For as long as Ross Byrne and those who know him best can remember, he has always relished that unmistakeable pressure which comes with big games.
ike every out-half who puts themselves into those highly-charged situations in the first place, there have been hiccups along the way, yet what separates Byrne from many of the others, is that he has always bounced back due to his unflappable demeanour.
Tomorrow afternoon, he will face his biggest test when he leads Leinster in a Heineken Champions Cup semi-final in the south of France, but there hasn’t been any sense of panic around the corridors of UCD this week.
Johnny Sexton is unquestionably a massive loss to Leinster’s hopes of beating a powerful La Rochelle team, yet there is a growing feeling that Byrne has been building towards this moment, where he backs up his stunning display in Exeter and proves his worth once again.
The 26-year-old’s international career may be still stuck in neutral, perhaps unfairly so, but there has never been any doubt about his value to Leinster, who have invested a huge amount of time and patience in him.
You don’t play 100 games for Leinster unless you are made of the right stuff and that Byrne will mark the significant milestone in such a big European clash is rather in keeping with the under-rated nature of his career to date.
He has come a long way since playing in four consecutive schools cup finals, but even back then, his talent was obvious in what was an excellent St Michael’s team.
Byrne had to taste back-to-back Junior Cup final defeats before he played a key role in igniting the Michael’s revival when the school landed just their second Senior Cup.
Byrne’s stamp was all over that successful 2012 campaign, not least in the first round when he held his nerve to kick a penalty 17 minutes into injury time to earn a replay against Roscrea.
Just over a month later at the RDS, Byrne showed a similar level of assuredness when he steered Michael’s to a memorable victory over Clongowes.
Writing in these pages, Tony Ward, who knows a thing or two about good out-half play, described Byrne as “ice-cool” and the “epitome of composure”.
That’s the kind of trait that has stuck with him since his schooldays, as Byrne has often shown that he is the man for the big occasion.
Think back to his 16-point haul and match-winning kick against Ulster in the 2019 Champions Cup quarter-final, or his 14 points against Munster in the PRO14 semi-final that same year or this year’s final, when he was selected ahead of a fit Sexton on both occasions.
“Ross has justified his selection with some great performances in some of those big games,” Leo Cullen insists.
“This is just another big game for him. He has got great drive and he has a very clear picture in terms of what the coaches want delivered on the day and he maps the team around the field really, really well. It’s a massive step up.”
Back in January, Byrne came off the bench at Thomond Park and turned the game in Leinster’s favour thanks to an inch-perfect grubber kick, which created a try for Jordan Larmour.
Then there was his 17 points off the bench last time out in Sandy Park when Byrne, as he so often does, seamlessly slotted into Sexton’s big boots and helped set up tomorrow’s mouthwatering semi-final.
“He’s always had a really calm head about him,” says Rory O’Loughlin, Byrne’s team-mate and close friend.
“I played with him when he was in sixth class in St Michael’s and I was in first year and he got called up to our U-13s team. You could tell his skill-set was always above his age-grade, he could catch, pass and kick better than most players and that got him on to teams before he was physically ready.
“He was 13 playing for my Junior Cup team and he nearly won us the Junior Cup with a drop-goal. He just missed it, but for a 13-year-old to even attempt that, you just knew he had confidence in himself at such a young age.”
When wearing a blue jersey, Byrne tends to look confident and assured, which is helped by the fact that he invariably plays behind a dominant pack. As he has learned the hard way, however, it isn’t as straightforward in green.
For all that many people have written off Byrne’s international career before it ever really got started, it’s worth remembering that he has only made two starts for Ireland and both of them came at Twickenham, when the pack was going backwards at a rate of knots.
He may not be the long-term successor to Sexton for Ireland, but there is surely more to come from Byrne on the international stage, particularly if he can deliver another strong performance tomorrow.
“It’s been pretty frustrating, it’s been stop-start,” Byrne said of his Ireland career when speaking on the Left Wing podcast recently.
“It is frustrating when you get a start and it doesn’t go well, and then you don’t get another start for a year. Then you are in and out of the team, whether you are on the bench or not, and you are not getting much of a chance.
“The big thing is to take your chance because you might not get another one.”
Exeter went after Byrne in the quarter-final, but he stood up to the physical challenge, which is just as well because he can expect much more of the same against La Rochelle.
The French side’s Fijian powerhouse centre Levani Botia, who also plays in the back-row such is his ferocious physicality, will be sent charging down Byrne’s channel all day, so from that end, Josh van der Flier on his inside and Robbie Henshaw on his outside, will have their hands full in protecting their out-half.
“I would say the big work-on for Ross Byrne - he’s a great game manager - is you can’t plant when you pass the ball, so if he can actually run through on his passes it can add another dimension to Ireland’s attack,” Ronan O’Gara said about Byrne last autumn.
O’Gara will have tailored La Rochelle’s game-plan to try and expose Byrne, who will know what to expect. Stopping the threat will be easier said than done, as will breaking down their miserly defence.
As well as managing his own game, Byrne must boss the Leinster pack around the park and not sit too deep.
“Ross is an incredible out-half, an incredible player. I’ve played with him a lot now and he has the full backing of the group, of course,” hooker Rónan Kelleher says.
“He has shown his talent over many of the big games in the last couple of years for Leinster. We have full faith, full confidence in him because he has been there and done it before.”
For Byrne, it’s a case of doing what he does best and not trying to be Sexton.
Having spent much of the last year hearing how his younger brother Harry is the second coming, Ross has kept his head down and got on with it.
That steely mindset has served him well up to this point, now it’s about proving that he is much more than Sexton’s able deputy.
ROSS BYRNE’S KEY MOMENTS
Champions Cup quarter-final
March 30 2019, Aviva Stadium
Leinster 21 Ulster 18
A leg injury to Johnny Sexton opened the door for Byrne. A 16-point haul, including an early try and a nerveless late penalty, saw him guide Leinster into the last four of Europe.
Guinness PRO14 semi-final
May 18, 2019, RDS
Leinster 24 Munster 9
Despite Sexton being fit, Leo Cullen made a huge call by starting Byrne, who had played a key role in getting Leinster to the semi-final. The deputy out-half rewarded his coach’s faith in him by kicking 14 points.
World Cup warm-up
August 24, 2019, Twickenham
England 57 Ireland 15
Byrne was handed his first international start, but what should have been a dream day descended into a nightmare. With the pack demolished, Byrne became the fall guy, as his hopes of making the World Cup squad were dashed.
Autumn Nations Cup
Nov 21, 2020, Twickenham
England 18 Ireland 7
Byrne’s second Ireland start arrived over a year after his first and as he returned to Twickenham, Byrne endured another difficult afternoon as Ireland were second best throughout.
Champions Cup quarter-final
April 10, 2021, Sandy Park
Exeter 22 Leinster 34
With Sexton forced off after 27 minutes, Byrne helped overturn a 14-0 deficit to knock out reigning European and English champions, expertly running the show and kicking 17 points to set up tomorrow’s semi-final clash against La Rochelle.
