The Ireland rugby team are back in Australia for the first time since 2018 which, given the success of that three-Test tour on and off the pitch, is surprising really. Back then, James Ryan was the baby of the squad at 21 and literally didn’t know what it was like to lose.One of eight Irish players back Down Under eight years later, Ryan actually suffered his first defeat as a professional rugby player in the first Test in Brisbane. Beginning with his debut the previous summer in Japan, Ryan had been on the winning side in all of his 23 games for Leinster and Ireland, including a Champions Cup/Pro14 double and a Grand Slam. As it was, Ireland came back to win the second and third Tests, in Melbourne and Sydney’s Allianz Stadium, so claiming their first series win in the southern hemisphere since the Fergus Slattery-captained 2-0 series win in Australia 1979.“That was an unbelievable tour,” Ryan said when asked to reflect on the trip a week out from Ireland’s opening Nations Championship game next Saturday at the Allianz Stadium, which was again quickly sold out.“And that was a serious Aussie team. Obviously [Michael] Cheika was coaching it, but I think they had [David] Pocock and [Michael] Hooper in the backrow. [Israel] Folau was still playing. So it was a proper team.”His excitement about next Saturday’s rematch is also accentuated by the Irish presence in the stadium.“My memory from that game was that behind the goalpost it was just a full stand of green. It was mental. And that was my first season as a professional rugby player. It was just a step up in terms of the atmosphere and everything that went with all the games. I loved that tour. I think it was the first series we won in Australia for a long while. So, it was brilliant.”Although this past season hasn’t been quite so bountiful, Ryan and his Leinster team-mates finished off their campaign by retaining the URC title.James Ryan at a press conference at the InterContinental Hotel, Sydney, on June 27th, 2026. Photograph: Ben Brady/©INPHO “Yeah, it was great. We had a good couple of days, and it was a big motivation for us to send off some of the guys that were finishing up in the right way,” he said.“I think it’s such a tough competition to win now. I won the Pro14, as it were, when I started my career. I think the URC is a much tougher competition now to win. I think the big four South African teams have added a huge amount just in terms of the quality now of the league, so to win it was great.”[ Stuart McCloskey and Tadhg Beirne both in line to play in Ireland’s Nations Championship openerOpens in new window ]Ryan played every minute of the 2018 series and having played the full 80 in six of his last seven starts, has started all but one of his 23 games this season in mounting up his most minutes since the 2018-19 season.“I actually wouldn’t have even thought that,” he said with genuine surprise. “I feel great. That’s good to know. I suppose we have played a lot of rugby since we started. It has been a long season. But when you come in here, there’s a freshness about it as well. It’s such an exciting few weeks ahead. I’ve played a lot. It’s good. I feel confident now.”Ryan has also started the ensuing three Irish wins against the Wallabies in the Aviva Stadium, as well as finishing the second Test and starting the third on last summer’s Lions tour.“I think on their day they’re an unbelievably good side,” said Ryan. “I thought they were very good in the Lions series. How close was that second game? Obviously, they won the third Test. In the Rugby Championship, they beat South Africa away which was huge. They beat them comfortably.Ireland's James Ryan and Australia's Rob Valetini at the Aviva on November 15th, 2025. Photograph: Gary Carr/©INPHO “So, I think when they put their best performance together I think they’re very, very dangerous. I think they’re building a nice squad, a nice group with the World Cup next year. “You’ve got a few guys that will come in from the rugby league. And there’s guys like Max Jorgensen and Tom Wright, who bring a real X factor. Les Kiss coming in. I don’t know when he starts, but it will be a new mindset around how they want to play. Obviously with Joe Schmidt, he’ll want to finish on a high. I think they’ll target this game as a big one for them.”Schmidt, of course, gave Ryan his first cap and was Irish head coach on that 2018 tour, whereas this will be the first of his final three games in charge of the Wallabies.“He was my first taste of rugby at this level. Probably one thing I took away was just how nailed on you’ve got to be off the pitch in your understanding of the plan and the detail that goes with every week. That was huge,” said Ryan.“He was a big believer in the ‘mind gym’, he used to call it, which is kind of visualisation and was a skill that I picked up from him. I was a young 20/21-year-old and I’ve used that ever since. He was big.”