Ross aims to boss Azzurri scrum
MIKE ROSS is backing Ireland’s scrum to be the dominant setpiece in tomorrow’s showdown with Italy. Ireland’s scrum had been immaculate so far at the tournament, the pack winning all 13 of its fees and not conceding a single penalty despite Joe Schmidt having 15 different forwards starting in their two games so far. Schmidt has reinstated the entire pack that started in the opening win over Canada, with Ross keen to get to work on an Italian set-piece that has lost six of its 17 scrums and also conceded six penalties. ‘For the Italians the scrum is like their mojo. If the scrum isn’t going well then they suffer and the effects are going to be seen throughout the team,’ suggested Ross. ‘When it’s going well and they are on top and winning penalties, they seem visibly boosted by it. Listen to the ref audio, next time they win a scrum you will hear a big scream out of them. They are all slapping each other and (Sergio) Parisse is giving them socks. ‘It’s something they are rightly proud of. Certainly it’s an area that we won’t want them to gain any ascendancy from.’ Johnny Sexton, meanwhile, believes Ireland must up their performance levels if they are to make the quarter-finals with a game to spare. ‘We know what we have produced in the last two weeks probably won’t be good enough against Italy… guys like (Leonardo) Sarto will do to us what (England’s) Jonny May did if we’re not on our game.’