Joe Schmidt saw potential in James Ryan and included him on Ireland's tour despite a serious injury. Ryan acknowledges the influence Schmidt had on his career, emphasizing the importance of preparation and mental tools.
THE YEAR IS 2017. James Ryan is 21 and yet to be capped by Leinster. Yet Joe Schmidt sees something special in the young second row and brings him on Ireland’s summer tour to the USA and Japan.
“Obviously what he did with Leinster was amazing. Cheika came in and sort of changed the mentality a bit and maybe the perception of Leinster and then I think he sort of took over the mantle. Brought it to a new level. “So many guys learned so much from him,” Ryan continues. “How to prepare and everything. Just the standards that are required every week. Even Paul O’Connell, he definitely had a huge influence on him – he’d say that himself. So his legacy lives on, I would say.”O’Connell can offer a different perspective. The current Ireland forwards coach was already a battle-hardened second row and a legend of Irish rugby by the time Schmidt took on the Ireland job in 2013.
He was very clear in how he coached. I think coaching had moved on a lot but we were still relying a little bit on emotion at times, whereas he was technically very good. “Everyone talks about his detail. He had very good teaching principles. He wouldn’t just tell you what he wanted you to do, through the sessions he would actually give you a pathway of how to actually change the habit and get better at something. That was a really enjoyable aspect for me.
I think the emotion is probably the icing on the cake now, whereas maybe back in my day it was the whole cake, we weren’t too worried about the icing.” Schmidt’s ways left a lasting impression on O’Connell, with some of the New Zealander’s ideas around the breakdown still relevant for this current group of Irish players.
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