James Ryan Excited About Irish Captaincy Role

24 year-old Irish second-row James Ryan has shown some real flair for the leadership role of the national team as the honours were handed to him on Saturday after Johnny Sexton was forced to leave the pitch in their Autumn Nations Cup opener against Wales.

Ryan currently has a total of 29 test caps to his name and has risen as a tower of strength in the Irish pack.

While still so young, Ryan believes that there are quality support structures within the squad which will greatly aid him in a captaincy role should it be asked of him again.

“It was a pity to lose Johnny so early on, but It was cool [to take over as captain], I have to say,” Ryan said.

“I didn’t expect it. It was pretty humbling, but I just got on with it. I think between myself and Pete [O’Mahony], it was very much the two of us making some of the decisions.

“It’s great having guys like Pete and such a great leadership group around me. I was delighted to see Quinn Roux get over for a try and he was brilliant to play alongside.

“We were really forward so I’m delighted with that and it’s something that we need to keep building on. Obviously, we’ll have to step up again next week against England.

“They’re up there with the best sides in the world. Everything is going to need to be better next week. We were really pleased with some parts of our game against Wales, particularly the defence and set piece.

“That’s the difference at this level. To keep them try-less was really good and they’re two areas that will have to be really, really strong next week to get a result.”