Ryan Baird impressed as soon as he started playing club rugby and he has transferred his skills onto the international stage.

The second-row is finding his way into the Ireland team and is building caps.

Read more: Ireland Six Nations Squad

Ten things you should know about Ryan Baird

1. Ryan Baird was born on 26 July 1999 in Dublin, Ireland. He stands at 6ft 6in (1.98m) and weighs 17st 6lbs (112kg).

2. He has played his senior rugby exclusively for Leinster.

3. Baird competed for Ireland’s youth teams before winning his first cap against Italy in 2021.

4. He attended St Michael’s College which counts James Ryan, Dan Leavy, Max Deegan, Luke McGrath, Ross Byrne and Ronan Kelleher among its alumni.

5. Baird told Rugby World about playing different sports: “Rugby was always very important to me but when I was at school, around 12 or 13 years of age, I did a lot of athletics, some shot put, some other field events, 4x100m relays. I went to the All-Irelands twice in shot put and finished fourth and second. I’ve always wanted to try different things. I’ve always been into different sports.”

6. He started his rugby life playing as a fly-half and a winger. He now plays predominantly at lock but is able to compete at flanker.

7.  Baird says James Ryan, Devin Toner and Leo Cullen are his mentors.

8. He is a huge fan of the NFL with legendary quarter-back Tom Brady one of his favourite players.

9. Baird has spoken about his mentality when it comes to rugby. He told Rugby World: “Everybody is getting stronger, everybody is getting faster, everybody understands the game, so you’re looking for those edges and mindfulness is a pretty untapped area. It’s not even necessarily about meditation, it’s about visualisation.

“You can’t over-rep your body, you can’t do a thousand reps, but you can visualise what you’re going to do in certain situations so that when you get to the game it’s not the first time you have seen yourself make that carry or make that tackle. It’s familiar to you, you’ve seen it before.”

10. He likes to fish

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