Ireland and Hull KR winger Ethan Ryan ruled out of World Cup

Drew Darbyshire
Ethan Ryan Hull KR

Ireland will be without Hull KR winger Ethan Ryan for the upcoming World Cup after he underwent post-season surgery on a hand injury.

The 26-year-old dislocated and broke his metacarpal in Hull KR’s derby win over rivals Hull FC in the final game of the regular season.

Ryan underwent surgery to fix the issue on September 12. Subsequently, he will be in a cast for six weeks before beginning his rehabilitation with the club.

This means that Ryan will now miss out on representing his Irish heritage at the upcoming World Cup, which is held in England.

Ryan tweeted: “Absolutely gutted to be missing out on this year’s World Cup.

“Playing for Ireland is something that means a lot to me so to be missing it is devastating.

“Thank you to all the Hull KR fans for your support this year, you’ve been incredible from start to finish. Eyes on 2023 now.”

Ethan Ryan proud to represent Ireland

The 26-year-old has won five caps for Ireland since making his international debut in 2018.

Ryan was born and raised in Halifax but qualifies to play for Ireland through his family, who hail from County Wexford.

“All of my dad’s side of the family are Irish,” Ryan told Love Rugby League. “My grandad and grandma are both Irish, but I didn’t know her.

“Grandad came over to England with the majority of his family to come and work. My dad was then born in England and met my mum, where I was brought up.

“I think it is important to know about your family and where you come from.

“My mum doesn’t know who her dad is so she did a DNA test the other year. She found out all sorts about where she’s from and where family is from and it was good to know. On the back of that I wanted to ask my dad where all his family are from. I had an in-depth conversation with him and spoke about going to visit family over there.

“A lot of my family are still over in Ireland”

“We aren’t very close since my grandad passed away so it is something I’d like to change and I’d like to keep in contact with all of them.”

Ireland are in a group with New Zealand, Jamaica and Lebanon at the World Cup.

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Rugby League World Cup Ethan Ryan