If ever Andy Farrell wanted a story of selflessness to underline the team-first mentality he demands of his side, then Garry Ringrose has given him one. This week had been shaping as a special one in the life of the Ireland centre, a perhaps overdue Test appearance in a British and Irish Lions shirt finally set to arrive after being named in the starting side for Saturday’s clash at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. But in training on Thursday, Ringrose knew something wasn’t right. The Irishman had been ruled out of the first Test through concussion and returned to action on Tuesday against the First Nations & Pasifika XV; there had been no second head contact or set-back since but at the end of the Lions’ session, Ringrose went to Farrell and asked to be stood down.
It was a brave call that not all might have made. Plenty of players, past and present, would have kept quiet and hoped to get better, prepared to risk the possible consequences. “To play with him and get to know him over the last couple of months has been a real privilege and honour,” Maro Itoje said of the centre. “I'm gutted for him that he's in this position. But, also, it shows the measure of the man to be so selfless. All we ask of all of us is to be selfless and put the team first. When push comes to shove, you see who really does it. Garry is a man who really did it."
