JamesRyan

Ireland second row James Ryan made his British & Irish Lions Tour debut in 2025 after being named in the squad to tour Australia.

Ryan played in two of the three Tests, appearing off the bench in the second half and playing his part in the famous fightback at the MCG which sealed the series. He also featured in the third Test in Sydney as well as four of the warm-up games.

Ryan has made a significant impact both at the club level with Leinster over the years, having been part of the set-up since he was an Under-18.

It's a similar tale internationally for the lock who captained the Ireland Under-20 team in 2015-16, leading them to their best-ever finish at the World Rugby Under-20 Championship, achieving a historic victory over New Zealand to finish as runners-up to England.

In June 2017, he made his debut for Ireland, coming off the bench to score a try against the United States. It also meant that he was the first Irish player since 2012 to make his senior international debut before featuring for his provincial team.

In 2019, he was named the Irish Rugby Players' Player of the Year and Young Player of the Year a year on from helping Ireland to a Grand Slam title.

That was the same year that he won the Champions Cup with Leinster.

Since the 2019 World Cup, Ryan has got his first taste of captaining his country, as well as taking on the Leinster captaincy last season following Johnny Sexton’s retirement, serving as co-captain alongside Garry Ringrose before Caelan Doris succeeded the pair.

Ryan has been a key figure for Ireland under Andy Farrell, helping them to back-to-back Six Nations titles in 2023 and 2024, including a Slam in the former, while he started all three matches in the series victory in New Zealand in 2022.

Notably, Ryan is named after his great-grandfather, Easter Rising revolutionary and Irish politician James Ryan.

READ MORE: The Making of James Ryan