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Irish Mirror
Irish Mirror
Sport
Michael Scully

Not PlayStation Rugby, but thrilling nonetheless - James Ryan on Ireland's new way

As a kid James Ryan loved playing PlayStation rugby - but he insists that's not what Ireland are playing in this year's Six Nations.

Back then, Rugby 08 was the business as far as Ryan was concerned.

"Jonah Lomu was a bit early for me, I was Rugby 08," he smiled. "It was an unbelievable game, I don't know why they haven't made a decent one since that.

"EA Sports need to do it again."

Ireland got their act together since losing to France 12 months ago and are now playing a brilliant brand of rugby.

For Ryan, who looked back to near his best in the victory over Wales last week, the gameplan is still a structured one.

He explained: "That would be one of the things Faz would say, 'we don't want to play Playstation rugby'.

"We want to play what's in front of us, not just playing the play for the sake of it - just playing early to where the space is or playing what's on.

"So, I think that's one thing that's come on. We're playing to space early, our attack is very connected and we're playing head's up rugby.

"We play early, play to space. It's definitely an area we've looked at."

The 25-year-old is enthused about where Ireland are as they prepare to head to Paris for the Grand Slam eliminator against France.

"These are the games you want to be involved in so it's a great feeling to the week so far," said the second row.

Jonah Lomu in action against Ireland in the 1995 Rugby World Cup in New Zealand (©INPHO/Billy Stickland)

"There will be 80,000 people there and the crowd definitely play a part. We'll have to do our best to quieten them.

"It definitely takes a massive effort to win there."

He is also in a better place personally, having missed last year's 15-13 home loss to Les Bleus with a head injury.

Concussion issues also saw him sit out the win against England a few weeks later.

As it happens, last weekend's win was his first game in 11 weeks - he pulled out during the warm-up of the Champions Cup clash with Montpellier last month.

"I'm feeling good now, I was delighted to get through that game last weekend injury free, to get some minutes under my belt and most importantly be involved in a big, team win," Ryan said.

It was evident at the weekend that he had regained the physicality that marked him out earlier in his Ireland career.

"It's not something I'm looking to get back to," he argued. "I just like to get involved in the game physically and I think we all did.

"A bit of freshness is good but I did feel like that first-half was tough. It's very hard to replicate, no matter how hard you try, those match-fitness moments."

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