From the fringes to centre stage, the South African import now crucial to Ireland's Six Nations
Quinn Roux could never have imagined a few short weeks ago that he would be preparing this Saturday for the biggest game of his career – his first ever Six Nations start at the age of 28.
He was unceremoniously surplus to requirement on January 16 when Joe Schmidt announced the 38-strong squad for Ireland’s Six Nations title defence. Tadhg Beirne, Ultan Dillane, Iain Henderson, James Ryan and Devin Toner were the five second rows chosen ahead of him.
However, instead of being involved in Connacht’s PRO14 game at Cardiff the following week, Roux found himself hurriedly re-routed to the Algarve for national squad training after Beirne and Henderson pulled up lame in Champions Cup action.
That sudden promotion was good enough to earn a spot on the bench for last week’s championship opener against England, and the breaks have kept on coming.
Here's the @IrishRugby team to play @Scotlandteam on Saturday.#TeamOfUs #ShoulderToShoulder #SCOvIRE pic.twitter.com/LQWUS28tMs
— Irish Rugby (@IrishRugby) February 7, 2019
With Toner the latest lock to hobble into casualty, Roux has been selected as one of five changes to start against Scotland on Saturday, 24 days after Schmidt publicly left him high and dry with his original squad choice. It’s a massive step up for the South African, whose previous Six Nations exposure amounts to 69 minutes’ action across three appearances as a replacement.
His elevation will also highlight to the millions of Test match viewers around the globe how the Six Nations really is a league of multiple nations featuring players hailing from far-off places far beyond the borders of the six participating countries.
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It’s a debate that annoys Schmidt – what makes an Irishman? Ever since South African Richardt Strauss became the first foreigner to play for Ireland in 2012 under World Rugby’s three-year residency rule, the IRFU’s project player policy has been in the spotlight.
Some feel allowing foreigners qualify for Ireland simply by living in the country for 36 months devalues the green jersey. Others believe it positively puts an onus on indigenous players to up their standards and fight harder for Test team inclusion ahead of the imports.
Schmidt is very much in the latter category and while there will be bemusement from some critics that Roux is a name that doesn’t sound very Irish, the coach will have had no qualms solving a second row emergency by including the South African from Pretoria whom he initially signed for Leinster in 2012.
It was 15 months ago when Schmidt stuck his neck out in defence of his selection of Bundee Aki, his fellow New Zealander who had at the time just qualified for Ireland under World Rugby’s residency rule. He has since gone on to start 13 of his adopted country’s last 16 matches.
“I walk the streets, I meet people. People are incredibly supportive,” insisted Schmidt when asked if the section of non-indigenous Irish players was an emotive topic among rugby fans. “If that was the case we wouldn’t have sold out matches.
“The foreign player makes up seven per cent of our selections in the last four years. When you put it into context, people like to focus on a very small margin and make that into a lot bigger than it is.
“But so far, the players who have qualified to play for Ireland make up around about six or seven per cent of the players that we have selected over the last four years, so I don’t really see it as something as emotional or contentious as some people would build it up to be but then I don’t have access to everybody.
“Some people would say it is emotive and that they do feel strongly about it. Other people would say that in the past we had people who had played for Ireland who never ever lived in Ireland, who had a grandparent of some sort who was Irish and therefore they played for Ireland and never ever invested in the local community.
“I don’t think I have seen someone invest more in the local community than some of the people who have qualified to play. It may become a moot point with the change (at the end of 2020) to five years to qualify to play for another country.”
Roux’s importance to Ireland at Murrayfield as they attempt to get their wounded Six Nations title defence back on track after their loss to England owes much to the player’s own stubbornness not to give up on his Ireland project.
He never really settled at Leinster after Schmidt snapped him up from the Stormers and Western Province nearly seven years ago. He was only a bit-part player in Dublin, continuing to struggle to impress after Schmidt had vacated the role to Matt O’Connor.
In the end, it was Roux’s willingness to go on loan to Pat Lam’s Connacht in 2014 that rescued him from the wilderness. “Lots of players don’t want to leave because they are comfortable in their environment but if you need game time, you need to put the foot down and just go wherever you can and play as much as you can,” he said about a type of short-term switch that was uncommon in Ireland at the time.
He did well enough to eventually secure a permanent contract in Galway and while it hasn’t been all sweetness and light in the west of Ireland – Roux was excluded from their match day squad when the PRO12 title was won in a final against Leinster – he has since managed to fleetingly work his way into the Ireland fold.
Congratulations to Bundee Aki, Quinn Roux & Ultan Dillane who have been named in the Ireland squad for Saturday's #GuinnessSixNations clash with Scotland.
Bundee & Quinn are included in the starting XV while Ultan is among the replacements ☘️
➡️ https://t.co/XjmZg5MJMi pic.twitter.com/T0VvRUzLVD
— Connacht Rugby (@connachtrugby) February 7, 2019
Now comes his moment of truth. An opportunity to start in a Six Nations match and prove to everyone that his face does fit for his adopted country.
He will need to do much more than he managed during his 23-minute cameo against England, Ireland going from trailing by four points to falling 19 points behind before a late consolation try shaved the final margin to 12.
Roux’s contribution was nothing special. There was involvement in four scrums, four lineouts, a lift for a Peter O’Mahony catch, plenty of ruck policing, the odd breakdown clear-out, three ball-carries for a seven-metre gain, three tackles, but interestingly a smack on the back from Conor Murray aggressively telling him to step out of the way of the ball at a ruck near the Ireland line.
That little vignette suggests Roux is still finding his way at a Test level where his inclusion to face the Scots will mean a scrum rejig for Schmidt’s set-piece.
The South African is an out-and-out tighthead scrummager and he packed down versus the English behind Tadhg Furlong and Andrew Porter for two scrums each, forcing Ryan, who had started in that particular lock role behind the No3, to switch over and scrummage behind the loosehead.
Will that change-over for the start of a match now enhance the set-piece threat posed by the Irish eight? We’ll soon know. What is for certain is that Roux has never had a bigger opportunity to demonstrate he really has what it takes at international level.
Comments on RugbyPass
Billy's been playing consistently well for 2 - 3 seasons now and deserves a look in at the top level. Ioane and ALB are still first choice but there needs to be injury cover and succession. His partnership with Jordie gives him first dibs you'd think. Go the Hurricanes.
3 Go to commentsIt’s not up to Wales to support Georgian Rugby. That’s up to International Rugby and Georgia. I sympathise with Georgia’s decent attempt to create this fixture. But for Wales the proposed match up is just a potential stick to beat them with and a potential big psychological blow that young Welsh team doesn’t need. (I’m Irish BTW.)
2 Go to commentsCale certainly looks great in space, but as you say, he has struggled in contact. At 23 years old, turning 24 this year, he should be close to full physical maturity and yet there exists a considerable gap in the power and physicality required for international rugby. Weight doesn’t automatically equate to power and physicality either. Can he go from a player who’s being physically dominated in Super rugby to physically dominating in international rugby in 1 or 2 years? That’s a big ask but he may end up being a late bloomer.
28 Go to commentsIf rugby wants to remain interesting in the AI era then it will need to work on changing the rules. AI will reduce the tactical advantage of smart game plans, will neutralize primary attacking weapons, and will move rugby from a being a game of inches to a game of millimetres. It will be about sheer athleticism and technique,about avoiding mistakes, and about referees. Many fans will find that boring. The answer is to add creative degrees of freedom to the game. The 50-22 is an example. But we can have fun inventing others, like the right to add more players for X minutes per game, or the equivalent of the 2-point conversion in American football, the ability to call a 12-player scrum, etc. Not saying these are great ideas, but making the point that the more of these alternatives you allow, the less AI will be able to lock down high-probability strategies. This is not because AI does not have the compute power, but because it has more choices and has less data, or less-specific data. That will take time and debate, but big, positive and immediate impact could be in the area of ref/TMO assistance. The technology is easily good enough today to detect forward passes, not-straight lineouts, offside at breakdown/scrum/lineout, obstruction, early/late tackles, and a lot of other things. WR should be ultra aggressive in doing this, as it will really help in an area in which the game is really struggling. In the long run there needs to be substantial creativity applied to the rules. Without that AI (along with all of the pro innovations) will turn rugby into a bash fest.
24 Go to commentsSouth Africa rarely play Ireland and France on these tours. Mostly, England, Scotland and Wales. I wonder why
1 Go to commentsIt was a let’s-see-what-you're-made-of type of a game. The Bulls do look good when the opposition allows them to, but Munster shut them down, and they could not find a way through. Jake should be very worried about their chances in the competition.
2 Go to commentsHats off to Fabian for a very impressive journey to date. Is it as ‘uniquely unlikely’ as Rugby Pass suggests, given Anton Segner’s journey at the Blues?
1 Go to commentsSad that this was not confirmed. When administrators talk about expanding the game they evidently don’t include pathways to the top tier of rugby for teams outside of the old boys club. Rugby deserves better, and certainly Georgia does.
2 Go to commentsLions might take him on if they move on Van Rooyen but I doubt he will want to go back, might consider it a step backwards for himself. Sharks would take him on but if Plumtree goes on to win the challenge cup they will keep him on. Also sharks showing some promising signs recently. Stormers and Bulls are stable and Springboks are already filled up. Quality coach though, interesting to see where he ends up
1 Go to commentsAnd the person responsible for creating a culture of accountability is?
3 Go to commentsMore useless words from Ben Smith -Please get another team to write about. SA really dont need your input, it suck anyway.
264 Go to commentsThis disgraceful episode must result in management and coach team sackings. A new manager with worse results than previous and the coaching staff need to coached. Awful massacre led by donkeys.
1 Go to commentsInteresting article with one glaring mistake. This sentence: “And between the top four nations right now, Ireland, France, South Africa, and New Zealand…” should read: And between the top four nations right now, South Africa, Ireland, New Zealand and France…”. Get it right wistful thinkers, its not that hard.
24 Go to commentsHow did Penny get the gig anyway?
3 Go to commentsNice write up Nick and I would have agreed a week ago. However as you would know Cale & co got absolutely monstered by the Blues back row of Sotutu, Ioane and Papaliti and not all of these 3 are guaranteed a start in the Black jumper. He may need to put some kgs before stepping up, Spring tour? After the week end Joe will be a bit more restless. Will need to pick a mobile tough pack for Wales and hope England does the right thing and bashes the ABs. I like your last paragraph but I would bring Swinton, Hannigan into the 6 role and Bobby V to 8
28 Go to commentsThe Crusaders can still get in to the Play Off’s. The imminent return of outstanding captain Scott Barrett and his All Black team mate Codie Taylor will be a big boost.There are others like Tamaiti Williams too. Two home games coming up. Fellow Crusader fans get there and support these guys. I will be.
2 Go to commentsCant get more Wellington than Proctor.
3 Go to commentsWhy not let the media decide. Like how they choose the head coach. Like most of us we entrust the rugby system to choose. A rugby team includes the coaches. It's collective.
14 Go to commentsHi NIck, I have been very impressed with him and he seems a smart player who can see opportunities which Bobby V _(who must be an international 6_) doesn’t see or have the speed to take advantage of. If he continues to improve and puts on 5kgs then he could be a great 8. He is a bit taller than Keiran Reid at 1.93m and 111 kgs, so his skill set fits his body size and who knows where it will lead. I hope the spate of Achilles tendon issues have been dealt with by the S&C people. It’s been a very long time since Mark Loane and Kefu stood out at 8. The question is will we be able to hold onto him, if he does make it he will be pretty hot property. I disagree with the idea of letting them go to the Northern Hemisphere and then bring them back.
28 Go to commentsBilly Fulton 🤣🤣🤣🤣 garrrmon not even close
14 Go to comments