Ross aiming to meet powerful Ospreys scrum head-on
The Irish side was leading late on in Swansea when the sides last butted heads in November before two yellow cards for the visitors – one of them for lock Ed O’Donoghue – fashioned the crack which the hosts exposed courtesy of a penalty try from a scrum.
Ross is a noted scrummaging geek, the type who swats up eagerly on opponents past, present and future, so the concession of a score in such a manner has not sat well with the Cork-born prop in the five or so weeks since.
“I didn’t sleep well that night or for a couple of days afterwards,” he admitted.
“It’s something I take very personally, I take a lot of pride in. Before that, I don’t think I gave away a penalty try in eight years. I was fairly raging afterwards.”
The Ospreys scrum has been a weapon of note in recent weeks through games against Munster, Cardiff and the Scarlets and Leinster forwards coach Jono Gibbes has already spoken admiringly this week of the Welsh threat in that sector.
“We’ve come up against them a few times and they have a very strong scrum,” Gibbes echoed yesterday. “I watched their games against Munster and against Llanelli (Scarlets) the other day and they certainly have a very good pack. They have Adam Jones, Duncan Jones and Paul James in the front row and they are all internationals, so they obviously have a fairly good competency in that area.”
The same could be said for Leinster who over the summer recess committed to major remedial work on a part of their game that, like Munster, cost them dearly when the season entered its final bend last April and May.
The arrival of specialist scrum coach Greg Feek has been widely hailed as a major contributory factor and Ross has described him as a man who has brought a “lot of common sense” to an area that he believes is basically the sensible application of physics.
Ross has been his onfield general in that regard, the man credited most with ensuring the theory is converted into practice on the field, and the upturn in his own fortunes is one that bears a striking similarity to that of the pack’s.
Brought home from Harlequins in the summer of last year, he made only eight starts in 2009-10 but has already equalled that mark this season thanks in varying parts to his scrummaging expertise, improved physical fitness and the lengthy absence of Stan Wright.
“I’m the type of guy who needs to play a lot of games and I have certainly had that this year.
“You feel that you’re performing for the team, helping them out whereas it’s a lot harder when you’re a bit part player and on the sidelines more often than not, watching the guys perform.”
His input elsewhere on the park has been questioned and there is no doubt that Wright offers more in that regard, but Ross’ solidity at the set-piece remains an alluring jewel given the problems Irish teams have had in that regard at both provincial and national levels.
So far, however, his contribution in the green jersey has been restricted to 12 appearances for the ‘A’s and a pair of caps against Canada and the USA on the 2009 summer tour and his lack of involvement in November has been widely discussed and dissected.
If that rankles he isn’t showing it, or at least he wasn’t yesterday when he claimed to be adopting the predictable yet sensible approach of putting the hard yards in with Leinster without worrying about Ireland or the looming Six Nations and World Cup.
“I think I just need to keep playing the way I am playing. Every player has areas he can improve on, I have identified mine and will keep working on those but if I am not playing well for Leinster, I won’t play for Ireland, it is as simple as that.
“There is a lot of competition in the squad, Stan (Wright) is back next month so I just have to keep playing well and hopefully that will lead to greater things.”
Such has been Leinster’s form of late that there is an increasing number of people who believe that those “greater things” could yet include both Magners League and Heineken Cup silverware being shipped to Dublin later this year.
Already five points clear at the summit of their European pool, they can further solidify their top-four spot in the ‘domestic’ competition with a win over their Welsh opponents this Friday. It is a game they enter on the back of two defeats in 12.
“It’s one game at a time, you can’t really be looking ahead. We have three very tough games coming up — the Ospreys, Saracens and Racing Metro. That’s another step along the journey and we have to play as well as we can if we want to keep stepping forward on our road.”
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
