Aidan Ross did not need to live in Brisbane or Sydney to know of Australia’s fierce interstate rivalry. He knew of its intensity living more than 2200km away in New Zealand.
Tonight, he gets to sample it on field when he runs out at loosehead prop for his first game of Super Rugby Pacific in a Queensland Reds jersey.
The experienced prop will be up against a NSW Waratahs pack in the most traditional rivalry in Australian rugby at Sydney’s Allianz Stadium.
“Even before I joined the club, being over in NZ, you could easily tell Queensland vs NSW was a big one,” Ross said.
“To be here and a part of it is special and I know a fair bit of emotion will go into it. We have to get it right.”
“First game” is a bit of a misnomer. Ross, 30, has been around Super Rugby for a decade and racked up 101 appearances for the Chiefs before his move to Brisbane last year.
His tour outings against the British and Irish Lions for Queensland and the AUNZ Invitational XV plus a Wallabies debut against Japan were an immediate dive into Australian rugby.
“I’m loving the club, I love the city. Brisbane is a pretty easy place to live, everyone has been welcoming and the boys have wrapped their arms around me,” Ross said.
“Being here since the middle of last year has been a nice way of transitioning.
“I came into Reds training to start this year and it didn’t feel like my first day.”
Ross has been part of enough strong Chiefs campaigns and enough that have fallen a little short of securing home ground advantage at key moments to know what Super Rugby is all about.
“Super Rugby is one of the faster comps in world rugby. You have to get points on the board early and you need to sustain it if you want to be playing finals footy,” Ross said.
He’s a doer. He fronted up for his new club Bond University and won a grand final in his first match late last year when getting to know some of his teammates for the first time.
“Big Horse” is a straight-shooter with his words and he plays the same way.
The authority that Ross will bring to the Reds front-row is not just with his game but the pointers he’s passing on the young props in the squad.
