Leinster heaped even more misery on everyone involved with Munster rugby on Sunday evening as they came away from Thomond Park with a 7-24 victory, making it five successive losses for Anthony Foley's men.
The final score of the game (an intercept try from Zane Kirchner with the clock past 80 minutes) was pretty much a metaphor for Munster's performances in recent times, but the talking point as far as Leinster fans are concerned will no doubt be the impressive performance of young centre Garry Ringrose.
The UCD student has been subjected to the 'next Brian O'Driscoll' tag since he emerged as one of the finest talents in Irish rugby with his performances at U20 level, and after giving a nod of approval to Ringrose for his part in the opening try against Munster, O'Driscoll then made a bold suggestion after the final whistle:
.@IrishRugby could do a whole lot worse than going with Garry Ringrose against Wales on Feb 7th.
— Brian O'Driscoll (@BrianODriscoll) December 27, 2015
While a Henshaw-Ringrose partnership would certainly be exciting, to give the lad his senior debut against Wales in the Six Nations would really be putting him to the test early on. Then again, if anybody knows about giving a young centre a chance in the Six Nations early in their career..
The idea has caused a bit of debate on twitter, diving opinion between those who feel that Ringrose is ready, and those who wish to proceed with caution, or even have other young stars in mind:
@BrianODriscoll @IrishRugby we have dozens of top quality centres at Ulster. No need to look elsewhere!
— Peter Hanna (@pfhanna5) December 27, 2015
@BrianODriscoll @IrishRugby there are some alternatives North of the border although I think they have been playing on Sky ?
— Patrick Logan (@paddylogan13) December 27, 2015
@BrianODriscoll Henshaw & Ringrose wouldn't be a bad choice at all !! @IrishRugby
— Ciarán Kelly ⭐⭐⭐ (@Ciaran_Kelly) December 27, 2015
@BrianODriscoll @IrishRugby ah here..... Bit much bit soon- forgetting McCloskey and Marshall, or Henshaw?
— Rob Ryan (@robruaryan) December 27, 2015
@BrianODriscoll @IrishRugby and McCloskey inside him
— Keith Bailey (@bails64) December 27, 2015
@BrianODriscoll @IrishRugby Agree! real recent star at @WorldRugby U20 Champs - good to see youth get a chance in #PRO12Rugby
— Gari Jenkins (@garijenkins7870) December 27, 2015
@BrianODriscoll shows how bad @IrishRugby is when ur saying a 14 stone kid is the best centre ireland have #wakeupbrian #marshall #earls
— O Shea (@kyeekscookies) December 27, 2015
@BrianODriscoll @IrishRugby what do McCloskey and Marshall have to do to get noticed? Move to Leinster?
— Peter Hutchinson (@VeryMuchHutch) December 27, 2015
@BrianODriscoll @IrishRugby shots fired at Jared Payne
— EHP84 (@Pas_Normal) December 27, 2015
@BrianODriscoll @IrishRugby Ring rose, Conway, Earls, JJ would add some direct cutting edge back play. I think we would all love to witness
— Alexander Teesdale (@Alex_Teesdale) December 27, 2015
It's an interesting idea, for sure, but as many pointed out there is a lot of talent emerging at the position.
You would have to imagine that Ringrose will get a shot to make the 13 shirt his own at some stage, it's just a question of when.
