Mike Ross gave it his all for 62 minutes. As Ireland eye an historic series win, he’s ready to do it all over again.
The Leinster tighthead stood up to the Springbok challenge, in Cape Town, and did it for 40 minutes in a 14-man team. For 10 gruelling minutes, he was one of 13 Irishmen soaking up pressure against 15 frantic Boks.
The 36-year-old is a glutton for punishment as has put his hand up for another shift against ‘The Beast’ on Saturday.
The travelling media caught up with Ross on Monday and found a man who is bracing for a Test at 1,500-metres above sea level, in Johannesburg.
Ross is steeled for the match, however, and confident that Ireland can back up their 26-20 victory. Speaking to Rory Keane of The42, Ross revealed the rallying cry Ireland captain Rory Best delivered to his men after Lwazi Mvovo’s try put Ireland 13-10 behind:
“I remember Rory turned to us underneath the posts and said ‘If you want a challenge lads, here it is, just think of the reward if we manged to pull this off’.
“So, we just hung in there and Paddy [Jackson] kicked really. The backs played phenomenally well and Conor Murray got a great try. We didn’t go into our shells, we kept chasing it and I think that was the difference.”
Despite negative comments from South Africa coach Allister Coetzee, Ireland took the fight to their opponents and attacked when they could.
The numbers will be evened for kick-off on Saturday and Ireland will be hoping to finish off the series before it reaches Port Elizabeth.
