Ringrose: “Everyone’s demanding the best from each other”

Garry Ringrose says there has been a “ramp-up in attitude” ahead of the Guinness PRO12 semi-final against Ulster in the RDS Arena.

The 21-year-old centre reflected on the defeat to Ulster in Kingspan Stadium at the end of April, saying that there was disappointment with the performance but that the team can take confidence from finishing top of the Guinness PRO12 table.

“The fact it was a provincial derby up there in Ulster and the result itself, we weren’t too pleased afterwards and weren’t too pleased with ourselves,” Ringrose told the media.

“We’ll do whatever it takes to reverse that and turn 24 points around. One of those could be ramping up the attitude in training.

“We can take confidence in finishing top of the table and knowing that we don’t need to reinvent the wheel or change anything massively, but little things we can focus on and hopefully get right.”

The game in Kingspan Stadium was a first for Ringrose, in a season full of them. And while it may not have gone to plan, he still took plenty away from an afternoon in Belfast.

“I think all I can do is just learn from experiences like that. It was my first time playing against Ulster in Kingspan. I can just try and take away as much as possible from an experience like that and playing against two Irish international centres [Stuart McCloskey and Luke Marshall]. It’s never going to be easy, and it’ll be tough this Friday, but hopefully I can give a better account of myself individually, and a better account of ourselves collectively.”

When Ringrose has been confronted by a challenge this season he has excelled, but, when asked if there’s any one part of his game that has improved significantly, he is reluctant to indulge in self-praise.

“It’s a new challenge I’m faced with every week, whether it’s away against Dragons, or away against Scarlets, or playing in Thomond Park, or playing against Bath in the RDS, it’s all new to me. I’m excited with the challenges but it is tough and you’ve got to try and learn as much as possible. It’s hard to single out any one thing because it seems to be something different every week that you have to work on and try and improve on.”

This week that new challenge may be a first start in the knockout stages of the Guinness PRO12 and the chance to claim a place in the final at Murrayfield.

But a potential trip to Scotland for the league’s showpiece event on 28th May is the furthest thing from Ringrose’s mind with Ulster coming to town on Friday.  

“All focus has been on Friday and Ulster and focusing on ourselves and how we can put the performance out for the 19,000 that are out there.

“It’s crunch time and everyone – ourselves, the two other Irish provinces and Glasgow – wants to get their hands on a bit of silverware by the end of the season, so the intensity definitely ramps up. Everyone’s demanding the best out of each other and hopefully that will pay dividends on Friday.”

Leinster v Ulster in the RDS Arena on Friday, 20th May, is SOLD OUT. The match will be broadcast live on Sky Sports, TG4 and BBC Northern Ireland.