Boarding Pass - Ryan Lamb

Name: Ryan Lamb
Club: London Irish
Position: Fly-Half
International Honours: England U21, England Saxons

With 12-months to go until the World Cup in New Zealand, players across the planet are fighting it out to secure themselves a seat on the plane to the competition.

To begin what will be a weekly look at men who are making a claim and demanding their selection, I turn to London Irish’s Ryan Lamb.

At just 24, the fly-half has appeared to be around longer than his young age suggests while not always enjoying an entirely glowing career - arrested and charged for assault last year before being dropped by his home town club, Gloucester.

He has always showed glimpses of promise but has not been able to put a streak of form together and his kicking has been unreliable. Indeed last year he was not always first choice in the number 10 jersey for The Exiles, often finding himself on the bench behind Chris Malone.

However, under the tutorledge of Mike Catt, Lamb may well have a guide who can transform him into the player he has threatened to be. He has impressed during Irish’s pre-season, especially in Wales against the Newport Gwent-Dragon and continued his form through to the opening weekend of the Aviva Premiership.

Against Saracens at Twickenham, Lamb kicked 13 of his side’s 33 points and provided a perfect cross-field kick for Sailosi Tagicakibau to touch down in the second half. His passing created dangerous opportunities for the free-running and free-flowing London Irish backs, and he wore a cheeky smile of confidence throughout the game as he outshone another contender – Alex Goode.

With the departure of Danny Cipriani to Australia –seemingly knocking the Melbourne Rebel out of England reckoning – there are greater possibilities at 10.

But with the likes of Jonny Wilkinson, Toby Flood, Charlie Hodgson and Shane Geraghty all with more international experience and currently ahead of him in Martin Johnson’s pecking order, Lamb is going to need to put in some very strong performances if he is to break into the side and make his full international debut.


Chances of flying to New Zealand: 3.5/10 – Lamb needs to put months not minutes of form together and hope his attacking play is helped by powerful finishing from the team-mates around him, but he may have to rely on injury and poor performances from his competitors if he is to get his chance.