Leinster travel to the south of France this weekend with their European Rugby Champions Cup hopes hanging by a thread, following a disastrous start to their campaign.
Leo Cullen’s charges, who have lost their opening two matches in the competition to Wasps and Bath, take on a star-studded Toulon team at Stade Mayol on Sunday, knowing anything but a surprise victory will almost certainly deal their already fragile hopes a terminal blow.
Mike Ross is all too aware of the onerous task he and his team-mates face, but the veteran prop has drawn succour from their unfortunate extra-time loss to Toulon on French soil in the quarter-finals of the competition last season.
“They’re a bit like the Harlem Globetrotters of rugby,” he said.
“They have so many quality players throughout their team.
“If you look at the players they’ve added this year, like Samu Manoa and Ma'a Nonu, they’re not short of two or three international-quality players in every position.
“It’s a tough ask, but we pushed them hard last year and I think we’ll be relying on our collective to bring us through.”
While the Toulon pack will almost certainly provide a potent threat, Ross hopes that the visitors can post an improved display in the scrum.
“They’ve a very heavy pack,” the 35-year-old admitted.
“If you look at their second row, they average about 125 kilos each. The back row is about the same.
“The scrum is something we’ve been working fairly hard on, especially since the Bath game, so hopefully we’ll show them some things they haven’t seen.”
Leinster could lose in France and still qualify for the knockout stages of the competition, but Ross knows such a scenario is highly unlikely, saying: “I’ve never heard of a team losing three games and qualifying. I know there’s a lot of competition in the pool and that teams could take points of each other, but I think four wins is the bare minimum.”
The Cork native’s contract expires at the end of the season, but he poured cold water on speculation linking him with a move to Connacht, while also indicating his desire to continue his career - at least for another season.
“It’s the first I’ve heard of it,” Ross said.
“We do have three international tight-heads here and they’re all Irish-qualified, so it’s natural that every time a contract’s up you’re going to be linked with another province.
“I think I’ve got another season left in me. I’m still enjoying it.”
Scrum-half Luke McGrath remains sidelined for the weekend’s encounter, while Sean O'Brien awaits the all-clear from a specialist on the concussion he suffered against Bath in the opening pool game.
“If you can match their physicality, you’ve got a chance. If you don’t, it’s going to be a long day at the office.” - Kurt McQuilkin
Rob Kearney, Richardt Strauss, Ben Te’o and Luke Fitzgerald are all available for selection.
Former Leinster captain and current defence coach Kurt McQuilkin has also highlighted the quality of the province’s performance against Toulon last season as key to masterminding an upset.
“I think they took away their time and space,” McQuilkin said.
“They got off the line defensively and really put them under pressure on their home track. They got a foothold in the game early on too, which makes a difference, they didn’t let them get out of sight.
“If you can match their physicality, you’ve got a chance. If you don’t, it’s going to be a long day at the office.”
McQuilkin was also keen to emphasise the positives as Leinster find their collective feet under a new coach.
“We’re improving every day,” he said.
“Every time we step out on the training field we’re improving.
“From a defence point of view, getting used to the system, buying into the system, and I thin in the last couple of weeks we’re starting to look comfortable within our system.
“But that doesn’t mean we’re the finished product, there’s a lot more work to do.”
