RUGBY SIX NATIONS:Tighthead prop Mike Ross has a healthy respect for the Welsh pack, but he's certainly not in awe of them, writes JOHNNY WATTERSON
DOWN TIME in camp Ireland takes Mike Ross to his science fiction books. Iain Banks is the writer of the moment, author of The Algebraistand The Player of Games, both appropriate titles for Ireland's most recent tighthead prop.
Extra-terrestrial specialists Alien Online has noted that The Algebraistis "a hugely enjoyable romp", while The Player of Gamescentres around a main character who travels to another empire to play a fabulous game, "a game so complex, so like life itself, that the winner becomes ruler".
And so it goes.
The Principality of Wales. Cardiff. The Millenium Stadium; and if Ireland can win also the chance to take a pop at England and the Triple Crown in the final match of the series.
A fabulous game in a different environment and if the roof is closed for Saturday’s match it should also be a surreal place for Ross to play for the first time. His only other visit to the venue was for the 2002 Heineken Cup final as a spectator.
While coach Declan Kidney conjured up the broad sideburns of JPR Williams when he thought of Welsh rugby earlier this week, the images in the head of the prop, following years of playing around England, are much more prosaic.
“You have the classic old Pontypool frontrow,” says Ross. The forefront thought in his mind could strike fear. “Welsh packs always had a history of being tough and abrasive. I’ve played against a few Welsh teams and they haven’t lost those characteristics. If they’re on top of you, you’ll know about it.
“You can’t be in awe of them. You’d respect them. Paul James is a very, very good scrummager. He probably shades Gethin (Jenkins) a little in that regard. Whereas Gethin has the all-round game attributes, Paul’s scrummaging is what I’ll principally focus on. He’s not an easy customer.”
Ross is known as a scrum technician, a subject in which a Nasa qualification could prove useful. This week he will sit and study the physics of 16 colliding bodies, slipping binds, the hit, body angles. He’ll try and work out if they shove on the ‘E’ of engage. He’ll watch to see if they turn in, push down, pull on his arm. He’ll want to know if the number eight is pushing or popping up his head, if they are heavier, if they are gifted in cheating or not.
There is no detail of the scrum to which Ross is indifferent, an element of the game that even fiction writer Banks would have trouble working into his more outrageous plot.
“People will watch you more and try to figure out what makes you uncomfortable, so you might come up against something you might not have dealt with before,” says Ross. “So you just have to keep evolving. It’s like an arms race at times.
“With all the footage, the first time (analysis) will take you 45 minutes to do the past six or seven games. You can’t obsess on it too much because guys will change as time goes on. So you look at the more recent stuff first to get an idea and then see what’s caused them trouble in the past; try to formulate a strategy.
“It gets complex but it’s up to you to deal with it. If they’re trying to take your space, you need to come up with a strategy to nullify that. That’s what I enjoy about it. You have to come up strategies to nullify each other.”
Both Ross and Cian Healy will offer a fresh two thirds of the frontrow for Wales to fathom, hooker Rory Best a familiar face. As the partnership is in its infancy, it might act as a double-edged sword. James, captain Matthew Rees and Craig Mitchell won’t have much intelligence on them, while the Irish props are still understanding how to play as a unit. In an ironic way the inexperience could be seen as an advantage to Ireland.
“It can be to a certain extent but guys are clever,” says Ross. “The stereotype of the prop being very thick doesn’t hold true at this level. Because if you’re stupid, you simply won’t survive.
"I enjoy that aspect of the game. It's satisfactory when you come up with a strategy that works really well. It's like a back-line play that comes off. If you're implementing a scrummaging policy that is causing the opposition maximum discomfort, you do derive satisfaction." Ross says being in the Irish camp is much the same as in Leinster except the hotels are nicer. He concedes the banter isn't any better than in the province. The cricket has been a diversion, but he thinks not a permanent one for him. There's just one thing on his mind. Like The Algebraist, he hopes it will be a hugely enjoyable romp.
