'Scrum nerd' ready to blossom in Eternal City

ITALY v IRELAND: MIKE ROSS INTERVIEW:"MY PROPPING education began with my first senior game," Mike Ross informed The Irish Times back in 2009. "The Stephen's Day fixture against Cork Con.

I got my pilot’s wings that day courtesy of Ian Murray. He took me for a little training lesson. I spent most of my time being lifted up in the air, but every prop needs a few good going-overs. It certainly improves you.”

John Hayes he is not. Nor does he seek to be. Ross might be different in shape to, and his time in Munster did not pan out because of, The Bull, but a string of impressive showings in a solidified Leinster scrum this season made him an irresistible selection for this weekend’s trip to the Eternal City.

Tom Court gave the best showing at tighthead in November, when Ross was completely overlooked, while Hayes and Tony Buckley are injured, so things can still change.

But Heineken Cup performances don’t lie. Ross is playing at number three in Rome because he added discipline and mobility to his arsenal. He is already a proven scrummager.

“Delighted, a huge thing to get my first Six Nations start. It’s something I’ve worked very hard towards and I’m delighted that all that hard work has paid off.”

It has been a long road.

When studying Biotechnology in UCC, where he met his American wife, Kimberley, Ross won the European Student Cup alongside Peter Stringer, Mick O’Driscoll and Jerry Flannery.

Eventually making his way into the Munster set-up, Declan Kidney informed him in early 2006 there would be no contract.

Back he went to the AIL with Cork Con as professional rugby seemed to have passed him by.

“Yeah, I suppose,” he agreed, “after I came out of college and was working at a full-time job and combining training. There were some mornings I’d be getting up at 5am, going in to get the work done (the family business is dairy farming) before heading off to play. I was 24 or 25 and wondering to myself was this really ever going to happen for me. Thankfully, I got an opportunity to train with Munster during the Six Nations when the Irish lads were away; that brought me up a level.”

A trial with Harlequins arose because he shared an agent with Dean Richards. Bloodgate scandal or not, Ross will always be grateful for the opportunity Richards provided when the Munster door slammed shut.

“I owe a lot to Dean Richards. He took a punt on me. I didn’t have a huge rugby CV to speak of. I played AIL with Con, played with UCC.

“He looked at the trial games and I was lucky enough to play well in those. So he offered me the (three-month) deal, but it must have been a close thing.”

Three games sitting on the bench followed before a start against Leicester. Whatever he did, Richards was sold. Two seasons later he was named on the English Premiership team of the season. Bob Casey could tell him that carries little water when seeking Irish caps.

“It’s difficult over in England because, outside of the IRB window, you can’t go into camps or anything like that, you know.

“So if you want to be in the mix, it’s quite difficult, unless you’re Geordan Murphy, to make it into the squad.”

One of his last games for Harlequins was Leinster’s now infamous Heineken Cup quarter-final win at The Stoop.

By then Ross had already been signed up to the Michael Cheika revolution.

Now all he needed was game time. But it didn’t happen. A few months after arriving in Dublin, he was left in little doubt of his role in the Cheika pecking order.

But when Stan Wright’s Achilles’ went at the start of this season, everything changed.

Now, this Saturday, he must go and prove it all again. There are more Ian Murrays lying in wait. One of them is Andrew Sheridan, another is Thomas Domingo.

Irish scrum coach Greg Feek calls Ross a “scrum nerd”. It is a compliment. It means he has viewed every available DVD of Salvatore Perugini and Andrea Lo Cicero.

“At the scrummage you might decide that this guy likes small gaps, so you take it out, or this guy might like the scrummage high so take it down a notch. So, it really is key to get your preparation right and study the opposition.

“Look, I take pride in my scrummaging. It’s something there has been a lot of focus placed on it in recent seasons. It’s good to have a strong facet of one’s game that is recognised.

“The Italians have a very good scrum; they’re very aggressive, they’re strong scrummagers.

“I was watching the Australian Test recently. The Italians just kept it in for five, six, 10 seconds, trying to force it, and eventually the Australians wilted, Italy drove over and got their penalty.

“So we really need to step up to the mark in that area. If they sense a weakness there, they’ll just go for that all day and won’t let up.

“There is an element of pressure there, certainly. The scrum concept is a strange one, but if you’re a prop that’s what you’re examined on.

“That is what you’ll be measured on and that is what you’ll be judged on at the end.”