Andy Farrell Explains Why James Ryan Was Not Called Up For The Lions

July 02, 2021
2581
Ultimate Rugby

Ireland head coach Andy Farrell has explained that British and Irish Lions boss Warren Gatland enquired about the possibility of James Ryan replacing Alun Wyn Jones for the of South Africa.

Ryan was tipped to take the place of the injured Alun Wyn Jones in the Lions squad but it was revealed the 24-year-old was suffering with an adductor complaint after Adam Beard got the nod instead.

The injury placed Ryan's availability for Ireland's opening summer Test against Japan in doubt but has since recovered in time to captain the side on Saturday.

"Myself and Warren have communicated quite a lot, I know that Warren really rates James but the injury was a little bit of a setback, we didn't quite know where we were up to with that," Ireland head coach Farrell said.

"I informed (Gatland) that there was something going on and the medics took over from there. James, over the last day or so, in particular, has surprised everyone with the speed of his recovery.

"I'm delighted for James that he's able to captain the side. It's something that he's unbelievably passionate about.

"Hopefully that stands us down the years as well as far as the captaincy and the leadership is concerned."

Asked if Ryan would have been available for the Lions if he was fully fit, Farrell said: "I don't know whether that would have been the case but there's always conversations that have to happen before decisions like that are made."

Alun Wyn Jones is confident of making “a miracle” recovery to feature in the test series 😲#LionsRugby #CastleLionsSeries #BoksvLions
— Ultimate Rugby (@ultimaterugby) July 2, 2021