Earls: I’ve no fear for Ringrose

KEITH EARLS understands the difficult situation his Ireland teammate Garry Ringrose finds himself in this week. On Saturday, the Leinster star is due to become the third man to start in the 13 shirt over the course of four Six Nations games this season, with Chris Farrell last week joining Robbie Henshaw on the sidelines after picking up a knee ligament injury.

As a result, Ringrose will be tasked with stepping into the white heat of a crucial Six Nations Test match despite only recently returning from his own injury nightmare.

The 23-year didn’t play any rugby this season until December after a lengthy lay-off following shoulder surgery, before being struck down with an ankle problem in January.

With Gregor Townsend’s revitalised Scotland travelling to Dublin on the back of a first win over England in a decade, there is understandably concern over Ringrose’s lack of gametime, which totals just 113 minutes with Leinster since the New Year’s Day defeat of Connacht.

And Earls (below), who is also capable of playing centre, knows first-hand the challenge facing his young teammate.

‘In 2010 I think I was out for about six months with my groin and I was back training a week and I done my ankle and I was out for another four weeks,’ he said.

‘I was put back into a Heineken Cup game after six months out, I started against London Irish. I remember sucking diesel after three minutes, Dougie Howlett telling me to “get up”.

‘It is a massive challenge if Ringer does step in, [but] he is a different breed. He is lean, I think he has unbelievable fitness anyway so if he steps in I don’t think there will be any fear of his fitness.’

Earls is well placed to discuss how Ringrose’s mindset might be, as the two have gone through a number of similar experiences in the early days of their careers.

And the 30-year-old remembers how he feared for the Dubliner’s development when he burst onto the scene and sparked comparisons to Brian O’Driscoll. ‘When Ringer was coming through and he was being compared to Drico, I remember saying “oh God, that poor young fella”... I said there’s nothing worse than that, you just need to leave him be himself. ‘I suppose I had been compared to Drico as well and it was the worst thing ever, because I was trying to be like Drico or trying to be better than Drico. ‘Ringer is a very quiet fella, he’ll speak when he has to speak but his workrate is phenomenal. He gets on with his job and he’s a really intelligent fella. He’s 23 now so he’s still extremely young, but I think he’s definitely a lot better than I was when I was 23.’ Despite the injury concerns, Earls believes that with three wins under their belt, Ireland have been steadily improving over the course of their Six Nations campaign. A dramatic last-gasp win in Paris was followed by an eight-try defeat of Italy and a thrilling 37-27 triumph over Wales at Lansdowne Road. Now, only Scotland and a bruised England lie in the way of a first Grand Slam since 2009. ‘The longer you go on with any team, you get better and you improve,’ Earls continued. ‘There are a lot of young lads. It was good during the summer [tour of the US and Japan]. ‘Now they are starting to prove that week-on-week. The level the younger lads are at these days is going through the roof. ‘I remember getting home [from the US and Japan] and speaking with my old man, chatting about the tour. I was like, “I can’t believe the talent that’s coming through”. ‘Even people on the street, they were coming up to me and saying that it looked like Ireland is in a good place for a while. ‘They couldn’t believe the ages of the lads when I was telling them they were 20 and 21.’ With a Grand Slam on the line, the next fortnight is sure to test the credentials of this promising young group.