“That poor young fella.”

Ireland winger Keith Earls says he felt sorry for young centre Garry Ringrose when he first burst onto the Irish Rugby scene.

Due to his age, raw talent and unique running style, Ringrose was instantly compared to arguably Ireland’s greatest player Brian O’Driscoll. Earls says there’s nothing worse, and that Ringrose needs to be let be himself.

Having played in the centre at schools level, Earls was also compared to O’Driscoll in his younger days. And he says it disrupted his game.

“I suppose when Ringer was coming through and he was being compared to Drico, I remember saying ‘oh God, that poor young fella’… I said there’s nothing worse than that, you just need to leave him be himself.” Earls said

“I had been compared to Drico as well and it was the worst thing ever, because I was trying to be like Drico or trying to be better than Drico.”

Earls reckons Ringrose is a lot better than he was when he was 23, and that he has all the attributes to become a world class centre.

“Ringer is a very quiet fella, he’ll speak when he has to speak, but his work-rate off and on the field is phenomenal. He gets on with his job and he’s a really intelligent fella. He’s still young enough — I think he’s definitely a lot better than I was when I was 23.

“He has it all.”

“He just needs a good run now, he looks a bit bigger now (after) the surgery and stuff. He has been doing a lot of weights with his shoulder… in my eyes he is a world class centre and he is going to get better and better.”

[The42.ie]