Six Nations 
1
Ireland lock on being motivated by Maro Itoje and idolising a legend
Ryan Baird was determined to savour Ireland’s latest Guinness Six Nations title success following inspiration from a framed Maro Itoje jersey and the motivational words of his mother.
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The Leinster forward struggled to fully embrace last year’s triumph due to preoccupation with analysing his own performance in the immediate aftermath of the Grand Slam clincher against England.
Baird took home the match shirt of rival star Itoje following that memorable 29-16 St Patrick’s weekend win in Dublin.
In the wake of last weekend’s last-gasp loss at Twickenham, the souvenir provided a timely reminder of the magnitude of championship glory ahead of Saturday’s decisive 17-13 victory over Scotland.
“I struggled to enjoy it last year because I was so frustrated about some of the mistakes I made and it kind of ruined it for me,” said Baird.
“Only when we lost last week and I was back home, my mum for Christmas had framed the Maro Itoje jersey for me and she was like, ‘just remember how special that was and how hard they are to win’.
“So when the final whistle went, I’d made a few mistakes in the game but I put that aside.
“I remember being on the ground as the ball was being kicked out and I thought ‘you know what, appreciate the last eight weeks of hard work you have put in, appreciate the time you spent with your team-mates’.
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“It didn’t give me a crazy high, it just gave me a satisfaction. I worked hard, we all worked hard.”
Match Summary 
1
Penalty Goals
2
2
Tries
1
2
Conversions
1
0
Drop Goals
0
152
Carries
93
4
Line Breaks
4
21
Turnovers Lost
14
3
Turnovers Won
7
Baird, who can operate at lock or flanker, made his Test debut during the 2021 Six Nations.
The 24-year-old has patiently awaited opportunities but could benefit from the potential retirement of captain Peter O’Mahony.
Baird idolises O’Mahony and feels “privileged to be led” by the veteran Munster flanker, who is contemplating his international future after leading his country to silverware.
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“He epitomises what it is to be an Irish rugby player,” said Baird, who featured in each of Ireland’s tournament fixtures but only started the round-two win over Italy.
“I said to him before the game how much I look up to him and I said it to him after. Yeah, I idolise him.
“I’m so fortunate to play with him as well, the way he carries himself. He’s such good fun off the pitch and such a hard worker on the pitch.
“You can see it is everything to him and I’m privileged to be led by him.”
Ireland face a two-match summer tour of South Africa before autumn clashes with New Zealand, Argentina, Fiji and Australia.
Baird hopes to add to his 20 caps – 14 of which have come as a replacement – against the top southern hemisphere sides.
“I just want to fulfil my potential and I feel very fortunate to be in this group,” he said.
“I’m not representing me, I’m representing family and friends and the big thing we always say is we want to inspire the nation.
“As I get older I’m realising more that I am less selfish in my views as to why I am doing this.
“I do it first because I love playing rugby and I love representing this country and what this gives others when we do this and when we win.
“I’m starting to appreciate that more and I guess it’s why I’m more fond of this one (Six Nations title).”
Comments on RugbyPass
Why cant I watch Rugby games please?
1 Go to commentsBeautiful shot from Finau, end of story. Gutted for Shaun Stevenson though.
4 Go to commentsThe Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
1 Go to commentsWasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
4 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
4 Go to commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
3 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
31 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
4 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusaders , you can keep going.
3 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
31 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
31 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
31 Go to comments