Ringrose: There’s Loads Of Crossover Between High-Performance Environments

Regarded as one of the best midfielders in Gaelic football history, Fenton visited Ireland’s mini camp in Dublin on Thursday and added plenty of value as he sat in on meetings and connected with both the players and coaches.

The 31-year-old won seven All-Ireland Senior Football Championship titles and six All-Star awards, as well being crowned the GAA/GPA Footballer of the Year on two occasions, in a much-decorated career with the Dubs.

A number of the current Ireland players graced GAA pitches in their youth, including the likes of Ryan Baird, Conor Murray, Hugo Keenan, Jack Crowley, Jack Conan, and ex-Westmeath minor footballer Robbie Henshaw.

It was brilliant to welcome Dublin GAA’s seven-time All-Ireland winner and six-time All Star Brian Fenton into Ireland camp today as the squad re-assembled for a two-day mini camp! ⬇️#TeamOfUs pic.twitter.com/Ai6CX6NxRk

— Irish Rugby (@IrishRugby) February 13, 2025

While Ireland have a strong aerial game, as evidenced by the first two rounds of the Guinness Men’s Six Nations, they are always trying to get an extra edge on their opponents, and Fenton’s sharing of his knowledge and expertise was hugely beneficial.

“He’s a pretty inspirational figure,” admitted Garry Ringrose, when speaking about the recently-retired Dublin great. “I think everyone in the room was admiring him for what he’s achieved as a player and with the team he’s involved in.

There’s loads of crossover between high-performance environments so I was picking his brain a little bit and even on some of the aerial stuff. He is some man to win a ball in the midfield.

“And with the law change (brought in by World Rugby last year around kick-chase escorting), we were asking him for some tips and cues that he uses that helped him through his career. It was really cool having him in.

“It’s just a massive challenge and right from the kick execution to the timing of the chase, the entry into the contest, trying to win the breaking ball, there’s loads of different aspects and it was just really cool hearing his perspective, what helped him through the years.”

World Rugby’s law directive was intended to create more contestable kicks, and there have been eye-catching efforts under high balls during the opening two rounds of the Six Nations.

James Lowe, the top player in round 1 of the Championship according to the Opta Index, and a try scorer against Scotland, feels that with the way the game is going, he thinks ‘you’re going to see more overhead takes and being able to distance yourself with legs and still being able to catch it’.

As seen with Keenan, who Lowe says is ‘exceptional’ at it, and Ireland’s most-capped full-back Rob Kearney before him, the ability to retain or regain possession in the air can prove hugely important.

While the majority of tries in the Six Nations are still scored from set-piece ball, Ireland (12.5%), England (14.3%), and France (20%) have all had tries originating from kick returns during the past fortnight.

Having a smart kicking strategy, and the athleticism to back it up, has been a hallmark of many successful teams. If you look at last year’s Rugby Championship, title winners South Africa retained 39 of their 168 kicks for a retention rate of 23.2%, well clear of Argentina (11.4%) as the next best.

Ringrose first came into the Ireland set-up under Joe Schmidt, and the New Zealander had a big focus on retaining kicks, with Jonathan Sexton’s magical 2018 drop goal against France not possible unless Iain Henderson plucked down the 22-metre dropout, and Keith Earls soared for that cross-field kick.

Continuing on the theme of high balls, the centre recalled: “I remember when I was first in the environment, Joe Schmidt used to really drive it and had some principles that we still use and reference today.

“And then I guess, when teams got a bit cuter, in terms of providing a block and stuff like that, I don’t think it ever got any easier because it’s not exactly an easy skill but it did give fellas something that if you got that right would be a cleaner approach or jump at the ball.

“Now that that’s been taken away I think it’s a massive challenge. There are loads of different aspects to it. It’s great, certainly the crowd get involved, the players, it can give us energy.

“So, it’s something we’re continually trying to review and get better at because it’s kind of ebbed and flowed from when I first started but, as I said, a couple of the principles Joe spoke about are still being spoken about now.”

Fenton has been an astute operator both on and off the pitch for a number of years, excelling in his county’s beloved blue jersey while working in Surgical Sales and Decontamination Solutions & Technologies, as well as becoming a qualified physiotherapist and gaining a Masters in Business Management.

The Raheny man knows what a positive effect an open approach can have with regards to high-performance teams and sharing ideas. He was also in camp with Shelbourne FC recently, and said he very much enjoyed his time at the IRFU High Performance Centre.

“I know we played at a very high level with Dublin, but it’s amazing to come into such an elite environment, and kind of rub shoulders with players you admire on and off the pitch,” he told Irish Rugby TV.

“To see them up close in action is a special day, an amazing experience. Just sitting in, observing, maybe getting a different set of eyes on things. Adding value if I can.

“I know there’s a lot of transferable skills between Gaelic football and rugby. Meeting some of the lads, there’s transferable skills from high-fielding to timings of jumps to contest to different things.

“I was just chatting to them and seeing if I can learn and they can learn. For sure there’s similarities, in terms of the openness of the group, the welcome that I got today, we would have liked to have been the same in our Dublin environment.

“In terms of our application, the opposition analysis, looking back on our own performances, looking ahead at the different challenges that we’d face in the next few weeks, both on the pitch, off the pitch, injuries, rehab.

“Very, very similar environments and all with the one goal in achieving what we set out to do. It’s been an absolute pleasure being part of it today.”

Ringrose added: “Everyone in the room, even outside of Dublin, would admire what Brian was a part of. At no point did he mention the word ‘I’. He was very insistent on him being part of a great team and culture.

“I get the chance to work with (performance coach) Dec Darcy at Leinster, and he was at Dublin, and (Ireland Men’s team performance coach) Gary Keegan with us would have spent time with Dublin.

“Any environment that has achieved huge success for a prolonged period of time, all of us would be keen to know what they’re doing, what they’re thinking.

“From the game perspective, talking about the aerial battle, it was great getting his insights into how he approached it and how the team approached it.”