Italy game is going to be a ‘streetfight’, warns Mike Ross

From frustrated father, watching the France game on his phone, to facing England at Twickenham a fortnight later, even a player as experienced as Mike Ross can find the fasttrack return to Test rugby a little trying.

From the anxiety of injury to the joy of playing again, Ireland prop Ross has been through an emotional wringer during this Six Nations campaign, even enduring the agony of the displaced fan, watching from afar as his side were undone at the scrum in Paris in that narrow 10-9 defeat.

Fit-again following the hamstring tear he suffered during Leinster’s European home defeat to Toulon in December, Ross was on the verge of his Ireland comeback but still in need of game time when Joe Schmidt stuck with Nathan White at tighthead for the second week in a row last month.