THIS WEEKEND HAS been a long time coming for Rhys Ruddock. The Leinster flanker was 19 when he made his Ireland debut back in 2010. Eleven years and 25 caps later, tomorrow he starts a Six Nations game for the first time.
“I only heard that there today, I was shocked by it,” says Cian Healy, a man who has soldiered alongside Ruddock for years with Leinster.
“Rhys, like he’s what you would consider the ice hockey enforcer. He’s a physical brute that is going to put his head places that most won’t. He’s going to be an asset to a team. He’s been incredible for Leinster so far this season and an opportunity came and he’s ready. He’s in incredible form and I’m looking forward to seeing him get out there.”
Ruddock put himself in the position to be selected this weekend thanks to a string of superb performances for Leinster this season, but injuries and suspensions opened a door that may have otherwise remained shut.
He’s not the only one in that boat. Jamison Gibson-Park hardly came into the week expecting to be handed the No 9 shirt. Likewise Craig Casey, who makes the bench for the first time in the absence of the injured Conor Murray. At out-half, Billy Burns is handed an immediate opportunity to move on from his unfortunate errors in Cardiff.
That’s quite the dollop of relatively untested talent in key positions.
“We’ve trained as a group to look forward to this game,” Healy continues.
“We don’t approach games with a hell of a lot of fear anyway. I think that’s regardless of who is in the squad. You’re not worried about people, you’re not trying to help people into their position. Everyone is ready to be in here, they’re here because they’re good enough to be here. We’re dealing with what we have and I think we’re in a great place.”
Another first sees Ulster’s Iain Henderson captain Ireland.
“He’s a great leader and an unbelievable brain for rugby,” Healy says.
“I think a lot of players put time and effort into their leadership skills and I’m sure he’s done that. It’s something that has to be worked on I think, it’s not something that just comes to people. You work on your leadership ability and your role.
“Whether you have a badge with ‘captain’ on it or not, you’re still that leader, you’re still that person who galvanises a group, who makes the right decisions. He’s a great candidate to step in there. He’ll do an unbelievable job because he’s one of the forefront men in the pack whether he’s playing or not. Like, he’s organising stuff during the week, he’s incredibly calm about what he does. So I’ve every faith in him.”
With 105 caps to his name, Healy is the most experienced player in Farrell’s starting 15. He first played against France 11 years ago, getting an early yellow card in a 33-10 loss in Paris. His most recent encounter against the French was a more productive outing, scoring a try and scrummaging well in last October’s defeat at the Stade de France.
Ireland will need to be on top of their game to turn over this exciting French team in Dublin. Healy seems confident of Ireland’s chances, and identifies a more ruthless edge to their attacking play as they key element missing from that October defeat.
“We got a lot of stuff set up for the most part and didn’t finish it. That’s probably the last part of the puzzle, to finish the play. You land yourself in a nice part of the pitch, you’ve everything teed up, and we might have messed up a breakdown or a pass went astray. That finishing, ruthless finishing, is what we need to be glued on for.
“It’s been pretty good at training. We’ve gone pretty full-on in training, not match mode, but that’s the sort of pressure we’ve been training under and I think it’s worked quite well for us.”
A victory would help put a shine on a testing few weeks for the 33-year-old, who came into this Six Nations camp as a new father, he and his wife welcoming their first child in January.
“It’s been a great few weeks,” he says. “I’ve really enjoyed camp, it’s been tough. There have been good battles all over the place and I think everyone is putting each other on a positive note because everyone is in the same boat, no one else can go home so I won’t be feeling too sorry (for myself) not being able to go home because there’s lads like Johnny (Sexton) and Pete (O’Mahony) who have full families at home already, a couple of kids and can’t get back to them.
“We’re in here because we want to be in here, not because we have to be here. It’s more of an honour than a plague.”
Bernard Jackman, Murray Kinsella and Gavan Casey preview Ireland-France and give their thoughts on an eventful week from Cardiff onwards:
The42 Rugby Weekly / SoundCloud
