Ireland’s Rhys Ruddock eager to make mark against old friends

Rhys Ruddock used to be a self-proclaimed mummy's boy when it came to rugby during his childhood, or to be more accurate when it came to showing allegiance during international matches between Ireland and Wales.

“I remember my mum [Bernadette, who’s Irish] always throwing the Irish jersey on me and my dad [Mike, the 2005 Wales Grand Slam coach] trying to pull it off and chuck a Welsh one on.

“At that stage of my life I remember myself and my mum being big Irish fans but when my dad had the opportunity to coach Wales we were big Welsh fans for that period of time and getting behind him.

“It’s a funny one I suppose, supporting both teams, but it’s just the way it is with my dad’s roots and my mum’s roots.

“Yeah, I am mummy’s boy,” before going on to point out that he was born in Ireland and given a Welsh name, Rhys, while his brother Ciaran, a former Ireland underage international who currently plays with St Mary’s College, was born in Wales but given an Irish Christian name. Rhys smiled: “Some logic there apparently.”

Although born in Ireland, Ruddock grew up in Wales – he was part of their under-16 and under-18 age-grade teams – and retains friendships that endured to the international arena.

He spent two years at Millfield School in England, alongside Saracens' England prop Mako Vunipola, whom he first encountered several years before. "I actually player an under-11 West Wales against East Wales (rugby match) and on the East Wales team you had Mako Vunipola, Billy Vunipola, their cousin Toby Faletau and another cousin Maka; I think he's a Faletau as well.

Jump on my back

“The four of them were absolute monsters. I remember running down the touchline, thinking I was going to score a try and Billy managed to jump on my back. I landed on top of the ball and it took me about 10 minutes to get up I was so badly winded. Yeah, I had plenty of run-ins with those boys.”

Ruddock spent time at the Ospreys academy before committing to the Leinster one, and during his time in Swansea he become friendly with Dan Biggar and Justin Tipuric both of whom are likely to be in the Wales match-day squad next Sunday.

"There are a number of guys I would know well and keep in contact with, although I don't think they will be in contact around the Six Nations. They never seem to be that forthcoming."

When Mike, the current Lansdowne coach and director of rugby, guided Wales to the 2005 Grand Slam, Rhys was on a rugby tour with teenage friends, so he wasn’t able to attend.

“I remember watching it, kind of in and out at that age. I was more interested in playing rugby than watching it at that time. I just remember being delighted and getting on the phone to my dad straight after. He was thrilled and happy to share it with us.”

Ruddock has never played against Wales, something that he would dearly love to rectify next Sunday, but he’s coy about his prospects.

“I haven’t really been looking too far ahead because selection hasn’t been made.

“Everyone is just trying to get back into the system and find their feet again. There is a lot of competition this year and everyone has been kept on edge, trying every day to nail everything that has been thrown at them and put their hand up for selection.

Nailing all the detail

“All you can do is focus on the training field and put your hand up by nailing all the detail, showing the edge and showing that you want to be there. That is what I have been trying to do and everyone else seems to be in the same frame of mind.”

Ruddock has been excellent for Leinster in recent matches and should wear the number six, green jersey, come Sunday.

He pointed out that when the squad came together last week, the first thing they did was to put the World Cup quarter-final defeat to bed.

“As a team we have gone through it [the Argentina game] in detail and hopefully we have parked that now.

“[Last] week was about focusing on ourselves, looking back, fixing things and getting the systems embedded in the team. This week we launch ourselves into preparing for Wales.”