He made headlines with a tweet, now Ireland’s greatest player has given the Leinster youngster another glowing endorsement, saying he is envious of Garry Ringrose’s talent.
It was seen by many as Brian O’Driscoll giving the seal of approval to his long-term successor in the No.13 jersey for both Leinster and Ireland, and left many wondering why Ringrose was eventually left out of Joe Schmidt’s Six Nations squad.
.@IrishRugby could do a whole lot worse than going with Garry Ringrose against Wales on Feb 7th.
— Brian O'Driscoll (@BrianODriscoll) December 27, 2015
The talented 21-year-old has been one of the major bright spots in a disappointing season to date for Leinster and O’Driscoll’s praise of the youngster ensured his omission was the main talking point when Schmidt named his panel for the Championship.
But the former Ireland skipper, who will be working for ITV during the tournament, has admitted he understands the call, despite the fact that he would rather Ringrose had been thrown in at the deep end in Sunday’s opener against Wales.
“Why wait?” O’Driscoll asks in an in-depth interview with the Sunday Times. “Because it is a different game now and Ringrose has a bit to go in his physical development.
“I have seen this guy at close quarters and he reads it quicker than everyone else. He sees it a fraction earlier and that allows him to play with the big boys. He is reading tackle situations earlier and that is the big thing from a defensive point of view.
“Attacking wise, I’m not worried about him. I saw him when he came straight out of school and came to Leinster. Got brought to Ireland training camp as opposition to run against us and you could tell he picked lines that I would have been envious of. I was never a hole runner like him.
“There aren’t many people who would go out on a limb, especially for a young player who is making his way.
“Maybe it’s because he’s a 13 that I can see it. But this guy is good. I think he can be great, but he’s already good.”
O’Driscoll also had words of advice for Jonathan Sexton, whose concussion issues have become an increasing concern for many in Irish rugby.
Another former Leinster and Ireland team-mate, Shane Horgan, has already called for Sexton to change the way he enters tackles, and O’Driscoll has also cited poor technique as a reason for the out-half’s injuries.
“Johnny would give out to me for saying this but I wish he would sort out his tackle technique,” O’Driscoll said.
“I think that is an issue and that is a reason why he is finding himself inn those head collisions because he is very chest-up.
“He does it because he has such strong upper-body strength but going forward the smart play would be to adopt the Dan Lydiate way of [chop] tackling.”
