top of all the detail required but he seems to be less stressed by all the demands of being a top player.
“I guess I’m at a level now where I think I have a better idea now than I did when I was a bit younger in terms of what I need to get across in the week of a Test match, what boxes do I need to tick and what’s going to give me confidence in terms of my preparation in order to go out and perform on the weekend,” is Ryan’s own view on the matter.
“I think I’ve a good plan in terms of what I need to do both off the pitch and on the pitch every week to go into a game feeling like I’ve the right to perform, if that makes sense.”
He has interests outside of rugby now too, which undoubtedly helps. Ryan is involved with a restaurant called Dash Burger and enjoys switching off from the game when he can.
“Loads of lads have little things outside of rugby, interests and so on,” he says. “I’m getting a bit older, having a bit going on outside the game is useful too.”
With Ryan happy at home in Dublin and with his rugby going well, it was something of a no-brainer for him to extend his IRFU national contract until 2028.
The three-year deal was announced last month and Ryan was delighted to get it done.
“You have to weigh up a couple of things but it was pretty straightforward in the end,” he says.
“I want to keep playing for Ireland. Playing for Ireland has given me so much. It’s all I’ve ever wanted to do since I was so young. I feel like my game is in a good place and I also feel that hopefully our best days for Ireland are ahead of us.”
Ryan will have a major part to play if that’s to be the case.
He’s responded fantasticly to getting usurped by McCarthy. I, and many others, were wrong in thinking his Ireland days were going to limited. He’s clearly added to his game, a bit like JVDF did a cpl years ago. Fair play to him
Brillent player so underrated