Latest news with #RyanBaird
Times
3 days ago
- Sport
- Times
Ryan Baird: I've learnt to be like Bruce Lee and go with the flow
An hour after the game ended at the Mikheil Meskhi Stadium last Saturday night, Ryan Baird strode from the Ireland dressing room towards the team bus, kit-bag in one hand, bluetooth speaker in the other. The tune was familiar: Days Like This, Van Morrison's sweet, optimistic jazz ballad. Not very Gen Z but appropriate to the night that was in it. When it's not always raining, there'll be days like this. When there's no one complaining, there'll be days like this. Days like when you create a try for Craig Casey with a deliciously delayed Snymanesque offload. Days like when you pinch three Georgian balls at the front of the lineout and disrupt another. Had there been a man-of-the-match award, there was every chance that Baird would have pinched that, too.
Times
22-06-2025
- Sport
- Times
Horrible manner of loss to Leinster will haunt Glasgow over summer
Glasgow's URC title defence was always likely to come to a shuddering halt at a venue where no Scottish side — club or international — has won in the 15 years since it became the Aviva Stadium. But for the crown to be ripped from their heads in such unseemly fashion was an experience that will haunt Franco Smith's players over what now promises to be a long and regret-filled summer. The Warriors were battered; literally, figuratively and emotionally. Pummelled up front and with little else to commend them elsewhere across the field, for the most part the Scots were every bit as bad as had been the case in their 52-0 Champions Cup defeat on the same pitch eight weeks ago. Two tries in the last eight minutes added some sheen to the scoreline, but cannot paper over any cracks in this wobbly Warriors edifice. Leinster broke through seemingly at will, in between dismantling the Glasgow scrum and otherwise dominating the physical stakes to an almost embarrassing degree. Ryan Baird was named man of the match but the award could easily have gone to about ten other boys in blue. Smith was putting a brave face on it at the finish, urging us to see the bigger picture of a campaign in which a ludicrous quantity of big-name injuries had opened up opportunities for new faces to shine. 'I don't want to make excuses because I definitely felt the team that we named tonight could have won the game,' the South African said. 'So, yes, it would have been good to have had some of those boys back, but I backed the team that we picked. I backed the depth and the growth of the club that we've seen, with more players becoming eligible for Scotland and putting their hands up to play at this level this whole season. 'Numerous people have grown. That is the progression. There are six or seven boys who played in last year's final who weren't available here, that's true, but I'm more proud of the evolution and the growth. So there is a positive to be taken from this. [Leinster are] still a world-class team, nothing's changed. So if we were going to lose the URC Championship title, I'd rather it was against them than anybody else. That said, we're a proud team. I thought we gave it everything. I see this holistically, not just in terms of this game. We defended our title bravely but today we fell short.' On an afternoon when the Dublin weather ran through all the seasons, torrential rain showers being broken up by spells of sunshine then lashings of hail, the game itself was disappointingly one-note. A no-contest that had promised so much more, not least because a still underpowered Glasgow were blessed with several of the key cattle who had missed the European mauling. If the first half of that match had been a real shock-and-awe job from Leinster, the opening period here was much more of an ongoing asphyxiation as the hosts seized control quite literally from kick-off and only tightened their grip thereafter. Bar the exquisite breakaway which led to the George Horne try, Glasgow had so little territory that they were in danger of being declared another San Marino. For almost the entirety of those initial 40 minutes, they found themselves hopelessly pinned by a combination of Leinster excellence and their own inadequacies. The Warriors scrum was a walking — or, rather, back-pedalling — disaster. The recent loss of Zander Fagerson has been grievous, and here Fin Richardson fared exactly as you might expect a club's fifth-choice tight-head prop to when up against a British & Irish Lion in Andrew Porter. All over the park, and in pretty much every phase of the game, Glasgow had no answer to Leinster's power plays, and they further undermined their efforts by trying to force things when they did enjoy some ball in the middle third. Smith's men were error-strewn and ill-disciplined, with even such consistently refined performers as Horne, Sione Tuipulotu and Henco Venter guilty of their own costly imprecisions. A 20-point interval deficit might have been so much bigger: Sam Prendergast had missed three of his four conversion attempts while Leinster had also seen two tries disallowed. Glasgow's way back was already not so much uphill as non-existent. Smith tried shuffling his pack, making six substitutions between the 40th and 51st minutes. These alterations included an all-new front row and Stafford McDowall replacing Adam Hastings so that Tom Jordan could move to fly half and Tuipulotu to inside centre, but with Glasgow still living off painfully pathetic possession rations, everything and nothing changed. There was also no encouragement for the visitors to draw from some of the figures making their way off the Leinster bench: the likes of RG Snyman, Rabah Slimani, Ronan Kelleher and Max Deegan do not tend to weaken a side, never mind one which has already established such a degree of physical dominance. Truth be told, Leo Cullen's men were bossing it in every facet: the technical, the tactical, the aerial, even the attitudinal. When Jamie Dobie crossed to reduce the arrears to 25 points, there was barely a flicker of emotion from anyone concerned. This was Dobie's 24th birthday, but he, like everyone else of a Warriors persuasion, will remember it not for the blowing out of candles but the snuffing out of a dream.
The 42
16-06-2025
- Sport
- The 42
WATCH: Baird and Conan impress Bernard Jackman as Leinster beat Bulls
BERNARD JACKMAN WAS full of praise for Leinster's Ryan Baird and Jack Conan following their impressive performances vs the Bulls in the URC final. Advertisement Get the entire podcast episode below to hear the lads' views on the encounter, as well as discussions surrounding the Premiership final and the upcoming British and Irish Lions tour. For two subscriber exclusive rugby pods every week, subscribe to The 42 for just €1 for your first month:
Extra.ie
15-06-2025
- Sport
- Extra.ie
Leinster exorcised some demons in Croke Park with emphatic display
Four years of hurt has finally come to an end and, at times during this compelling performance, it felt like Leinster were taking all that frustration out on a Bulls team which looked overwhelmed long before the final whistle. Willie le Roux was one of many Springboks stars who fluffed their lines. When the Bulls full-back fumbled a pass with nine minutes left on the clock and proceeded to boot the ball into the stand in anger, it summed up a wretched day for the South Africans who have now lost three URC finals in four seasons. After all those Champions Cup and URC knockout failures, this entire Leinster setup finally has something tangible to show for it. They turned up a big day and played to their potential. No, it won't exorcise the European demons but this will kickstart the healing process. Leinster celebrate as champions of the URC. Pic: INPHO Leinster have borne so much criticism in the wake of that Champions Cup semi-final defeat but there was merit to much of it. Because Leo Cullen's side look untouchable when they're in this kind of form. There was a focus, intensity and intent about Leinster from the first whistle yesterday. Leinster were dealt a massive injury blow on the morning of the game when Jamison Gibson-Park was ruled out. Or was it? This game was made for Luke McGrath. No, the veteran Leinster scrum-half does not offer the same fast-twitch, hawk-eyed brilliance as Gibson-Park but McGrath is an experienced, savvy and utterly committed operator. The 32-year-old won the last of his 19 Ireland caps in 2019, but he remains a valued member of this Leinster squad. Yesterday was fresh evidence. This was a day for playing the percentages. No better man than McGrath. He had a huge game. He wasn't alone. Much has been made of the sizeable list of injured frontliners in the Leinster ranks. A stellar crew featuring Tadhg Furlong, Caelan Doris, Robbie Henshaw and Hugo Keenan. Leinster's Ryan Baird celebrates with Dan Sheehan with champagne in the dressing room after the game Mandatory Credit ©INPHO/Ben Brady None of them were missed yesterday. Thomas Clarkson had a huge day at the coalface. All the pre-game chat centred around this gargantuan Bulls pack, spearheaded by their giant tighthead Wilco Louw, and how their scrum was going to play a bit part in this final. Clarkson didn't get the memo. From the moment he won an early scrum penalty, the 25-year-old was in the zone. This was a big day in a fledgling career. Clarkson made his Test debut last November and endured a rough outing against Wales in the Six Nations. This was a galvanising performance against elite opposition. Andrew Porter deserves plenty of credit for Leinster's scrum effort, too. Porter was part of Leinster unit which bullied the Bulls. Dan Sheehan, Joe McCarthy, James Ryan, Ryan Baird, Josh van der Flier and Jack Conan all turned up in a big way. Conan has led this team manfully since Doris was suffered that season-ending shoulder injury against Northampton Sam Prendergast answered a few critics as well. The Leinster out-half bossed the game. He made his tackles, kicked his goals and looked right at home. Individually and collectively, this Leinster team swarmed the visitors during a dominant first half. The hosts were positively feral in the opening 40 minutes. There were echoes of the Champions Cup final in 2023 when Leinster established a similar lead against La Rochelle only to fall away in the final quarter. There was let up this time around. The 'everyone hates Leinster' mantra has served this squad well in recent weeks. It lit a fire under this playing group after that Northampton defeat had seemingly punctured their entire campaign. Leinster head coach Leo Cullen. Pic: INPHO/Craig Watson Andy Farrell will be heartened by what he saw. The sizeable Leinster contingent are straight into Lions duty today and they will arrive into camp with a spring in their step. The Lions head coach knows that the Leinster contingent have finally flushed those Champions Cup gremlins out of the system. Fittingly, the first-half concluded with McGrath lunching himself at Johan Goosen like an exocet missile after Ryan Baird had levelled Marcell Coetzee during a late defensive stand. The Bulls eventually ran out of willing carriers and ideas and Leinster charged off the pitch with a deserved 19-point lead. Thing is, it could have been even worse for the Bulls. Harold Vorster was a lucky man when he appeared to make contact with the eye area of McCarthy during an early skirmish. Referee Andrea Piardi absolutely bottled that call, merely awarding a penalty in Leinster's favour. It harked back to the Battle of Pretoria in 2009 when Lions wing Luke Fitzgerald was gouged by Springbok flanker Schalk Burger and French referee Christophe Berdos deemed the infraction only worthy of a yellow card. Shocking. No matter, the Bulls could have had 16 men on the field yesterday and they would have struggled. The visitors looks positively shellshocked as they left for the sanctity of the half-time break. Leinster, meanwhile, charged off the pitch with Clarkson getting a pat on the back from fellow tighthead Rabah Slimani. After biblical downpours all day, the sun then broke through the clouds over Hill 16. We were barely two minutes into the second half when Ryan – who put in a serious shift – was called ashore, with RG Snyman entering the fray. Prendergast kept the scoreboard ticking over with a penalty front of the sticks and when replacement hooker Akker van der Merwe was mauled over the line, we wondered if a late Bulls resurgence was on the cards? No way. Leinster weren't in the mood. When Prendergast shanked a kickable three-point in the 62nd minute, it drew a collective gasp from the 46,127-strong crowd. It felt like the first time that a Leinster player had made a big error. A perfect day at GAA headquarters was topped off when replacement scrum-half Fintan Gunne, who wasn't even in the matchday 23 until Gibson-Park's late withdrawal yesterday morning, showed a clean pair of heels to score in the corner. Ross Byrne, playing his last game for Leinster before his summer move to Gloucester, fired over the touchline conversion. What a way to land a first URC title. It should be the first of many if Leinster can replicate this performance in the seasons ahead. Even the haters would agree.
Irish Independent
15-06-2025
- Sport
- Irish Independent
Rúaidhrí O'Connor: Huge relief as Leinster secure important win for Irish rugby at the end of underwhelming season
No one summed up the province's will to succeed more than their No 6, Ryan Baird When the Bulls were finally put out of their misery, Ryan Baird threw both hands into the air and roared into the sky. All around him, large South Africans in white jerseys sank to their knees in despair. No one summed up Leinster's refusal to let another final slip by more than their No 6. Man of the match in the semi-final and the final, Baird spoke about how he'd felt the pressure in the build-up, mentioned the fact that he is among a large contingent of Leinster players who have never enjoyed a trophy-winning moment in front of a crowd.
