James Ryan
Position: Secondrow
Age: 29
Height: 6ft 7in
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Weight: 116kg (18st 4lbs)
Lions Tests: 1
Points: 0
Why he’s so important: Joe McCarthy’s foot issue opened up an opportunity as Ryan was preferred to Scott Cummings for a place on the bench for the second Test, with Ollie Chessum was brought into the starting team. The Scotland secondrow had enjoyed some high-profile outings, mobile and athletic while calling the lineout too, but didn’t show Ryan’s level of physicality.
The Irishman made a huge contribution when coming on for Chessum in the second Test as the Lions chased the win. Ryan’s carrying, clearing out and his power in the tackle gave his team a dynamism that was crucial in the fraught end game. The Leinster lock recovered from a yellow card for two quick penalty offences in the game against First Nations and Pasifika and there were clues in that game that he added a dimension that Cummings didn’t.
Who is Ireland’s greatest ever Lion?
Andy Farrell has opted for his qualities in choosing him to start alongside Maro Itoje. The Lions were bullied a little in contact and on the gain-line for most of the first half and Ryan’s promotion to the run-on team can be construed as a proactive move to address that situation.
Trivia: Played for Ireland, on the summer tour to USA and Japan, before he made his Leinster debut, becoming the first player to do that since Michael Bent. It’s remarkable to think that a single Ireland under-20 team (2016) has produced three series-winning Lions in Ryan, Andrew Porter and Hugo Keenan.
Will Skelton
Position: Secondrow
Age: 33
Height: 6ft 8in
Weight: 135kgs (21st 4lbs)
Caps: 33
Points: 10
Why he’s so important: If anyone had any doubt about how much of a loss he was to the Wallabies in that first Test, the opening quarter of the second would have graphically reinforced his importance to Joe Schmidt’s team. Skelton was a real handful for the Lions in the physical collisions on the gain-line, which he dominated, his tip-on passes that put team-mates through gaps and the fact that, although not an immovable object at the breakdown, he was very difficult to shift.
He also provided conspicuous ballast to the lineout maul on the Aussie throw and in defending that set piece. He wasn’t averse to playing the role of pantomime villain when delivering a cheap shot to Tadhg Furlong’s back after the whistle had been blown. It sparked the shemozzle that the Wallabies would have wanted to fire up the collective.
Losing Allan Alaalatoa and Rob Valetini at half-time was a massive setback and when Skelton departed soon after, the Wallabies’ prospects were massively compromised. They’ll need the La Rochelle man to go deeper into the game on Saturday, while the Lions are likely to come up with a plan to try to reduce his influence.
Trivia: He wears a size 19 boot. His club coach at La Rochelle, Ronan O’Gara, has said that when they get visitors on a tour of the dressingroom, they leave a pair of Skelton’s boots out, as most people try them on for size without having to take off their own footwear. He has a younger brother, Cameron, who played under-20 for Samoa and was bigger, at 6ft 10in and 153kg.
