He may have been left out of Ireland’s 31-man squad, but Leinster flanker Dominic Ryan has kept a close eye on the early action in the Rugby World Cup.

Even though Ryan and his provincial team-mates have been busy preparing for tomorrow’s Pro12 encounter with Newport Gwent Dragons, he admitted he can’t help watching it, and is particularly interested in the performances of players in his natural back-row position.

“I love rugby, so watching a couple hours of rugby a day on the weekend is something I enjoy doing. It seems to be a great World Cup and hopefully Ireland can go well,” Ryan said on Monday.

There was a number of encouraging signs for Joe Schmidt and his coaching team from last Sunday’s game against Romania, especially the return of the injury-plagued Cian Healy to the Irish starting line-up.

Ryan was delighted to see the Clontarf man return to Ireland’s front-row, and was quick to praise the resilience he shows in recovering from each injury set-back.

“Yeah, it’s great to see him back. A couple of months ago he was in a rough place and in the race to the World Cup. I didn’t know if he was going to quite make it personally, but Cian is the type of guy that he’s come back from injuries.

“I remember his ankle injury, he came back in five or six weeks and he’s kind of a bit of a freak, you know, how quickly his body can repair.”

However, while a large Leinster contingent will be preparing for Ireland’s third pool fixture against Italy on Sunday, Ryan’s attention will be focused on the visit of the Dragons to the RDS on the previous day. The Welsh outfit proved to be something of a bogey team for Leinster last season, as they secured home and away triumphs.

Ryan says: “I suppose you have more respect for them [Dragons] and a bit more venom in that you want to owe them one, having being beaten twice by them last season, and particularly the home game hurt quite a bit.”