HIS LAST TWO outings with Ireland in Twickenham have been days to forget, so Ross Byrne will clearly be hoping for a much happier experience this time around.
The 25-year-old out-half started last year’s World Cup warm-up hammering at the hands of England on what was a miserable day for Irish rugby as Joe Schmidt’s side were beaten on a record 42-point margin.
With Ireland struggling to get any quality possession from set-piece, it was a very tough outing for Byrne on his first Test start in searing heat in London. He ended up missing out on the World Cup squad a week later as Jack Carty got the nod ahead of him.
Earlier this year, Byrne came off the bench for the closing minutes of the Six Nations defeat to Eddie Jones’ side and managed to make a decent impression as Johnny Sexton moved into midfield and Andy Farrell’s men at least finished strongly.
Understandably, Byrne isn’t very keen to reflect on those days again as he instead underlines how different this Ireland squad is now.
For starters, they will be without captain and out-half Johnny Sexton, perhaps opening the door for Byrne to start in the number 10 shirt.
The Leinster man feels he is better set than ever if called upon for just his second Test start.
“I think I’ve come a long way, obviously playing most weeks for Leinster makes a big difference,” says eight-times capped Byrne.
“I think the more game time you get, the more experience, certainly in the big games, makes a huge difference. So I think my all-round game has been developing nicely. I definitely feel like I’ve put myself in a good place.”
Byrne says the job of bossing a team around is something he finds comes to him naturally.
“It doesn’t really faze me at all, it’s something I’ve always done no matter what environment I’ve been in. Once I’m in the team and I’m playing it comes pretty naturally to me and I consider it one of my strengths, so I enjoy it.”
While they’re obviously in direct competition, Byrne says himself and Billy Burns – former U20 international opponents – have been working well together in Ireland camp along with Sexton, the three out-halves meeting regularly to discuss trends and tactics.
“II suppose it’s great having three 10s who probably view the game in slightly different ways. We can all pick little things off each other and the overall aim is to make sure Ireland is going forward in the right direction.”
One area that Ireland’s playmakers will definitely have been discussing heavily this week is the kicking battle, in which Ireland have come off much the worse on their last three outings against the English.
Jones’ side have manipulated and exploited Ireland’s backfield and they are certainly one of the global leaders in this regard.
“They’re probably the benchmark and I think they are a lot further along their journey that we are,” says Byrne.
“They have probably been doing it for the last three or four years so it’s something I’d imagine they talk about a lot during the week and they probably rep during the week.
“I suppose the players they have probably played similarly at club level as well so it’s quite natural for them to do it when they play for England. They have had success off the back of it, so when you have success doing something you are unlikely to change it.
“It’s something we’ve definitely worked hard at, particularly in the last few games and in training. It’s something we are very aware of in the game at the moment.”
