Dan Cole and Ellie Kildunne have credited Garry Ringrose for his actions ahead of the second British and Irish Lions Test against Australia in 2025.
The Irish centre had been named in Andy Farrell’s starting XV to take on the Wallabies, after having missed out on the first Test due to injury. Ringrose had never played in a Lions Test match before, having been overlooked in previous years, so his time had finally come after years of waiting.
The start never came, however, with Ringrose voluntarily ruling himself out of the game just days before kick-off. Not feeling 100% after a head knock, Ringrose sacrificed his chances of a Lions start to focus on his health.
A hard b******
Appearing on the For The Love Of Rugby podcast, 2025 World Cup winner Kildunne was full of praise for the 30-year-old midfielder.
“When you think about a hard b******, you think it’s all about the muscles. It’s about something like blood coming out, whatever it is. But I think, especially as a man, we talk a lot about mental health in men and the perception of what is seen as tough, ruling yourself out for a game, number one, is very, very difficult to do, because everyone wants to play the game.
“And the hardest thing to do, as a lad, is to really tap into the emotional side and to look after yourself and know yourself within.
“It takes a lot, as a rugby player, to rule yourself out of a game. But I think mental health and looking after your brain is the most important thing.
“And he’s done something that hopefully other people will then see and say, ‘Look, Garry, did this in a massive match, so I need to look after myself as well.’
“I think it’s a big message for people about how important it is.”
Former England prop Cole agreed, saying: “The easy thing to do would have been to play, and then deal with the consequences.
“But the hard thing to do is to say, middle of the week you’ve been named in the test team, and actually go, no, I’m not right, and come out and miss out an opportunity you will never get back again, but to do the right thing for long term health and also for the game, I think It’s great.”
Want more from Planet Rugby? Add us as a preferred source on Google to your favourites list for world-class coverage you can trust.