Ireland’s most underrated player is back but should he replace Garry Ringrose?

"If I could be half the player he is I'd be over the moon."

Garry Ringrose conceded that he was simply hoping to fill Jared Payne's shoes and do the best he could at 13 while the Kiwi was injured. Ringrose has certainly done that. He was not the only one to falter in the first half against Scotland but he has done really well since then. Last Saturday, against France, he was the most threatening back on show. Ringrose made 17 carries against the French and troubled them with his neat footwork and strong lines. Having shown he was able to front up as inside centre against New Zealand and Australia, Ringrose is featuring in more and more attacking set-plays. His latest outing earned an 8/10 from us and garnered some high praise from former Lions captain Martin Johnson. All is going well for Ringrose but, all of a sudden, there is serious competition for his jersey. Jared Payne played 20 minutes for Ulster against Zebre last weekend. Today, he was named in Ireland's 36-man squad and then named outside centre for Ulster's Guinness PRO12 game against Treviso. https://twitter.com/UlsterRugby/status/837276192503967744 One imagines that Payne's presence at Carton House, next week, will certainly keep the likes of Ringrose and fullback Rob Kearney on their toes. Payne can cover both positions extremely well and is implicitly trusted by Irish management and the senior players. Ringrose himself acknowledged the Tauranga native's contribution to the team's defensive shape. He told us:

"Jared is incredible defensively. I've learned as much as I could off him training with him and watching him on TV. To describe him as the defensive captain is very true."

In the 19 Test games Payne has played, since he became qualified under the three-year residency rule, Ireland have conceded 27 tries [1.4 per game]. In the 10 matches he mas missed since his November 2014 debut, Ireland have conceded 20 tries [two per game]. In a world where every point counts, that is a noticeable difference. The games where Ireland truly missed him were when Argentina [2015 World Cup] and Scotland [2017 Six Nations] cut loose and hurt them out wide. He does not get to show it all of the time but he is a canny attacker, in terms of finding space, hitting soft shoulders, putting teammates through gaps and picking passes, like this one that drew in Ardie Savea in Chicago. He is a tough bugger too. He played 50 minutes against France, in Paris, with a torn hamstring, 45 minutes of Ireland's game against New Zealand in Dublin with a dead leg and lasted until half-time against Australia with badly damaged kidneys. With Wales likely to go with a bruising centre partnership of Scott Williams and Jonathan Davies in Cardiff, next Friday, Schmidt may hold Ringrose in reserve and bring Payne back in. This weekend's Ulster game and the early Carton House training runs may yet be the proving ground. It would be harsh to drop Ringrose at this stage but there is certainly an argument to be made for the return of Ireland's most underrated players.