The first thought that came to our mind was – ‘Adam Ashley Cooper wouldn’t have let him get that try’.
Perhaps ‘AAC’ knew what was coming and that’s why he looked so perturbed in the Garry Ringrose picture [below] that has shot around the internet in the past 24 hours.
Taken by a friend of Ringrose, who was then a Leinster Academy hopeful, in November 2013, the picture features him posing with five members of the Australian touring squad.
Ringrose was in UCD, in his first year of a business and law degree, when he grabbed some of the Wallabies for a snap. He towers above Australian scrum-half Will Genia but is dwarved by lock James Horwill and fullback Israel Folau.
https://twitter.com/Ringrose_G/status/399874923591905280
Ringrose was quick to share the image on his Twitter account and one of his friends replied with one of his own. Ashley Cooper looks in much better form here.
https://twitter.com/hevans9496/status/400025696098983936
The original Ringrose tweet has been shared by thousands of rugby fans now and it certainly highlights his rapid rise from academy prospect to starting Ireland No.12.
On Saturday, at the Aviva Stadium, Ringrose came up against the likes of Folau, Genia and Australian captain Stephen Moore. He played a blinder and scored a superb first half try in Ireland’s 27-24 victory.
Post-match, Ireland coach Joe Schmidt declared, “Garry Ringrose again stepped up.”
WHAT. A. PERFORMANCE https://t.co/ZVrjiiGQqJ
— SportsJOE (@SportsJOEdotie) November 26, 2016
He’s come a long way in those three short years.
Dick Clerkin makes his GAA Hour debut to talk about a wonderful career and argue passionately with Colm Parkinson over Sky Sports GAA. Subscribe here on iTunes.