THE YEAR IS 2017. James Ryan is 21 and yet to be capped by Leinster. Yet Joe Schmidt sees something special in the young second row and brings him on Ireland’s summer tour to the USA and Japan.
It comes at the end of a testing year for Ryan. Taking part in a Captain’s Run with UCD before an AIL clash with Lansdowne, Ryan suffers a high-grade hamstring tear. It sidelines him for over six months. That May, as Ryan works his way back to full fitness, Schmidt arranges for him to line out for a Munster development side against the Ireland U20s at Thomond Park. The next month Schmidt hands Ryan his first Test cap in New Jersey.
“Joe was huge for me,” says Ryan, speaking after a light training session in Abbotstown yesterday.
“A big influence for me and my own career. I learned a lot about how to prepare, how to be a player and how to perform at the top level consistently, as much on the pitch as off the pitch, what it takes to perform in terms of the preparation you need to put in.
“Tools like visualisation, Joe used to go to the ‘mind gym’ a lot. They were all things I learned in the first year of my career that I still do today, so a big influence for me.”
Ryan came in on the cusp of a golden period for Schmidt’s Ireland team, which coincided with a trophy-laded spell for Leinster. Within a year of his Ireland debut the second row would be a Grand Slam, Pro 14 and Champions Cup winner. Ryan played for club and country 24 times before he lost a game of pro rugby. Schmidt had the national team on the rise, and the foundations he laid at Leinster between 2010 and 2013 were an important part of the success the province enjoyed later that decade.
“Obviously what he did with Leinster was amazing. [Michael] Cheika came in and sort of changed the mentality a bit and maybe the perception of Leinster and then I think he sort of took over the mantle. Brought it to a new level.
“I would say maybe he changed the expectation at a national level of what could be achieved. Some of the wins obviously stand out, beating New Zealand in Chicago, beating them at home for the first time. The Grand Slam in 2018.
I would say the ambition changed because of his legacy.”
Ryan feels Schmidt’s impact is still being felt to this day. Players like Garry Ringrose, Josh van der Flier, Robbie Henshaw, Tadhg Furlong, Tadhg Beirne and Andrew Porter also came through at Test level under Schmidt’s watch.
“So many guys learned so much from him,” Ryan continues. “How to prepare and everything. Just the standards that are required every week. Even Paul O’Connell, he definitely had a huge influence on him – he’d say that himself. So his legacy lives on, I would say.”
O’Connell can offer a different perspective. The current Ireland forwards coach was already a battle-hardened second row and a legend of Irish rugby by the time Schmidt took on the Ireland job in 2013.
“I was older when Joe came to Ireland,” O’Connell says. “I think one of the things he was good at is letting you know what he expected from you, then you could go and chase that down and you knew that if you delivered A, B and C, you had a good chance of being picked.
“I probably stopped trying to be a second-row that I was seeing on TV that was doing things really well and trying to copy that. I knew what I had to be good at, and I really enjoyed that.
He was very clear in how he coached. I think coaching had moved on a lot but we were still relying a little bit on emotion at times, whereas he was technically very good.
“Everyone talks about his detail. He had very good teaching principles. He wouldn’t just tell you what he wanted you to do, through the sessions he would actually give you a pathway of how to actually change the habit and get better at something. That was a really enjoyable aspect for me.”
It also informed how O’Connell would approach his own coaching career. The man who famously asked his teammates for ‘manic aggression’ in a Croke Park dressing room relies less on emotion since swapping his playing boots for the clipboard and whistle. The game, and it’s players, have moved on.
“You’re probably trying to give the players a nice, simple plan and some simple information that can help them do the job, but you’re trying to stay as clear as possible.
I think the emotion is probably the icing on the cake now, whereas maybe back in my day it was the whole cake, we weren’t too worried about the icing!”
Schmidt’s ways left a lasting impression on O’Connell, with some of the New Zealander’s ideas around the breakdown still relevant for this current group of Irish players.
“We would still do bits and pieces of what he had in place back in the day. Everyone is probably doing some kind of version of the same thing at the breakdown anyway but we still have bits and pieces of the language that he used to use. That was a big part of how he coached.
“He was the first ever coach really that I experienced that was very consistent in how he spoke about various parts of the game and because of that you had real clarity in what was expected in different parts of the game and the ruck was no different.”
Schmidt is back in Ireland this week as head coach of the Wallabies, and an obvious narrative is that he’ll have an inside track on this Irish team – even if some of the main characters have moved on since his time in charge. Ireland’s World Cup quarter-final defeat to New Zealand last year remains fresh in the memory. At the time, Schmidt was an assistant coach with the All Blacks and his fingerprints were all over some of their best moments at the Stade de France.
“His rugby brain, his strike plays are always world class,” says Ryan.
“That’s a conversation that we’ve had. There is going to be something that we probably haven’t seen. So for us, it’s just making sure we are loaded for everything really, defensively, because I’ve no doubt he will have a few tricks up his sleeve.”
Kidney was a very good Irish coach but Schmidt brought Ireland to a new consistent level of achievement and confidence. It’s a testament to Joe that POC says that many of his coaching methods are still relevant to the present day.
@Tom Reilly: True, Deccie was old school in terms of tactics and training but he knew how to create a winning culture. I think he’d still make a good DOR somewhere but ideally you’d have someone else doing the hands on coaching (which Schmidt does). I think Munster could do worse than put Deccie and Prendergast together in a DOR/ HC combo allowing later to really concentrate on the coaching
@Michael Corkery: Dream set up, everyone happy.
Michael Cheika and Joe Schmidt, in my opinion, have been the most influential coaches in shaping the direction of Irish rugby. Cheika transformed Leinster from a middling team into a world-class outfit, revolutionizing their style of play. Joe Schmidt built on that success, introducing a robust structure that allowed Ireland to thrive, notably in the Six Nations. Andy Farrell, with his unique approach, has further strengthened this solid foundation, guiding Ireland to the top of the world rankings—even if a World Cup quarterfinal victory remains elusive. It’s been an incredible journey all around!
@Con Cussed: you can’t have a discussion about most influential coaches in Irish rugby without Declan Kidney being highly involved in the discussion. 1st Irish coach to win HC (with all countries involved) and then to retain it. 1st Ito win 6n’s GS and championship in pro era. I think Schmidt built on that brilliantly but the taste fir success was already there. I’d agree that Schmidt is arguably the most influential but Cherika well behind Kidney in overall impact
@Michael Corkery: Can’t agree with your logic. Kidney was better than O’Sullivan but ended up playing the same players most of the time irrespective of form and which led to his eventual termination as Irish coach.
Cheka led the the way for change in Irish rugby, otherwise Leinster would have been just another Munster. Thankfully as a result of Graham Rowntree’s involvement Munster have begun to change playing style which is much more attractive on the eye. So Irish rugby have a lot to be thankful for from the external coaching influences we had and continue to have.
@Con Cussed: From an outsider looking in, I remember when Brian Odriscoll shot on the scene which was I think in the early noughties that’s when we started seeing the start of golden generation irish team come out of nowhere (and they just got better and better and phenomenal today) . I think that was kidney back then but yes I most recall the impact Schmidt has on the Ireland setup going from a decent side to a excellent one. Cheika was also immense when he came in so all of these coaches had a huge impact
@Con Cussed: facts are facts. Kidney was the first to start winning trophies with Munster and Ireland. He smashed the ceiling there – the impact was huge. Maybe you’re too young to recall but the mentality changed really at that time from plucky losers to ‘we should be winning things’ first in Munster, then to Ireland . Style of play or debates around selection are irrelevant in the scheme of things. What matters is winning. Schmidt was also conservative in selection and style of play.
I know Ulster were first to technically win EC but that was w/o English clubs.
@Stuart: I’d have to disagree with some elements of that although I can understand how that seemed from the outside. The breakthrough of the Irish team was built on the foundation of the Munster pack and half backs. 1-10 for Ireland was Munster more or less and that was what won us games. The Leinster backs decided by how much as the old cliche goes. That said, Drico, D’Arcy, Hickie, Horgan to an extent we’re also vital players
@Con Cussed: « orherwise Leinster would have been just another Munster ». Gosh, I have to take issue with that statement. Munster « just » won 2 EC in the noughties before Cherika had done anything with Leinster. It’s a bit like saying « orherwise Stade Toulousain would have been just another Leinster » And tbh, apart from getting Leinster over the line, Cherika didn’t set up the school feeder system and professional structure that has maintained the current level of talent in Leinster. His influence on that Leinster team was undoubtedly huge but he is way behind Kidney, Schmidt and Farrell in influence on Irish rugby.
@Michael Corkery: that’s fair enough for me a young O’Driscoll breaking on the scene and the dazzling displays he was able to do that were off the charts really got me and probably the rest of the world to notice Ireland . And so too popularized the sport here too being such a Role model together with the class of talent at the time ..yes I remember the Irish sides back then with the largely Munster packs and stringer/ROG as half back pairings if I can recall
@Michael Corkery: Sorry, Kidney was and is a good coach but he’s not the level of Cheka. He also was in charge of the first Irish defeat by Italy which brought about his downfall. Munster were great at that time but never evolved their playing style when NH rugby did. Hence the remark about Leinster just being another Munster. Until Cheka’s involvement the style of Leinster rugby was just attritional rugby, mostly copying Munster playbook, as they had won 2 ECs. Leinster evolved, whereas Munster rugby did not, at least not until recently.
@Stuart: exactly Drico stood out through his amazing talent. But so did Sergio Parisse at least for me. The difference was Drico was surrounded by competent players, certainly not at the same level of outright talent but some of his colleagues, O’Connell, Flannery, O’Gara, Wallace, Leany were also world class
@Con Cussed: I think you’re mixing up your dislike of Kidneys selection policy (not picking the players you preferred) and his style of play from the very separate argument about who had more influence or impact on Irish rugby. That was clearly Kidney (relative to Cheika) – it’s not even arguable
@Michael Corkery: As a Leinster fan I agree with your comment. Kidney was a super coach,second only to Schmidt.
@Michael Corkery: totally agree re Parisse…in all team sports there are stand out players on poor teams that win nothing. Ireland very fortunate to have a group of great players that came together at the same time, which probably belies the fact that we didn’t get further on the world stage i.e WC.
@Michael Corkery: It is obviously arguable since we both disagree. You are entitled to your opinion as I am to mine. Kidney did well and as you state Ulster won the first EC, which was later won twice by Munster. Kidney was better than O’Sullivan and a good manager but he didn’t evolve the Irish game, this came later under Schmidt. There was an issue with player selection as he opted to play players based on their history and not their form (as O’Sullivan had done previously). The latter led to the loss against Italy and the removal of Kidney. If he had been as good as you said he wouldn’t have been removed.
@Con Cussed: I think you’re completely missing the point unfortunately. One loss v Italy is not relevant to anything but you keep mentioning it. I also never argued that Kidney was more influential than Schmidt, on the contrary despite you’re last post inferring that. You argue Cheika is more influential than Kidney. That’s clearly wrong – Cheka had almost no influence on Irish rugby outside of Leinster. Let’s agree to disagree as our positions are too far apart.
@Con Cussed: Never liked Cheika, different times tho, different players, makes for difficult comparisons.
Think it will be similar to Argentina. They’ll be obviously very dangerous in loose play but Ireland too organised ultimately, hope they play that new centre, very entertaining player AND would open up midfield for our attack nicely ;)… Lions tour they will be a different beast, JS just needs more time.