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'Baffling' - Former Lion leads Irish outrage over Ryan omission
When Ireland and Leinster’s James Ryan was securing a Grand Slam, Heineken Champions Cup, a series win down under in Australia and a victory over the All Blacks in 2018, the lock seemed destined to make the British and Irish Lions in 2021.
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Even as Ireland and Leinster waned slightly in the succeeding years, Ryan remained one of the most promising players in the game. At the beginning of the year, the 24-year-old would have still been many people’s favourite to start against the Springboks, and was even in the captaincy conversation. His inclusion in Warren Gatland’s squad was nothing short of an inevitability.
That is why the Leinster man’s omission this year has caused quite a stir online since the 37-man squad was announced on Thursday. In a squad where Gatland has favoured locks who can also slide down the scrum into blindside flanker, Ryan misses out.
Alun Wyn Jones and Jonny Hill are the only two selections who solely operate in the second-row. The tour captain Jones was always secure, but Hill’s selection over Ryan has been questioned, particularly by 2009 Lion Luke Fitzgerald.
“Hill>Ryan…wake up from that dream,” the one-cap Lion and former Ireland winger wrote on Twitter soon after the squad was announced, but he is not alone.
Hill>Ryan…wake up from that dream. No Sexton is crazy…this calls for an emergency podcast to discuss…@slatterywill @IndoSport
— luke fitzgerald (@lukefitz11) May 6, 2021
Some absolute baffling calls there
— luke fitzgerald (@lukefitz11) May 6, 2021
In the past year, Leinster’s pack have been physically dominated in their two biggest matches, against Saracens in the Champions Cup quarter-final last year and against La Rochelle in the semi-final last weekend.
Those performances would not have helped any Leinster player, but plenty of Ryan’s teammates made the squad, three of which are fellow forwards.
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Meanwhile, England’s Hill has been part of an Exeter pack that have consistently swarmed their opponents over the past 18 months, winning the Champions Cup and Gallagher Premiership in the process (although they did lose to Leinster this year). That sort of physicality up front is what the Lions selectors will want against the Springboks.
Gatland has emphasised that this is just a matter of opinion, but no other omitted player has looked so secure over the past four years than Ryan.
https://twitter.com/darrenkilkelly5/status/1390273661983236097
Gatland picking AW Jones + Itoje + Jonny Hill + Henderson + Lawes + Beirne but no James Ryan is a far greater injustice than O'Driscoll being dropped in 2013. It's a genuine injustice.
One of Hill/Henderson/Lawes has to go.#Lions #LionsSquad
— Björn Jåkøb (@BenJacobMD) May 6, 2021
Hadn’t even noticed him ? Courtney Lawes instead of James Ryan is absolutely insane too
— Rhys Knott (@buck_mitchell) May 6, 2021
Gatland named James Ryan as a potential captain last autumn. Ryan has not made the squad despite 6 locks being picked. Imagine how he feels.
— Eoin Harrison (@Eonzer012) May 6, 2021
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Cant understand how James Ryan and Navidi missed out. Ringrose should also feel a little hard done by. Exciting squad though.
— James (@JamesEgan88) May 6, 2021
How is Jonny Hill on that lions squad and James Ryan isn’t?
— Philip M ? (@philipm90) May 6, 2021
Jonny Hill ahead of James Ryan is my gripe .. and IMO it’s not the type of tour for Finn Russell ..
Also England were beaten by each of the representative countries this year .. yet carry the most players ..
also my names not there so there’s that issue too!— Colin Doyle (@Doyle15Colin) May 6, 2021
Absolutely baffled with James Ryan missing out. A few big names not going, J.Davies and Sexton especially, but I'd have thought Ryan was nailed on to go #Lions2021
— Mikey Roberts ??????? (@mikeyroberts81) May 6, 2021
How is James Ryan not in that Squad? Ryan is a sure fire Lineout operator, has a serious engine to boot, and gives away very few penalties, no sense in leaving him at home.
— David Cranny (@davidcranny) May 6, 2021
James Ryan not being in the Lions squad is outrageous. How can it be justified? #Lions
— Matty L Raps (@MattLooks) May 6, 2021
https://twitter.com/jarleth_eaton/status/1390279178730233862
Comments on RugbyPass
Dagg is still trying to get enough headlines to make himself relevant enough to get a job. The Crusaders went back to square one at all levels. Shelve this season and nail the next one.
4 Go to commentsHe was in such great form. Sad for him but only a short term injury and it will be great to see him back for the finals.
1 Go to commentsAfter their 5/0 start, I had the Crusaders to finish Top 4 only…they lost the plot in Perth but will reload and back themselves vs 4th placed Rebels…
3 Go to commentsBoth nations missed a great opportunity to book a game that would have had a lot of interest from around the world. I understand these games can’t be organised in 5 minutes but they should have found a way to make it happen. I don’t think Wales are ducking anyone but it’s a bad look haha.
3 Go to commentsIt will be fascinating to see the effect that Jo Yapp has. If they can compete with Canada and give BFs a run for their money that will be progress
1 Go to commentsFollowing his dream and putting in the work. Go well young fella!
3 Go to commentsPerhaps filling Twickenham is one of Mitchell’s KPIs. I doubt whether both September matches will be at Twickenham on consecutive weekends. I would take the BF one to a large provincial stadium so as not to give them the advantage and experience of playing at Twickenham before a large crowd prior to the RWC.
3 Go to commentsvery unfortunate for Kitshoff, but big opportunity potentially for Nché to prove he is genuinely the best loosehead in the world, rather than just a specialist finisher. Presuming that if Kitshoff is out, it will also give Steenekamp a chance to come into the 23? Or are others likely to be ahead of him?
1 Go to commentsA long held question in popular culture asks if art imitates life or does the latter influence the former? Over this 6 nations I can ask the same question of the media influencing the thoughts of its audience or vice versa. Nobody wants to see cricket scores in rugby, as a spectacle it is not sustainable. With so many articles about England’s procession and lack of competition it feeds the epicaricacy of many looking for an opportunity to pounce. England are not the first team to dominate nor does it happen only in rugby, think Federer, Nadal, Red Bull or Mercedes, Manchester Utd, Australia in tests and World Cups. Instead of celebrating the achievements why find reasons to falsify it pointing towards larger playing pool, professional for a longer period or mitigate with the lack of growth in other nations. Can we not enjoy it while it is here and know that it won’t last for ever, others coveting what England have will soon take the crown, ask the aforementioned?
6 Go to commentsShame he won’t turn out for the Netherlands now they’re improving. U20s are Euro champs and in the U20 Trophy this year. The senior sides gets better every year too.
3 Go to commentsWill rugbypass tv be showing these games?
1 Go to commentsWell where do you start, the fact that England have a professional domestic league and Ireland’s is fully amatuer, that they have fully seperated professional squads at Fifteens and Sevens (7’s thinly disguised as GB), and Ireland have fully pro Sevens squad who loan some players back to the Semi-Professional Fifteens squad (moved from amateur for only a year or so) for a few games at 6N & RWC’s. The Women’s games is a shambles, and is at risk of killing itself by pushing for professionalism when the market isn’t really there to support it outside one or two countnries..
6 Go to commentsWayne Smith's input didn't have as much impact on the last final as Davison's red card for Thompson. England were 14 points up and flying when that happened.
6 Go to commentsBilly's been playing consistently well for 2 - 3 seasons now and deserves a look in at the top level. Ioane and ALB are still first choice but there needs to be injury cover and succession. His partnership with Jordie gives him first dibs you'd think. Go the Hurricanes.
3 Go to commentsIt’s not up to Wales to support Georgian Rugby. That’s up to International Rugby and Georgia. I sympathise with Georgia’s decent attempt to create this fixture. But for Wales the proposed match up is just a potential stick to beat them with and a potential big psychological blow that young Welsh team doesn’t need. (I’m Irish BTW.)
3 Go to commentsCale certainly looks great in space, but as you say, he has struggled in contact. At 23 years old, turning 24 this year, he should be close to full physical maturity and yet there exists a considerable gap in the power and physicality required for international rugby. Weight doesn’t automatically equate to power and physicality either. Can he go from a player who’s being physically dominated in Super rugby to physically dominating in international rugby in 1 or 2 years? That’s a big ask but he may end up being a late bloomer.
37 Go to commentsIf rugby wants to remain interesting in the AI era then it will need to work on changing the rules. AI will reduce the tactical advantage of smart game plans, will neutralize primary attacking weapons, and will move rugby from a being a game of inches to a game of millimetres. It will be about sheer athleticism and technique,about avoiding mistakes, and about referees. Many fans will find that boring. The answer is to add creative degrees of freedom to the game. The 50-22 is an example. But we can have fun inventing others, like the right to add more players for X minutes per game, or the equivalent of the 2-point conversion in American football, the ability to call a 12-player scrum, etc. Not saying these are great ideas, but making the point that the more of these alternatives you allow, the less AI will be able to lock down high-probability strategies. This is not because AI does not have the compute power, but because it has more choices and has less data, or less-specific data. That will take time and debate, but big, positive and immediate impact could be in the area of ref/TMO assistance. The technology is easily good enough today to detect forward passes, not-straight lineouts, offside at breakdown/scrum/lineout, obstruction, early/late tackles, and a lot of other things. WR should be ultra aggressive in doing this, as it will really help in an area in which the game is really struggling. In the long run there needs to be substantial creativity applied to the rules. Without that AI (along with all of the pro innovations) will turn rugby into a bash fest.
24 Go to commentsSouth Africa rarely play Ireland and France on these tours. Mostly, England, Scotland and Wales. I wonder why
2 Go to commentsIt was a let’s-see-what-you're-made-of type of a game. The Bulls do look good when the opposition allows them to, but Munster shut them down, and they could not find a way through. Jake should be very worried about their chances in the competition.
2 Go to commentsHats off to Fabian for a very impressive journey to date. Is it as ‘uniquely unlikely’ as Rugby Pass suggests, given Anton Segner’s journey at the Blues?
3 Go to comments