THE SIGHT OF Mike Ross doubling his career try tally on Friday night still has the Leinster dressing room believing that anything is possible.
Leo Cullen’s men open their Champions Cup ‘Pool Of Death’ at home to Wasps on Sunday while their qualification rivals Bath and Toulon commence hostilities in France.
Wasps, as Leo Cullen and Fergus McFadden helpfully pointed out, are something of a good omen for Ross’ efforts to grab the glory putting a score on the board.
“Rossy’s first try in his professional career was against Wasps,” McFadden said today with a glint of mischief in his eye.
“A couple of players nearly had strokes on the field when they saw Rossy going over.
Wasps have Christian Wade, but we have Mike Ross, so… bring it on, I suppose.”
The day Ross grabbed his first career try was also a landmark day for Wade. Then just 21, he scored two tries in a shoot-out of a Challenge Cup quarter-final and the performance got the hype machine into gear to demand his inclusion in the upcoming Lions squad.
The out and out pace of the 5’10″ wing makes him incredibly difficult to defend against, and when he was pitted against Leinster last season, he again found himself on the losing side despite scoring a brilliant try in the corner.
So how do you go about stopping him? Being aware of the danger is the first step. Then, backs coach Girvan Dempsey says, you just have to deny him the room to make his electric speed and acceleration count:
“Someone with that sort of pace, you try not to give him time and space.
“If you give him any sort of open ground, he’s going to capitalise, so you just have to make sure you don’t afford him that.
“They’ve got threats all over the back-line though, look at (Frank) Helai and (Ulster-bound Charles) Piutau who have both come in from Auckland — they’ve got threats all over the back-line.”
McFadden, who could be selected to stand opposite the pacy wing, has enough experience to be on the same page as his coach.
“If you provide him space, then he does teams damage. He got another try last weekend against Gloucester.
“He’s a serious talent, serious speed and agility, so we’ll just have to work as a unit to shut him down and be sharp out in the wider channels.”
Still, he’s no Mike Ross.
