The man who has never lost a match won’t get ahead of the game

James Ryan was 15 years old and standing 6’ 5” when he began to realise that playing for Ireland was a goal within his considerable reach. Most who saw him play back then soon came to the same conclusion.

Joe Schmidt among them. Ireland’s head coach watched Ryan captain a dominant St Michael’s side in Leinster Schools Cup action years before he went on to hand him his senior debut for Ireland, against the USA last summer. The youngster had yet to appear for Leinster’s firsts.

“All I ever wanted to do is be a professional rugby player, since I could walk, really,” said the 21-year-old second row, less than 10 months on from his first senior game. “It has always been the dream for me. I’m in a very lucky position, but I can’t be getting too sentimental or anything like that. In a week like this, we’ve got a huge Test match and, if I lose track of that, I will get myself compromised. I’m staying process focused.”