HEARTLAND HEROES :

Former Mid Canterbury player and TV commentator Jock Ross

I’ ll never forget the time I cooked breakfast for Jock Ross. After devouring an entire pack of bacon, three fried eggs, two mugs of tea and half a rack of toast I thought the former All Blacks’ hunger might finally be satisfied. Alas it wasn’t to be and my 12- year- old son was soon dispatched on his bike to the dairy, in search of an additional loaf of Vogel.

Standing 6 feet 8 in the old money with his bald head and bristling handlebar moustache, Ross cuts a fearsome figure. However, beneath the exterior is a humble, generous and an engaging raconteur who can read music, play guitar and speak Te Reo.

158 games for Mid Canterbury, ( still the union record for most representative appearances) and five matches for the All Blacks on their 1981 tour of Romania and France bear testament to the Laghmor contractor’s toughness and durability.

The Ross legacy has been continued with three sons going on to play NPC rugby, one becoming an All Black not to mention wife Christine who was a Black Fern.

As a presenter for the ever popular Grassroots and Heartland rugby programmes, the engaging personality and humour of Ross has endeared him to a whole new demographic of viewers across the country.

An unashamed traditionalist Ross shakes his head with dismay at the thought of coloured boots, protein shakes and corporate suits running rugby. It’s still no frills, hard fought country rugby that gets his juices flowing.