‘We are not letting this f*****g happen again’ – Ryan Baird on how Leinster held out against Northampton
Ryan Baird has been a regular starter for Leinster this season.
Ryan Baird of Leinster makes a break
Ryan Baird’s body can take him anywhere, as Irish fans witnessed to their astonishment with his searing Six Nations break against Wales this year.
His devotion to professionalism, within his group and outside of it, is astonishing.
To become the best, his slavish adherence to developing every aspect of his physical, athletic and technical being is a template; at just 24, he has established the basis for an enduring career at the highest level of his sport.
Now a back-to-back Six Nations champion, he confirmed a new contract extension less than 24 hours after helping Leinster reach a third successive Champions Cup final last weekend.
He craves club medallions, too. Leinster’s barren two-year stretch is either a catastrophic collective failure or simply sporting misfortune, depending on your perspective.
The way he sees it, the paved gold streets of London represent the pinnacle of a journey. Like his body, his head can bring him to new and interesting places, too. No bad thing.
Jacques Nienaber speaking ahead of Leinster v Ospreys
He has helped institute an app for students to track their mental health using a variety of techniques, from journalling privately to sharing thoughts openly with peers.
Time spent with him is rarely dull. He swears, throws in some Spanish and rarely resorts to bland cliches like many professional athletes.
Just how he plays, an eye-catching diversion is possible at any moment.
So when we allude not just to the sporting effect of clinging on at the line in Croke Park, but the psychological impact, his brain whirrs into gear.
“A good saying one of my close friends has is ‘you’re building a mountain by painting it with layers of paint’,” he tells us.
It’s quite the doozy, one most particularly associated with that occasionally podcasting pariah Joe Rogan.
Each motivation technique to their own perhaps, but Baird expands on what this pearl of wisdom means in his mindset.
“One stroke at a time. You’re slowly building that mountain. That’s all we are doing. That was another layer of paint on what we do every day for the last number of years.
“It’s evidence-based confidence to show that we can do this because we have done that. It is undeniable success, that’s what confidence is, stacked up on top of each other.”
Logic dictates – or at least prompts a question – that the undeniable failures at final hurdles in recent years presumably also contribute as much as the evidence gleaned last weekend.
Holding on to victory where before it had eluded them.
“Well, you’re singling out a couple of games and we have had some big comeback wins,” he counters.
“Yeah, they haven’t been in those two big games that everyone is going to highlight, but I look at the Connacht comeback, the Ulster comeback a couple of years ago. We have done it before, we just keep growing.”
Selective muscle memory is key, applying the best of learning from the worst lessons. That seems to be what occurred in those final Croke Park moments.
“I think it’s natural to feel the nerves but to be in that position when we have been on the other side.
“I would be like, ‘I am not letting this f*****g happen again’. ‘We are not letting this f*****g happen again’. Go attack this game, attack it now, these last few minutes. They had that tap penalty, then we got a penalty and the lineout and we wanted to attack it and finish it and get into the final.
“You learn your lessons. As Jacques Nienaber says, you pay your school fees and now it’s time to push forward and get what we want, which is a fifth star.
“That was where the chat was this week. Jacques didn’t really show us any clips of the game. He was just showing us the threats that Ospreys have. Review is over and I’m thinking now about Ospreys.”
There is a moment to hail, once more, the emergence of Joe McCarthy as a true star.
“I love playing with Joe. There is an incredible individuality about his play in terms of how he puts his statement onto the pitch. He is so unique in how he plays.
“Me and him would be on the phone talking about lineouts for 40 or 50 minutes a couple of times a week, making sure that we have a plan in place, where we’re seeing the same pictures, we’re all on the same page.
“I think he’s an incredible player. I always say it to him, that it’s an absolute honour to play with him every time. I think he’s absolutely phenomenal.”
Their destiny looms large.
