Helping players to realise their ambitions

HOME AND AWAY ALLAN RYAN:WHAT'S IN a name? Well in the case of London Irish strength and conditioning coach Allan Ryan, it illustrates that his father was a lifelong Leeds United supporter and a fan of striker Allan "Sniffer" Clarke in particular. Incidentally Allan Ryan's soccer allegiance lies across the Pennines at Old Trafford.

“Don’t worry, my name has been misspelt so many times over the years. Coincidentally there were three Al(l)an Ryans in consecutive years when I was at school in Terenure College,” he laughed. Ryan celebrated the birth of a baby daughter, Rosanna 10 days ago, a sister for Dylan. For a man whose working life is based on order and schedules there’s bound to be some short-term upheaval.

Not that the London Irish players can expect any leeway. Ryan is very highly regarded by players and management at the club, credited with implementing a conditioning programme that has allowed the club to flourish in recent seasons. His presence at Irish is in no small measure down to a friendship he struck when at St Mary’s College, Strawberry Hill, in Twickenham.

“Toby Booth (London Irish head coach) was in my class and we became friends. I wanted to study physiotherapy but didn’t get the points and the prospect of repeating wouldn’t necessarily have enhanced my chances of doing better. I was left with an option of studying Sports Science in Limerick or London and I chose the latter.”

Rewinding his story slightly, he played rugby in school, representing Terenure at JCT (1991) and SCT (1994) levels alongside future Irish fullback Girvan Dempsey. He recalled: “Terenure had won the Senior Cup in 1992 and 1993 but we were beaten by a Richie Governey inspired Clongowes team.”

He studied at St Mary’s between 1994 and 1997 before returning to Dublin and joining Terenure College in October 1998. The club wanted to set up a fitness programme and a sort of quasi-academy that would apply a tourniquet to the flow of talented youngsters who headed for Trinity and UCD. He instigated a strength and conditioning programme that eventually saw him work with both the young players and a first team that included Irish internationals Eric Miller and Dempsey.

He also played for Terenure in the backrow at a time when the club game enjoyed a greater standing in Irish rugby. During that time he got to meet Ireland fitness coach Craig White, a relationship that would shape his future. Ryan was one of the few, if not only, qualified strength and conditioning coaches outside the national or provincial set-ups.

In June 2004 White invited Ryan to join him as Wasps: the London club had just won a Heineken Cup and Premiership double. There were only seven players in the Wasps academy at the time – England’s current number eight James Haskell was one – and they trained with the first team so Ryan was able to observe first hand the work ethic and dedication of English totems like Lawrence Dallaglio, Simon Shaw, Matt Dawson and Josh Lewsey.

He spent his final two years at the club working with the first-team squad before London Irish came calling. Ryan admitted: “They offered me a chance to run my own programme. There were other reasons. London Irish had a pretty strong set-up in terms of players and I had played a bit of ball at the club. I didn’t have to relocate my family. If I wasn’t returning to Dublin then London suited me fine, especially as I was familiar with the area.

“I’ve been very fortunate in terms of the calibre of coaches with whom I’ve worked over the years; Ian McGeechan, Shaun Edwards, Brian Smith, Toby Booth and Mike Catt. I’ve also worked and am working with excellent players with top attitudes; that makes my job much easier.”

London Irish are firmly ensconced at the top table of Premiership rugby and Ryan is an integral part of the process that has seen the club develop, happy in his surroundings. One day he might return home but for now his sole preoccupation is helping a club and its players realise their ambitions.