Irish Daily Star - Inside Sport
RINGROSE EYES BIG MILESTONE
THERE was a scramble in the Ringrose household for Murrayfield tickets this week with a milestone set to be reached.
Garry, the Leinster and Ireland centre, was picked to make his 50th Test appearance a fortnight ago in Rome and his loved ones all made the trip.
The 28-year-old was in the Stadio Olimpico alright — but by the time his tribe took off from Dublin Airport, they knew he wouldn’t be involved because of a calf problem.
“Yeah, they were in Rome,” he smiled. “They know the nature of the beast (in terms of injuries), so they were OK about it.
“Having the break week and being able to box clever last week to then go into this training week has helped it. So good to go, thankfully.
Flights
“This week I had to figure out flights and stuff because obviously I had to find out the team but either way they’ll be supporting me anyway.”
Coincidentally, his first Six Nations game was at Murrayfield in 2017 in Ireland’s last defeat to the Scots, which was seven meetings ago.
“Yeah, it would mean a huge amount,” said the Dubliner of reaching the landmark. “It’s one of those things, I’d love to thank people individually because there’s a hell of a lot of them that have helped me get this far.
“So yeah, it would be unbelievably special to get that chance and you want to do them right or do them proud. But at the same time it’s ultimately back to the process and to do my job as best as I can.”
Ringrose’s absence in midfield was keenly felt at the Stadio Olimpico as Bundee Aki struggled defensively in that unfamiliar outside centre role in a new partnership with Stuart McCloskey.
It is Ringrose and Aki who will pair up in Edinburgh tomorrow.
“With all the centres, there is a level of expectation to be cohesive and deliver,” Ringrose remarked.
“I didn’t exactly make it easy for Bundee Aki being a late pull-out and he adapted unbelievably well. I don’t think he’s played 13 before for Ireland, he has done the job there for Connacht.
Similar
“No matter who the personnel were, it was going to be tough because of how Italy attack — France had trouble against them and arguably Italy should have won that game.
“They caused similar problems to us but mentally our lads were strong to be able to stick at it and ultimately get the five points.”
Scotland have the ability to attack with real intent in a similar fashion to the Italians, and Ireland have worked hard in training over the past week and more to deal with that threat.
“I’d have a huge amount of respect for them,” Ringrose commented. “Players don’t pay any attention to rankings or ‘top teams’ because we all know the top 10 or 15 teams in the world can all beat each other.
“They have exceptional players and how they’re playing at the moment, you can see how much trouble it’s causing teams in attack.”