Philosophical Donnacha Ryan looks to steady the lineout after recall

Donnacha Ryan would clearly rather have been in the thick of the action at Murrayfield last week rather than helping his team-mates prepare to face Scotland as a travelling reserve.

Yet having not made the matchday squad for last Saturday’s opening match of the 2017 Six Nations, the Ireland second row was determined to be a positive influence on those around him.

To the in-form Munster forward, the reasons for his absence from the Ireland 23 are academic, though the way he negotiated the pre-match warm-up in Edinburgh gave little hint of the medial knee ligament niggle that head coach Joe Schmidt cited as the reason for not considering him.