Warren Gatland has been talking about Garry Ringrose again and it can’t be easy on the lad

We appreciate the sentiment but is this really necessary.

At this stage, it is safe to assume that Garry Ringrose is on the stand-by list for the British & Irish Lions. On the day it was announced, the Leinster and Ireland centre was mentioned by Warren Gatland, along with England lock Joe Launchbury, as a player unfortunate not to make the original squad. A little under a month, and one stunning Champions Cup try, later and Gatland has spoken about the 22-year-old again. The Kiwi has revealed he and his coaching staff have a fair idea of the players they want on stand-by should injuries, suspensions or unforeseen circumstances arise. Several players, and their unions, have been contacted with regard to this but the Lions' list will not be revealed to the public. Gatland gave his perfectly understandable reasons for this and then spoke of just how unlucky Ringrose was to miss out. He told Press Association:

"The reason we won't publish a list is because we may want to change our minds. We don't want to back ourselves into a corner with a player who is right at the moment but maybe isn't later on. "The best example of a player who was unlucky not to be picked in the original squad is Garry Ringrose, but if in the last week the weather forecast says it will be pelting it down, it could be that someone else comes in instead of him."

Ringrose may well have lost out to the likes of Jared Payne or Ben Te'o, then, in the final days, or hours, before the squad was revealed. While we're sure Gatland means well - by letting Ringrose know he was a big part of the Lions conversation - the comments do little for him. Ringrose will be trying to focus on Leinster's Guinness PRO12 semi-final against Scarlets, this Friday, and Gatland has merely brought back a recent, bitterly disappointing memory. One hopes that Ringrose can put the distraction to one side, as he did last month, again and try to end his season on a winning note.