Garry Ringrose’s career is a story of resilience and the Ireland star now has a first Lions Tour to look forward to.
Having narrowly missed out on selection to both the 2017 and 2021 Tours, the centre will be on the flight to Australia eager to make his mark now he has been handed an opportunity.
When Warren Gatland twice opted against selecting Ringrose, those familiar with his journey may well have seen echoes of a boy once left out of his school side.
But whether a teenager trying to prove his potential, or a professional fighting to show his worth, each time Ringrose has come back stronger.
Eight years on from when Gatland first hailed him a future Lion, he has finally earned the right to don the red jersey.
An early turning point
Blackrock College to Leinster to Ireland is a well-trodden path – one walked by Brian O’Driscoll, Niall Brophy and Brendan Mullin, among others.
But for Ringrose, that journey was nearly over before it had even begun as he was unable to make the Blackrock side in third year at scrum-half. But as luck would have it, an injured schoolmate created a vacancy at number 13 and Ringrose never looked back.
It was an experience that would define his attitude to rugby for the rest of his career.
“I wasn’t good enough to make the school team as a third year,” he said, as quoted by Rugby Pass.
“But in my head I was always ambitious to play at the top level. The turning point came when I decided not to feel sorry for myself for not getting selected.
“I had an attitude shift in that regard and really said: ‘No matter what, from now on, I am going to enjoy my rugby’.”
He did not initially make the Leinster academy and was also dropped from Ireland’s 2014 Six Nations U20s side after making his debut in the competition against Scotland.
But once more it was the reaction that defined the youngster as the 2014 Junior World Cup just months later saw Ringrose not only prove himself to Leinster but also earn a nomination to a four-man shortlist for the World Rugby Young Player of the Year.
Starter in Green and Blue
Just a year after that nomination, Ringrose earned his Leinster debut, before scoring his first try in his second match - a 37-13 win over Newport Gwent Dragons in the Pro14.
His Ireland debut followed a moment in history that he would later replicate, as he made his international debut in 2016, just a week after Ireland defeated the All Blacks for the first time in 111 years.
In both the blue and green jersey, he soon made that number 13 shirt his own.
While 2017 saw the centre undergo operations on both shoulders, 2018 turned into a year to remember as Ringrose became part of history of his own.
At just 23, Ringrose won the Six Nations - and Grand Slam to boot - returning from injury in two games, including opening the scoring with a try against England at Twickenham.
Glory with Leinster followed as he claimed the only Champions Cup crown of his career, finishing runner-up in a further four finals, beating Racing 92 15-12.
But the Grand Slam was an achievement he repeated in 2023, starting in three games having had to withdraw from the line-up against Italy through injury.
But that single-minded determination leaves no room for reminiscing as Ringrose, who has accrued 60 international caps and 138 Leinster appearances, remains focused on the future.
“I’ve been lucky to enjoy some unbelievably successful days. But when you fall short, it kind of increases your appetite to go out there and give it another rattle,” he told The Irish Sun, having been knocked out of Europe in the semi-finals.
“But if you’re asking me what I remember from Bilbao, it was the lap around the pitch afterwards and certainly the changing room afterwards.”
Rugby in perspective
Such ability to overcome setbacks is not wholly intrinsic to Ringrose as he has found perspective from outside, too.
Just as his experiences on the rugby field have been transformative, so too have his experiences off it as he used a placement while at Blackrock College to work at Marino Community Special School.
“[Me and my housemate] still talk about how powerful that week was, and how it made us appreciate how fortunate we are,” he told The Irish Times.
“It was only a brief snapshot but after that week I knew that I would always help in any way I could people who maybe weren’t as fortunate.
“Then when my rugby career started building a bit of a profile, I remember saying I’d love to find a charity partner that does similar work.”
Ringrose is now an ambassador for children’s hospice LauraLynn, where he has got involved in a 24-Hour Treadmill Challenge among other initiatives.
Lion at last
In 2017, a 22-year-old Ringrose first missed out on a potential Lions spot and Gatland indicated how agonisingly close the centre was by name-checking him as a future Lion and placing him on a reserve list.
The year that followed set him on a trajectory for 2021 to be his peak, but a dip in form in the build-up saw the then 26-year-old miss out again.
International teammates Robbie Henshaw and Bundee Aki received the nod instead and it was another four year wait for Ringrose, who was all too slowly learning that patience is a virtue.
But with a similar vigour to that schoolboy who found his place in the number 13 shirt, each time Ringrose bounced back to make his call-up to Andy Farrell’s squad all the sweeter.
“It was an unbelievably special moment, one I felt lucky to be able to share with my wife at home,” he said.
“Having watched the previous two, you try not to go in with any great expectation and just hoping.
“It's always the same this time around, how competitive it is. You try and minimise or have no expectation but a whole lot of hope. It felt unbelievably special and lucky to be able to hear my name.”
