Whether or not some Leinster players, management or, indeed, their fan base might be suffering a post-Champions Cup hangover, James Ryan is probably in a relatively better place than most.
Due to a calf injury sustained when training ahead of the Round 16 tie against Harlequins, Ryan’s five-week absence concluded with that painful defeat to Northampton. While that must have been a frustrating watch, Ryan’s energy for their last two hard-earned wins has been striking.
Further reflecting his mindset, Ryan puts a positive perspective on Leinster’s season ahead of next Saturday’s URC semi-final against the reigning champions Glasgow Warriors at the Aviva Stadium (kick-off 2.45pm).
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“Back in July, if you had told me we’d have a semi at home, I might have bitten your hand off.”
Not that Ryan was sugarcoating his team’s quarter-final win over the Scarlets last Saturday. Leinster were “loose with the ball,” he said, adding: “We should be playing in the right areas in a knockout game and then discipline as well. I gave away two penos myself and access into the game. So, a bit of a mixed bag.”
Yet he hopes that might be more beneficial than a Leinster walk-in-the-park.
“In knockout games more often than not things don’t go your way, you know what I mean? Because the opposition have their own plans. They’ve got stuff up their sleeve. I think you get more out of a win when you have to grind it out then when it comes too easy, and it’ll be the same this week. They’ll have their own plans and it’s not gonna be easy.
“With knockout rugby it’s not about who scores four tries or who plays better, it’s who wins the game. If you win it by point, great.”
Ryan describes the Glasgow side which extended Leinster to a 13-5 win in the URC five weeks ago as “a completely different team” from the one beaten 52-0 three weeks previously in the Champions Cup quarter-finals.
“The ruck and the physical parts of the game for me was like Test match standard,” said Ryan, also citing Glasgow’s impressive win over the Stormers last Friday.
“I don’t think they’ll fear coming to Dublin. I think they like going away,” he added, pointing to last season’s semi-final and final wins away to Munster and the Bulls.
“They’ll be pumped and we’ll have to be at our very best. Defensively, they looked like a team that want to play for each other whatever it takes. I think there is a good sense of identity in that club. We’re excited, but we’ll have to be very good to beat them,” said Ryan, also referencing Glasgow’s lineout drive (“the best in the URC last season”) and counter-attacking threat.
The day after Leinster’s URC win the Leinster and Glasgow contingent travelled together to London for “messy Monday”, ie the Lions’ administration day, which he admits was “a weird dynamic” but also an enjoyable one.
Being named in the Lions’ squad, after missing out four years ago, had been a mighty relief.
“It was amazing, very surreal, to be honest; a bit of a dream come true. It felt a bit like making my first cap for Ireland all over again.
“I knew it was a big deal but I didn’t expect to receive as many messages. It just struck me that: ‘God, it’s a bigger deal maybe than I even thought’.”
He watched and waited as the names were read out alphabetically at home with his mother Clare and younger brother David. “It was nice to share the moment with them, jumping up and down a bit, shouting and stuff.”
His family will travel to Sydney. Back in the 1980s, Ryan’s mum and her cousin Paula went to Australia where Paula stayed and married Mario Sindone, with whom she had three kids.
“I tried to sort of park it then for a while just because you owe it to the lads in here to be at your best and I always feel like I function best when I’m ‘all in’ wherever we are, whether it’s in Leinster or it’s Ireland
“It was amazing and it’s great to know it’s there, but I’ve sort of let it go a little bit as well.”
Knowing Ryan, you believe him too.
