Ireland’s Ryan determined to get the big calls right
Rugby
U20 Six Nations
Daire Walsh
Ireland U20s lock Charlie Ryan is expecting “the biggest test” of the Six Nations Championship when Noel McNamara’s table-toppers welcome France to Musgrave Park on Friday night (kick-off 7.15pm).
The designated caller on line-outs for previous wins over England, Scotland and Italy, the towering Dubliner acknowledged he is becoming a marked man as the tournament progresses.
“I’ve been happy with the calling so far. It’s going to be challenging against France. As the tournament goes on, it becomes more difficult to call the line-out because teams have more footage on you,” Ryan explained.
“You have to chop and change the menu a little bit, but also stick to what’s been working for you. If there’s anything the lads like or don’t like, they’ll say it to me and then I’ll chat with Ambrose [Conboy, forwards coach] about it and we’ll discuss it. Create a menu for the game. We have to focus on going at them with a high tempo so they don’t have time to get set or predict where we’re going.”
A highly-rated prospect during his time in Blackrock College, Ryan has formed an effective second-row partnership with Connacht’s Niall Murray.
He puts his current form down to an increase emphasis on opposition analysis – sparked by an agonising Senior Cup final reversal to Belvedere College in 2017.
“I put a lot of time into studying other teams. It’s quite a lot, but I really enjoy it. If you get the calls wrong it can really affect the team. Looking at my school days, we had a senior cup final against Belvo. Line-out didn’t really function. We lost the game and that didn’t help us.
“Ever since that day I always spend an extra few minutes looking at the other team and how they defend,” Ryan added.