Ford is focused
NO wind- ups. No underhand tactics to ruffle the feathers. No, Ross Ford i s confident Scotland can apply pressure on Dylan Hartley simply by what they do on the pitch.
The new England skipper is notorious for having a short fuse, having accumulated 54 weeks of bans for everything from eyegouging to biting, elbowing to arguing with the referee.
Back in 2010, the two hookers traded punches during a 15-15 draw at Murrayfield but Ford insists he will not single out his opposite number for any special treatment.
As part of one of the best Scotland front rows he has ever played in, the Edinburgh hooker is confident his side can scrummage Hartley and his pack halfway back to England.
‘I won’t wind him up,’ said Ford. ‘If we play well, then that will create pressure on the opposition players. We don’t have to worry about doing anything else. We will only focus on what we can control.
‘I have come up against him a few times before and I am looking forward to doing it again.
‘He’s obviously a very aggressive player. He’s hard, he’s good in the set-piece and gets about the park very well. I don’t expect anything different now he is the captain.’
Ford is a vital part of the best performing unit in the Scotland team — with the front row superb during the World Cup. Being able to play together at Edinburgh has helped the understanding grow between himself and props Alasdair Dickinson and WP Nel, which is why he firmly believes that Hartley and his front row will be facing a torrid time.
‘This is one of the best Scotland front rows I’ve played in,’ added Ford. ‘We know each other’s game so well and it’s been good being able to work with WP and Dicko at Edinburgh.
‘We have come up against so many different packs for club and country so far and solved problems against them. The experience of doing that is good for us coming into a match like this against England.
‘If there is a problem on WP’s side, he will say something and Dicko and myself will try to help out. And vice versa with Dicko, with me helping out in the middle. We’ll work things out between the three of us.
‘ Because we have come up against most things as a front-row unit and know how to fix a lot of them during the game, I am sure we can do that against England.’
Ford has finished on the winning side twice against England, in 2006 and 2008, and drew with them in 2010 — the best record of any current Scotland player. He insists staying focused and in the moment is key, which is the advice that he has been passing on to the younger members of the Scotland squad such as 20-year-old tighthead prop Zander Fagerson, who will win his first cap off the bench.
‘When you’re walking about and people are talking about the Calcutta Cup and getting stuck into the English, stuff like that, you enjoy being lucky enough to be part of it,’ continued Ford.
‘It’s obviously slightly different for the players, but I think it’s great having that buzz.
‘When I was growing up, the buzz around the Calcutta Cup excited me and that excitement is still there but you have to understand that when you’re on the pitch you cannot go out all fire and brimstone.
‘You’ve got to think about things and make sure that your judgment and skills aren’t being clouded by trying to be the big man and all that stuff.
‘I am used to all the stuff that goes with the Calcutta Cup and I got to the point when I got used to it. You quickly switch into your different roles and what you’re supposed to be doing once the whistle goes, which is when you really have to stay in the moment and remain focused.’
IRRESPECTIVE of the result in Dublin tomorrow, Alun Wyn Jones will board the flight back to Cardiff with the mythical chalice of power left behind by paul O’Connell.
Ireland will enter a new era without their former talisman, who played his last Test at the World Cup, and Jones will take over the vacant title as the northern hemisphere’s most feared lock.
The 30-year-old Welshman will be accompanied by Luke Charteris — his 6ft 10in second-row partner — and together they are plotting to exploit the enormous hole left in Irish ranks.
‘Every time you think of Ireland over the last 10 or 15 years, O’Connell’s one of the first names that jumps out,’ said Charteris. ‘Whenever you think of the greatest second rows in world rugby, his name has to come into the conversation.
‘If you’re talking about the world’s best second rows, you have to mention Alun alongside paul O’Connell. He’s still going as strong as he was at 22. I’m feeling older but I think he’s getting younger. He’s going to hit a brick wall one of these days, but not yet!’
Between Charteris and Ireland’s Devin Toner, there will be almost 14 feet of tangled limbs locking together at the Aviva Stadium.
Jones will add the O’Connell-like aura, leading the front-five charge as Wales bid to derail Ireland’s title defence in round one.
As well as O’Connell, the hosts are without Rob Kearney, Sean O’Brien, Cian Healy, Mike Ross, Iain Henderson, peter O’Mahony, Chris Henry, Tommy Bowe and Luke Fitzgerald.
It is the sort of injury list that haunted Wales at the World Cup and t hreatens to l eave Joe Schmidt’s side in limbo.
Despite Warren Gatland’s best efforts to shift the favourite tag, Wales are tipped to secure their first back-to-back wins in Dublin since 2000. Defence coach Shaun Edwards has been hailed as the mastermind behind the success, with Wales surviving a 45-phase onslaught during last year’s Six Nations meeting in Cardiff.
‘ It was one of the toughest defensive periods I have known,’ said Charteris, who made a record 31 tackles. ‘It will take the same standard of defensive effort, but hopefully we won’t have to make quite as many tackles as last year. As l ong as you’re not getting shouted at or abused by Shaun, you’ve usually done OK!’
While Wales have been winning plaudits for their defence — conceding just three tries at the World Cup — pointed questions are being asked of their try-scoring ability.
Leading coaches Graham Henry and Nick Mallett have both criticised Wales’ attacking potency after they failed to see off 13-man Australia at the World Cup.
‘The wonderful thing about our game i s everyone has t heir opinion,’ said attack coach Rob Howley. ‘Who am I to question Nick and Graham? I’ve a huge respect for them.
‘Sometimes you have to say “Well done Australia” for having a great defence, because they held us on three occasions over the try-line and we knocked on three times.
‘ We weren’t clinical enough and t hat’s t he challenge in international rugby.
‘We have to be more clinical, ruthless and score more tries in the next few weeks.’
With Ireland calling in Gaelic football experts this week to help combat the aerial threat of Dan Biggar, try- scoring opportunities could fall to the side that wins the battle of the skies.
‘I think there will be a lot of kicking,’ admitted Howley. ‘The aerial battle will be key in terms of the counter-attack. Conor Murray and Johnny Sexton are accurate kickers and it is about dominating the air. Then it will come down to how you counter attack.’
While Sexton passed a last-minute fitness test, Ireland winger Simon Zebo will field Biggar’s kicks after shifting to full-back.
Schmidt has been forced into wholesale changes, with Mike McCarthy filling O’ Connell’s jersey and Rhys Ruddock – son of former Wales coach Mike Ruddock – named on the bench.
Ruddock grew up in Swansea, where he captained West Wales Under-11s in 2002 against an East Wales side that featured Mako vunipola, Billy vunipola and Toby Faletau.
Injured Wales duo Liam Williams and Scott Williams were both on Ruddock’s West Wales team and the flanker is ready to settle some old scores with Faletau and his cousins.
‘They were absolute monsters,’ s ai d Ruddock. ‘I r emember running down the touchline thinking I was going to score a try and Billy managed to jump on my back. I landed on top of the ball and it took me about 10 minutes to get up I was so badly winded. Yeah, I had plenty of run-ins with those boys.’