Modesty forbids for exciting prospect Garry Ringrose

Few 21-year olds have a fan club to match that of Garry Ringrose.

It isn’t just the volume of people who have latched on to Leinster’s exciting outside-centre so much as the identity of some of them. Brian O’Driscoll has been a consistent cheerleader, Isa Nacewa says he could be world-class and Shane Horgan has beaten his drum loudly on RTÉ.

Horgan went so far as to say that the inclusion of the still raw Ringrose in the senior Ireland team could be a game-changerer, but the praise slips off the Blackrock graduate like so many futile tackles as he weaves such a promising career.

“I didn’t actually hear that,” said Ringrose of Horgan’s comments as he helped launch Leinster’s School of Excellence for 12 to 17-year olds. “But after watching the Italian game and the Scottish game I feel Ireland are trying and executing an enjoyable brand of rugby to watch. They were unlucky in the first two games away, sorry Wales first, then the two away games (against France and England). They came out the wrong side of results early on, but redeemed (themselves) and showed what they were capable of towards the end.” This is typical Ringrose.

Modesty is his default setting, especially when the chat turns inevitably to talk of when he will be deigned ready to make the step up from intermittent training sessions under Joe Schmidt at Carton House to fully-fledged Test player.

Ringrose hands off such enquiries with ease. Talk of a possible Ireland call-up for the three-Test tour to South Africa in June excites his grandparents more than the man himself, apparently. He insists his focus right now is Munster’s Guinness PRO12 visit to the Aviva Stadium on Saturday.

Schmidt would approve. The Ireland coach has long counselled caution when it comes to blooding international newbies, pointing out doing so too early carries considerable risk for them long-term, and Sean O’Brien concurred when asked about his Leinster colleague recently.

“You fire him in there this year, I guarantee he gets hurt,” said the flanker. Which brings us along nicely to the debate about physicality. Ringrose isn’t a squirt. He stands 6’ 2”, but weighs ‘only’ 93 kilos. Connacht’s Peter Robb, who he knows well from their Blackrock and Leinster underage days, is just an inch taller yet hits the scales 14 kilos heavier.

That is a considerable difference between two centres with similar birth certs but, though Ringrose admits to feeling fairly battered last Sunday after doing battle with Robb, Bundee Aki and Robbie Henshaw in Galway, he isn’t in any rush to pile on the pounds.

“It wouldn’t be at the forefront of my priorities in focusing on what I haven’t achieved. I’m over the moon to get the opportunity I have this year so far in the PRO12. Five months ago I wouldn’t have predicted I would have got over 15 caps for Leinster so I try and focus on the positives. It has definitely been a step up, going from 20s and into professional rugby, but with the progression it’s constantly been building so I feel I’ve certainly managed it okay. It is size and physicality along with several other attributes I’d be looking to improve across the board.”

Growth is figurative as well as literal, after all, and Ringrose has been soaking up feedback from centre partner Ben Te’o, his coaches at Leinster and Schmidt who called him up to train with the Ireland seniors during the Six Nations while also handing him a list of work-ons.

Remember, he is just 17 caps into his Leinster career and yet he has already faced centres of the calibre of Jonathan Joseph, Aki, Henshaw and Francis Saili. Not to mention Scarlets’ Regan King who, he said, taught him some “harsh lessons” on his third appearance back in September. The note of caution is understandable.

It took time for Ringrose to emerge as a talent at Blackrock College and was dropped by then Ireland U20s coach Mike Ruddock after two rounds of the 2014 Six Nations before ending that summer’s Junior World Cup as a nominee for the grade’s world player of the year. No-one doubts his abilities now.

He showed last December he responds to the bigger stages when treating a huge crowd at Thomond Park to an electric break that set up Isa Nacewa for a try in Leinster’s 24-7 win, so a 40,000-plus audience will await his input with excitement this Saturday.

He’s pretty pumped himself.

“There’s transition with a lot of senior players in Leinster, Ireland and Munster going and there’s opportunities for younger guys,” he said. “It’s exciting. Unfortunately, with both teams out of Europe it puts that bit more pressure on the Pro12 and on the derby itself. That adds to it.”