Ryan caps off a year like none before

No Irish player has ever made such an instant impact as Ryan

‘Clearly he is a player that has been earmarked for a very long time’

TWENTY-ONE and still winning is the headline. That record doesn’t tell the story of James Ryan.

It is undoubtedly remarkable that he has now played 21 matches as a professional rugby player and is yet to lose one of them, but the numbers only partially convey the impression he has made in this campaign.

There has never been a season like this in Irish rugby. Brian O’Driscoll was a phenomenon.

Luke Fitzgerald was giving press conferences with the authority of a spin doctor when he was 18.

But there has never been a professional bow like Ryan’s.

If no player has won like him, no young Irish pro has ever played with the sustained, breathtaking level of quality he has now set as his standard, either.

He is, eight months into his senior career, world-class already.

Leo Cullen’s second-row expertise informs his analysis of the man who was Leinster’s best player in the final on Saturday.

‘It was the hope at the start of last season that he would come through and then he was away with UCD playing a club game with them and he had that hamstring injury and we were ultra-cautious in trying to manage him back from that,’ said Cullen after the match.

Ryan sustained a serious injury on duty with the university that kept the 21-year-old out for the campaign.

He was fit enough to be selected by Joe Schmidt for Ireland’s tour of the US and Japan last summer, though, meaning he joined O’Driscoll in the distinction of playing for Ireland before his province.

‘We were coming to the end (of last season) and (wondering) when is a good time to put him in,’ recalled Cullen. ‘He was obviously on the national radar as well, the fact they brought him to the States and to Japan and making his debut for Ireland before he made his debut for Leinster, it is such an unusual thing.

‘Clearly he is one that has been earmarked for a long time.’

That Cullen enjoyed such a distinguished playing career as a lock is an obvious help to Ryan. But the coach confirmed a fact stated and re-stated: Ryan is such a mature young man, that he knows already how to make use of his extraordinary athletic gifts.

‘He is a great pro already,’ said Cullen. ‘He is a wise head as well. He has good family support around him which I think is important; he has a strong family network around him.

‘He takes everything in his stride. It is pretty remarkable story what he has been through, not to have lost a game.’

Rugby is the sport, above all others, that prides itself on earning the right to shine. Young stars are acknowledged but getting their comeuppance is accepted as a ritual.

Ryan simply gets better, meeting each fresh challenge and getting past it.

Of the four locks that started Saturday’s final, three were vastly experi- enced, one of whom, Leone Nakarawa, was later named as the player of the tournament. But Ryan outshone all of them. He was tremendous in Bilbao. His standards don’t surprise Cullen.

‘Not when you see him every day,’ he smiled. ‘We see him at training every day and, bloody hell, the numbers he is able to deliver on a regular basis; training-wise as well as in all of the games,’ he added, referring to the GPS stats that measure, effectively, a player’s ability to keep going.

‘We are lucky to have him. He is a special talent. It is just important to manage him because the big thing is you want guys who can play for Leinster and Ireland for a long time, so we need to make sure we pick our battles with guys as well.

‘If he continues on in the vein he has had so far he is quite an exciting talent for sure.’

That closing comment is one of the understatements of the professional rugby era. Ryan is an Ireland captainin-waiting, and if his body stays faithful, he will be a Lion, too.

He went to St Michael’s, a private school in south Dublin that Luke also attended. The scrumhalf is a genial character, but his grin filled his face when he was asked about Ryan.

‘I just realised yesterday when I was in sixth year, he was in second year,’ smiled McGrath. ‘I actually didn’t know that. He’s a freak. He hasn’t been beaten yet, 21 now, is it? ‘It’s incredibly impressive. I remember seeing him in school and knowing he was going to be some player. He was playing No8 in the junior cup, I think. ‘He moved to second row as he got older, but he’s incredible.’ His nickname is the Big Cheese, dreamed up, according to Ryan, by Dan Leavy. It seems a name informed by irony, because there seems little about Ryan that betrays a big ego or outlandish notions about himself.

He is quiet and almost reserved in interviews. Still, the nickname has stuck. ‘It’s hard to describe Cheese,’ said McGrath. ‘He’s got a special mindset. He’s so determined.

‘He’s come through captaining sides, and the Ireland 20s as well. He’s some player. He’s almost an extra back row out there. To have that physical presence at such a young age, he’s got such a bright future.’

Ryan leads the generation Leinster fans are entitled to hope will contend for European glory for years to come.

Tadhg Furlong, Dan Leavy, Josh van der Flier, Garry Ringrose, Robbie Henshaw and Jordan Larmour are also in that number. At 25, McGrath is entitled to suppose he could be one of them as well.

‘You can see the progression of the younger lads; I like to think I’m just in that bracket.’ He was one of six players, Ringrose and Furlong too, that Cullen bravely gave their first European start in a home match against Bath in January 2016.

Leinster would finish that campaign losing five of six pool matches, but the stirrings of what flowered in Bilbao were detectable that day.

‘We have such a young squad, so the future is definitely bright,’ said McGrath, and the happiness and certainty of his words were palpable.