Moriarty ready to take on Italy’s own Mr Indispensable
ROSS MORIARTY has the words from The Indispensable Man tattooed across his left bicep. The poem, written in 1959 by Saxon White Kessinger, reads: ‘Do just the best that you can, be proud of yourself, but remember, there is no indispensable man’. Moriarty’s father, Paul, the retired Wales second-row, was handed the poem by his own father in 1986 and it has become a family motto written in indelible ink. Recently, the words have taken on added poignancy.
Sam Warburton, once undroppable as Wales captain, was stood down and Moriarty found himself moving up the pecking order — starting at No 8 today opposite Italy’s near-indispensable Sergio Parisse.
‘You can never take anything for granted,’ said Moriarty. ‘The tattoo is a family thing, so it’s quite personal. Every opportunity I have for club and country I have to take and show what I can do. The moment I feel I am too good is the moment I go backwards.’
Parisse has rarely taken a backwards step since his debut 14 years ago. Still one of the world’s leading players, Wales introduced a ‘Parisse’ bib during the week to help preparation for today’s clash at the Stadio Olimpico.
‘He is a big man in their team and we have done a lot of analysis on him,’ said Moriarty. ‘We have a nominated ‘Parisse’ in training, whoever fits the mould, no names. He is a quality player and is one of their main ball-players — carrying and skills.
‘I played against him in the last Six Nations when I came off the bench and it was a great experience to go against such a big name.’
Parisse came close to retiring last year but was convinced to play on until the 2019 World Cup by new Azzurri coach Conor O’Shea, who is hoping to turn around Italian fortunes.
‘It is completely different working with Conor,’ said Parisse. ‘I’ve seen a lot of coaches with the Italian t eam an d everyone brought something, but the first thing that struck me about Conor was his enthusiasm and motivation.
‘I want to do whatever I can to help the younger players coming through. There are things that must change to make Italy a more competitive nation. To do that it is important to have a good feeling with the coach.’
Moriarty has 12 caps to Parisse’s 121. His tally is nine short of his father, who switched to rugby league, but the 22-year-old’s stock is quickly rising. His physicality does not inhibit his dynamism and he has inherited the ‘hard man’ genes.
‘Any son who has a father with experience will always speak to him,’ said Moriarty. ‘My dad is never short of advice and my uncle (Dick, a former Wales captain) is the same. It’s nice to have the family around me, who understand what’s going on.’
The rise of Moriarty and Justin Tipuric means that Wales’ seemingly inseparable back-row combination of Dan Lydiate, Toby Faletau and Warburton is no more.
Rob Howley sees the attacking interaction between Faletau and Tipuric as key to developing an expansive attacking game.
The pair are comfortable moving the ball to the wide channels where, in recent times, wingers such as Liam Williams and George North — potentially Europe’s most dangerous pairing — have been underused.
Faletau is hoping to make his comeback against England next week and Warburton could well be the fall guy, with Moriarty shifting to his preferred blindside jersey.
‘I feel comfortable in the team,’ said Moriarty. ‘No 8 makes me learn new skills. It’s another string on my bow. ‘You know if you underperform, someone will be knocking on your door.’
As Moriarty’s father will be quick to remind him, no one is indispensable.