Joe Schmidt's remarkable faith in James Ryan - capped for Ireland before he played a senior game for Leinster
Ireland second-tow tells of his debt to Australian coach
Sixty-six times capped James Ryan has a remarkable tale to tell when it comes to his international debut and Joe Schmidt.
The then Ireland coach was known to have an almost encyclopaedic knowledge of Leinster schools rugby whereas in reality it was more connected to his 'mitching' work on a Wednesday afternoon or Saturday morning to watch his son Tim play.
Tim was a pupil at Terenure College but dad's various peeks at games kept throwing up this James Ryan character, a St Michaels pupil who, having broken through to his own school team so young, seemed to be playing year after year after year.
Ryan was duly signed by the Leinster Academy and in 2017, with a Lions Tour in the offing, Schmidt was thinking ahead about filling a squad and Ryan came to mind. There was a problem though, Ryan was injured.
"I hadn't played with Leinster when Joe picked me to go on the national tour in 2017 to the US and Japan.
"Beforehand I would have been injured for six or seven months with a torn hamstring and was just getting back and playing AIL for UCD.
"At that point Joe basically told Leinster that I was to play a game with a Munster Development side and that's how I ended up in Thomond Park playing in a red shirt in a Munster game and I went on from there and played on the Irish tour."
Ryan would debut against USA, the first Irish-based player to play for Ireland before appearing for his province since Brian O'Driscoll in 1999 who managed that feat before the Celtic League (now the URC) existed.
"Now I would have been nervous. I'd never played any professional rugby and, no, I don't remember anything Joe said.
"But I remember Simon Easterby saying something like 'don't worry about knowing everything, you are not going to know all the detail, just go out and just be yourself and bring your own game'. I remember that being sort of ingrained in the moment for me."
But there was lots to be taken from Schmidt as the boy became a man.
"Joe was huge for me because Joe gave me my first opportunity, my first cap and the first couple of years.
"He was a big influence for me and my own career. I learned a lot, about how to prepare, how to be a player and how to perform at the top level consistently, as much on the pitch and off the pitch, what it takes to perform in terms of the preparation you need to put in.
"Things, tools like visualization, they were all things I learned in the first year of my career that I still do today, so a big influence for me."
At the same time Ryan doesn't necessarily buy into the idea Schmidt has Ireland's number this Saturday.
"I'd say the team has probably changed a lot since he was the team's coach. Even since the last World Cup Johnny has finished up so probably less so and that game was a few years ago.
"But his rugby brain, his strike plays are always world class. That's a conversation that we've had. There is going to be something that we probably haven't seen.
"So for us, it's just making sure we are loaded for everything really, defensively, because I've no doubt he will have a few tricks up his sleeve."
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