Donnacha Ryan: I wasn’t confident of being here a few months ago

A metre quicker, a lot calmer and much much wiser, Donnacha Ryan has really got on his bike since the last World Cup.

It was four years ago in New Plymouth, New Zealand, that the Ireland lock, overlooked by Declan Kidney for the opening game against the United States, went for a pedal into town to meet some pals visiting from Australia and ended up on the wrong side of the law.

“I didn’t play the first game against America,” Ryan recalled yesterday, “but I went to meet some friends in a local bar”.