Garry Ringrose ‘progressing nicely’ as Mike Catt drops hint with Ireland squad update ahead of Italy clash

Ireland assistant coach Mike Catt says Garry Ringrose is ‘progressing nicely’ in terms of his recovery from the shoulder injury that kept him out of last week’s opening Six Nations win in Marseille.

Catt is confident that Ringrose, as well as the remainder of the extended squad, will be able to train tomorrow with a view to being available for selection for Sunday’s clash with Italy at the Aviva Stadium.

Several players including captain Peter O’Mahony, Hugo Keenan and Calvin Nash are carrying knocks following the bruising bonus point win over France, but Catt is hopeful they will be in the mix to face Italy.

Fresh after training with Ireland for the first time in Portugal last week, Oli Jager has been added to the full squad. The Munster tighthead will be hoping to earn his Test debut this weekend.

“There are a few guys obviously with a few bumps and bruises from Friday night,” Catt said.

“There are a couple that are still rumbling around.

“We will make our decision (later), but we are pretty confident that everybody will be fit to train fully tomorrow and obviously selection on Friday. There are a few bumps and bruises, but we are alright.

“Calvin, Hugo (Keenan), Ringer is coming through nicely. He obviously didn’t train today, but he is progressing nicely. We will see how they pull up over the next couple of days.”

Andy Farrell is weighing up the prospect of making some changes for this weekend, and it appears as though there will be a couple at least.

However, Catt acknowledged that it was vital that whoever comes in builds on the momentum generated by the impressive bonus point win over France.

“Well, I think first and foremost it’s who’s available, who comes through alright,” outgoing attack coach Catt maintained

“Secondly, I think we are in a good position in terms of players that have been in with us over the past two, three, four years.

“Nobody is really new to it, so for people to fit in if they need to get their opportunity, it’s crucial for us to have that squad.

“It’s a little bit like at the World Cup, you need a squad of players to produce in the Six Nations, and I think we have done that really well.

“The players that we have currently got, whoever we might pick to build momentum, we are confident that they can all fit in.”

Jack Crowley is expected to continue in the No 10 jersey, with Catt adding:

“I think it’s just the combinations, whether it’s Jack or Harry (Byrne) or Frawls (Ciarán Frawley) at ‘10’, for all those guys, it’s an opportunity to express themselves and show what they are capable of doing.

“But in terms of moving forward, I think all of them would like a start, so it’s just making sure we do what’s right for the team.”

Ireland are heavy favourites to see off Italy in Dublin on Sunday, which will accelerate talk of becoming the first side to win back-to-back Grand Slams in the Six Nations era.

Internally, though, the squad are keeping their feet firmly on the ground.

“There’s no need to (get ahead of ourselves), is there,” Catt maintained.

“Andy has always spoken about the next performance, that’s been the key thing.

“From the players’ point of view, too, the Grand Slam will take care of itself if we perform to a level we are capable of performing.

“It’s making sure we put our focus on that and don’t worry about the external noise.”

Catt is set to leave the Ireland setup following this summer’s tour to South Africa, with Leinster’s Andrew Goodman replacing him as the attack specialist.

The former England international is determined to go out on a high.

“For the past four years I’ve taken in every moment, to be honest,” Catt said.

“It is an incredible environment, an incredible group of players, incredible backroom staff so for me it is enjoying the moment. I am quite good at that. I don’t look too far into the future. I’ve enjoyed every minute of it and I’ll keep doing that till the end.”

Catt spent three years with Italy before he joined Ireland in 2019. and he believes his former side will pose a threat this weekend.

“What I liked about the Italy performance (against England) was, they didn’t have a great World Cup. I think they put their hands up to that as a group of players,” he added.

“And for them to turn around and put in a performance like that against a good England side was very impressive.

“They are obviously trying to impress the new coach as well and I just thought the way they played, they didn’t go away from their DNA in terms of they’ve played over the last couple of years.

“I think with (Gonzalo) Quesada, they’ll tighten things up a little bit but when they get going, they caused some serious problems by scoring some very, very good tries.

“I think it’s a team that really work hard for each other, especially defensively, their work rate off the ball is huge.

“We need to make sure our bits and pieces are right to try and break that down.”

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