Garry Ringrose delighted as Ireland 'shift' Six Nations campaign with Italy and England wins

It has been an stunning fortnight for the men in green, who returned to winning ways against Italy before handing England an emphatic defeat to close out the block. Ireland now enter the fallow week in third place, with no match scheduled until their home clash with Wales on Friday 6th March. Ireland centre Garry Ringrose spoke about how the sudden change of fortune optimises the 'beauty' of the Six Nations.

“That's the challenge and it's the beauty of the Six Nations." Ringrose said. "Even talking to the England lads, [about] how quick things can shift in two weeks.

"We were in a tough spot after losing to France, they were in a great spot after continuing their winning ways against Wales, and in two weeks the different things shift. That's the challenge, to front up and try and put in a performance. That's where the performance comes from. It's our preparation, so that'll be the focus for the next two weeks.” He added; "It's just fickle. It's fickle how quickly things can change."

Prior to the start of the Championship, Ireland found themselves in a tough spot as a litany of injuries thinned out the side of the regular leading names. Andy Farrell has not shied away from how this team has been perceived as 'transitional', with lower expectations than usual heading into the campaign.

The outside perceptions fell even lower after the one-sided defeat in Paris, as Ireland struggled to get out of the gate against Les Bleus. Ringrose discussed how the attitude never changed from within the Ireland squad, as the 'belief' has never faltered throughout their Six Nations campaign.

“The belief is there. After the French game, I remember doing media, and they were kind of questioning the belief, which was kind of unusual because I know maybe the result wasn't there. But, the belief is always there because it's such an honour and privilege to play for Ireland and it comes with pressure.

"We work hard and commit to what we're doing. The coaches put in a plan but then the players try and own a bit of the plan as well and drive it on. That's the nature of the beast. As I said, that wasn't any different this week. It's an honour, privilege, pressure and then we have that belief and thankfully it clicked out there for us at times.”

“It's a tough place to come [Twickenham] and try and perform well against a top quality team. It's pretty special to be able to put in a performance like that. We're proud of it and get the result we're looking for.”

With Robbie Henshaw side-lined from the start of the competition with a knee injury, and Bundee Aki banned for the first three matches for descent following a URC match, the centre partnership fell to Garry Ringrose and Stuart McCloskey for the start of the Six Nations.

McCloskey has been one of Ireland's top performers throughout the entire competition, with Ringrose delighted to see the 33-year-old Ulster midfielder excel alongside the younger faces in the group.

“I'm still hanging on to some of the young lads thankfully. A few of the lads were great, even someone like Stu [McCloskey], his journey, it was class to see him going as well as he is. For him the belief has always been there.

"The players trust and believe in him. He's delivered on it as well so for me it's class to play alongside him. The two centres that go out are representing the wider group. We work closely and he's certainly leading from the front. It's great. I feel lucky to play alongside him."

McCloskey put in a tremendous performance against England, as the centre racked up 14 tackles on Steve Borthwick's side. The stand-out hit saw the Belfast star track back on a top-speed Marcus Smith, to make a try-saving cover tackle and send the Harlequin sailing into touch.

“He's going particularly well and today he was brilliant." Ringrose added. "It's kind of the off the pitch or outside of the 80 minutes, we are working hard as a centres group, as a unit to try and get things right, be adaptable as to who's in there and all be on the same page, while also then bringing that kind of uniqueness and individual quality. We're all buying into the collective and he's properly delivering on bringing his uniqueness and individual strengths which has been evident the last few games.”

Another stand-out performer from Ireland's impressive win over England, was scrum half Jamison Gibson-Park. Ringrose's Leinster teammate returned to the starting XV with a bang, after being dropped to the bench in wake of Craig Casey for the second round match against Italy. Gibson-Park put in a tremendous performance to take the Player of the Match honours, with Ringrose quick to hand the plaudits to the two halfbacks who drive each others high standards.

“He [Gibson-Park] was brilliant today and he's a joy for all of us to play with. Similarly, as you say, the centre units, the half-backs work closely together. They're always meeting and discussing and whoever the two that go out are trying to perform at a level that we're all proud of.

“Stu's leading from the front, Jamison's leading from the front as well after the last two weeks in France. And then obviously Craig [Casey] last week, going as well as he did and then Jemmo [Gibson-Park] driving it on again so it's great to see him go well.”

Ringrose continued on to explain how his teammates are one of several motivating factors, that drives him on to go the extra yard in a green jersey.

“If you try and zoom out and think what do your family want to see, what do your friends want to see, what do your team-mates want to see, regardless of good, bad or ugly that's happened. People that are proper close to you, they only ever want to see the best version of you.

"That's what it means to me and us. That no matter what happens result wise, in the moment, good, bad or ugly in the game, it’s just to challenge yourself, not to suppress yourself and grow bigger and attack the next moment. When you prepare you want things to go right, you want to deliver to your potential but that's rarely the case and that's the reality.

“Even there today, stuff goes wrong but it's to get out of your own way and not suppress yourself, that's always a challenge. The same can be said after France when maybe there's negative noise outside, it's the same message. Think of the people close to you, what do they want to see, don't suppress yourself and keep attacking the next moment."

There was a phenomenal showing of Irish support for the away trip to London, as a reported 20,000 tickets were secured by those in green jerseys. Ringrose was stunned to see such a tremendous crowd will them on in London.

"It's only when I find you're on the bus on the way in and you're seeing loads of green jerseys and you're kind of reminded about the quality of support. That was the case this morning, driving in on the bus, seeing so many green jerseys. Then for the anthem, there's a proper noise to it and when things were going well, they were getting behind us so you could feel it and we definitely appreciate it.

“I see people who live here but then people who would have travelled over as well and for us to create special moments for them is pretty good.”

1. Consistent try-scorer: Ringrose has scored over 20 tries for Ireland since his debut, giving him one of the best strike-rates of any outside centre in the modern era.

2. URC title winner: With Leinster Rugby, he has lifted multiple United Rugby Championship (Pro12) titles, playing a key role in their back-line attack.