'There’s a no-excuse mentality in the group' - Ireland better placed to cope with injuries 

LEADING ROLE: James Ryan during an Ireland rugby media conference at the IRFU High-Performance Centre at the Sport Ireland Campus in Dublin. Pic: David Fitzgerald/Sportsfile

James Ryan insists Ireland are much better placed to cope without Johnny Sexton after he was handed the captaincy for Saturday’s Guinness Six Nations trip to Italy.

SIX NATIONS CHAMPIONSHIP

Your home for the latest news, views and analysis of this year's Six Nations Championship from our award winning sports team.

SIX NATIONS CHAMPIONSHIP

Your home for the latest news, views and analysis of this year's Six Nations Championship from our award winning sports team.

Second row Ryan, who earned his 50th Test cap for Ireland in their 32-19 victory at home to France last time out, will lead his country for the seventh time this weekend after regular skipper Sexton was ruled out through a groin injury.

SIX NATIONS CHAMPIONSHIP

Your home for the latest news, views and analysis of this year's Six Nations Championship from our award winning sports team.

SIX NATIONS CHAMPIONSHIP

Your home for the latest news, views and analysis of this year's Six Nations Championship from our award winning sports team.

Sexton will travel with the squad to Rome on Thursday but his Leinster team-mate Ross Byrne will start at fly-half at Stadio Olimpico in the veteran number 10’s absence.

The 37-year-old will be one of several key players missing from the Ireland line-up with Tadhg Furlong, Jamison Gibson-Park and Robbie Henshaw remaining sidelined through injury, each of them having missed the opening two rounds of the campaign.

Ryan, 26, last captained Ireland during another Sexton injury absence, against France in Paris in last season’s Six Nations, when Andy Farrell’s team were beaten 30-24 at Stade de France, but 12 months on the lock believes the squad is in a stronger place with sufficient depth in every position to continue their winning start to the 2023 championship for their head coach.

"That’s one of the things that Faz is brilliant at, it’s not 15 or 23 it’s all about the group so I think the squad depth is one thing that has come on the last couple of years,” Ryan said on Wednesday.

"Tadhg Furlong is one example, big player for us that’s injured but how well Finlay Bealham has gone. He’s just an example. If there’s an injury or someone pulls out late there’s a no-excuse mentality in the group.

“Everyone has to be ready to play and fill that void so that’s just the mentality of the team at the moment. Everyone's got to be ready to play and to fill that void."

Ryan first captained Ireland against England in November 2020 but remains in awe of the status bestowed on him by Farrell once more this week, though he is mindful of the captaincy not becoming a burden.

“It’s obviously a huge honour, it’s very cool, it’s a great moment for me and my family to captain my country this week. It still hasn’t sunk in… “…I suppose I just try to lead by example, which is a boring answer but hopefully leading by actions this weekend.

"Being named captain is a huge honour but I’ve still got to bring the best version of myself, my best game so maybe quiet, focussed on my game is as important.” Asked if he would try and emulate Sexton’s leadership style, Ryan added: "Yeah, but probably the leading by actions things is the big one, the way he sets the standards in games but also every day, how competitive he is on the training pitch and the difference he makes when he’s training and when he’s not.

“I’m probably looking at his competitive instincts and the way he leads with his actions would be the main thing.” The forward said he would also continue the collaborative leadership model that Ireland have embraced in terms of both pre-match preparation and on-field decision-making.

"Yeah, big time, we’ve got a good group there, a core leadership group that has been there for the last couple of years. I have big shoes to fill. He (Sexton) will be travelling over with us this weekend so it’s great to have him around.

"I’ll be able to lean on guys like Garry (Ringrose) and Peter O’Mahony as well.” Ireland players have been consistent in their messaging this week about not taking this current Italy team lightly compared to previous years, though they have lost their two opening championship games, at home to France and to England at Twickenham last time out.

Yet Kieran Crowley’s team beat Wales in Cardiff in the final round of last season’s championship, ending a run of 36 consecutive Six Nations losses, and then defeated Australia in Florence last November and Ryan outlined the threats the Azzurri will pose his world number one-ranked team.

"They are at home so they will play with plenty of emotion, there are obviously an improved team, particularly in attack, they seem to be playing with a lot of ambition. We saw them against England playing from deep in their own 22 so they want to play.

“They’ve got some genuinely world class players there. (Full-back Ange) Capuozzo sticks out, (Paolo) Garbisi could be back, playing at 10, he makes a big difference. They are a very dangerous side with ball in hand.

“They are also strong up front, they’ve a good set-piece. We saw they drove the England pack back a few times at scrum-time, which is no easy task so I think it will be a big challenge for us.”