The Six Nations is about as unforgiving as any competition in world rugby.
Although there are only five matches across seven weeks, injuries can accumulate quite quickly, and Ireland are really starting to feel the pinch this week with centre Chris Farrell now likely to be ruled out for the remainder of the tournament after twisting his knee in training on Tuesday.
Farrell will now join fellow centre Robbie Henshaw on the sidelines as Ireland head coach Joe Schmidt is once again left with a selection dilemma in the midfield.
The New Zealander has a number of options available to him in the centres, and while he could move Ulster’s Stuart McCloskey or Munster’s Rory Scannell into inside centre, realistically, Leinster outside centre Garry Ringrose will be the favourite to partner Bundee Aki in the middle for Ireland.
Ringrose has the highest ceiling of the aforementioned players but he enters next weekend’s visit of Scotland with just 113 minutes of rugby under his belt since Leinster’s New Year’s Day win over Connacht.
The 23-year-old has played just six games for the province all season as he has endured an injury plagued campaign that has seen him undergo three surgeries since last summer.
He made his return to the field in Leinster’s 64-7 demolition over the Southern Kings last Friday, where he received 54 minutes, and while it remains to be seen if he’ll be included in the province’s trip to Llanelli to face the Scarlets this weekend, he will have to show Schmidt that he’s ready to go before Gregor Townsend’s Scotland come to Dublin next Saturday with their championship hopes still in tact.
Although Ringrose started every game of last year’s championship, Ireland’s 27-22 defeat in Murrayfield last year was one of the worst performances of his promising international career.
He was badly exposed on Stuart Hogg’s first try and was continually stifled in attack as Ireland were ambushed by a resurgent Scotland in Edinburgh.
He was much improved in the next two rounds against Italy and France, and he’s looked very steady in a green jersey ever since that miserable afternoon in the Scottish capital, but next weekend Ireland will welcome a very different Scotland outfit to Lansdowne Road.
Since former Glasgow Warriors coach Gregor Townsend took over the reins of the national team last summer, Scotland dusted Australia, twice, ran New Zealand until the last play of the game, and most recently, posted back-to-back wins over England and France.
They were, however, brutally exposed against Wales in the opening round of this year’s Six Nations, but against England and France, fly-half Finn Russell looked inspired, centre Huw Jones looked nigh on unstoppable and full-back Stuart Hogg looked, as ever, like Stuart Hogg, the best full-back in the northern hemisphere.
Jones in particular could be a very tough assignment for Ringrose and winger Jacob Stockdale, who continues to struggle defensively despite scoring eight tries in just seven games.
However, he’s not the only player tearing up trees in that area with Jones crossing for 10 tries through his first 14 games for Scotland, including six scores from his last six games.
The Warriors centre will head to Dublin next weekend fresh off a two-try performance against Eddie Jones’ England, which included this exceptional score after he ghosted his way through the English defence before staving off the challenges of Mike Brown and Anthony Watson to score.
Ringrose could be in the unenviable position of squaring off against Jones next weekend and there is simply not a lot of time for him to readjust to defending at international level given the proximity of the match.
His Leinster teammate Joey Carbery, who has also battled injury this season and who has played just 22 minutes of club rugby since breaking his arm against Fiji in November, was retained in the Ireland squad for Leinster’s home win over the Scarlets a fortnight ago, denying him the chance of receiving some much needed gametime.
Maybe Carbery’s position as a backup to Johnny Sexton meant that the need for him to play major minutes was not as pressing, as say, the need for Ringrose to play before he steps back in as a starter against one of the most in-form centres in world rugby.
Leinster backs coach Girvan Dempsey was seemingly more upbeat about his return.
“I was very pleased with Garry,” said Dempsey on Tuesday. “Anyone who comes off a long-term injury, it does take time to bed in. I thought he looked sharp on his feet, carried well, his passing skills were excellent.
“What we like in Garry is he marshals that defence in the wider channels and he reads the game so, so smartly. For us, it was really pleasing that he got through that amount of work unscathed and he felt fresh.
WATCH: Girvan Dempsey provides an update on Garry Ringrose and Sean O'Brien ahead of #SCAvLEI this Saturday. pic.twitter.com/BwJ9yJZx82
— Leinster Rugby (@leinsterrugby) February 27, 2018
“Playing at 13 pressure arises because of isolation and having to be able to connect with wingers. With 10 and 12 involved in attack off first phase the outside centre is the player organising the forwards and the wingers on the edges.
“You are the link between those players in terms of the defensive width in your wider channels.
“There is a lot of onus on that player and Garry has been excellent for us. We’re delighted he got through that work at the weekend.”
It was great to see Ringrose return against the Kings in what has been a nightmare season for him, but against a side that conceded nine tries to a second-string Leinster outfit, how much can you really take out of that performance?
Enough to show that he’s ready for Scotland?
A trip to Llanelli to face the defending champion Scarlets, a side Leinster just edged in similar circumstances two weeks ago, will be a much better test for Ringrose if he is allowed to play by Schmidt.
Ireland’s shortage at outside centre, and Schmidt’s clear preference for Ringrose over Scannell and McCloskey, indicates that he should get the nod to start alongside Bundee Aki next weekend.
Whether he is ready or not is somewhat besides the point at this stage. He’ll have to be. Ireland’s Grand Slam hopes are counting on him.
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