The intriguing notion of Rhys Ruddock lining out for Wales against Ireland in the third round of the 2024 Six Nations remains a possibility, albeit an unlikely one.
Such has been the spate of retirements and injuries among their backrow options that Warren Gatland admitted the Leinster flanker, who has been capped 27 times by Ireland, had been mentioned in discussions among the Welsh management. Nor has Gatland entirely ruled out the possibility of Ruddock switching his allegiance, especially were there to be further injuries among the Welsh loose forwards, albeit the Welsh coach did seem to believe it was an unlikely eventuality.
The 33-year-old Ruddock becomes eligible for Wales ahead of the third round of this year’s Six Nations – ironically when they play Ireland at the Aviva Stadium – in light of World Rugby’s change to their eligibility laws whereby after three years without playing international rugby a player can revert to his country of birth or heritage.
Ruddock won the last of his 27 caps for Ireland in the 2021 second round fixture at home to France, which was also his first Six Nations start – over a decade after his Irish debut as a 20-year-old on the Irish tour to Australia in June 2010. Prior to this he had also captained the national side seven times, Ireland winning on each occasion.
The prospect of the Dublin-born, Welsh-reared Ruddock reverting to the country of his father Mike, the former Leinster and Wales coach, arose after an interview in Wales in which the latter admitted: “As a dad I would love to see Rhys play for Wales.”
This has also led to a discussion between Gatland and Ruddock senior, but there has been no contact directly between the latter’s son and the Welsh head coach, which underlines that the prospect appears to remain remote, even if Gatland did not entirely rule it out when speaking at Monday’s Six Nations launch in the Guinness Storehouse in Dublin.
“We realise that he is potentially available after a couple of games if we pick up a couple of injuries. To be honest he made his decision to go down the Irish route and he has been involved with Leinster for a number of years, and that’s where he felt he was best placed for his rugby. You’ve got to respect that and appreciate that.
“If he was younger it might be a different story, but we’ve got to look at our sevens. Is it fit for purpose for us at the moment? It might fill a hole for a short period. We know what a quality player he is and how good he has been with Leinster and leading Leinster on a number of occasions. So it is probably a little bit of more of a wait and see over the next few months.”
What might also count against Ruddock is lack of game time this season with Leinster, where he is one of the those suffering from the reduction in matches during international windows such as the forthcoming Six Nations, as well as the conveyor belt of young backrows.
Only two seasons ago Ruddock played over 1,000 minutes for the sixth season in his 15 campaigns to date with Leinster, in which time he has represented the province on 224 occasions. As with Ireland, Ruddock has been a go-to captain for his province whenever they are not at full strength, be it international windows or, say, in the last two tours to South Africa.
Ruddock captained Leinster on their two-match tour to South Africa last season but suffered a torn hamstring in the initial win over the Lions and was sidelined for the remainder of the season.
The 33-year-old has been without injuries this season but has been restricted to just one start and two appearances off the bench, amounting to just 108 minutes, which is easily his lowest tally of any of his 15 campaigns with Leinster to date.
Injury-free and in good shape it is understood that Ruddock would like to continue playing, and a move to a Welsh region is not beyond the bounds of possibility. He clearly has designs on coaching, having been a popular and highly regarded coach with the Lansdowne under-20s for the last three seasons and also with the Leinster Schools/under-18s last summer.
It remains to be seen if Leinster keep Ruddock within their set-up, whether as a player or a coach, but clearly the latter route holds appeal for him in due course.
