They’ll go down in Calcutta Cup history as ”Jason’s hits” the two tackles that inspired Scotland to victory over England in 2006 and 2008. Now Ross Ford wants to be that kind of inspiration to his team.
Jason White’s monstrous tackles on Joe Worsley and Paul Sackey were the focal points of Scotland’s victories, and a young Ford was watching and learning.
”Jason was captain my first Calcutta Cup in 2006 when I was on the bench and he was already somebody I looked up to,” said Ford, who leads Scotland for the first time in Saturday’s RBS 6 Nations opener.
”He was not a massive speaker, but when he said something it was always worth saying, and he always backed it up by example on the pitch.
”Jason’s still someone who I massively respect and his way is the way I want to captain the team. I’ve always said I wanted to lead by example and when I speak I want it to really mean something.”
Ford won’t change his basic philosophy and preparation, but admits he’s spent most of his free time since being awarded the job thinking hard about what he wants to say to the team on Saturday.
And he’s got plenty of support and advice from the man who was originally set to be skipper before injury intervened his former Borders team-mate Kelly Brown.
”When Kelly was made captain I called him to congratulate him and we had a long talk about a number of things we felt it was important to get across. He asked my opinion and I gave it.
”Since his injury and me getting the captaincy we’ve spoken more, and I believe he’s joining us in camp soon and it’ll be great to see him. He’s someone I really respect and want an opinion from.”
The pair came to agreement about a number of issues they want to bring to the squad as it enters a new era.
Ford explained: ”We spoke about energy, in training and in games, building it and celebrating things you do well whether it be flankers patting front rowers on the back for good scrums or congratulating guys for making turnovers.
”When things go well like that you are buzzing, and you feel unstoppable. If you can get the energy going then it’s a massive thing to have on your side.”
On the other hand, standards and responsibility ensure that things are executed correctly, he added.
”We want to challenge each other all the time we are on the pitch to push each other and keep going forwards,” he continued. ”You don’t need to be shouting and roaring at people. Sometimes only a look is what’s needed to make someone do better next time.
”Accountability and taking responsibility is also key, whether it just is working extra hard on chasing kicks or knowing your place in the team structure.”
Ford has plenty of experience around him certainly more than new England captain Chris Robshaw, who has only one cap to his opposite number’s 48.
”Chris has done really well captaining Harlequins from what I see and he’ll be helped as well, but it will be a different atmosphere for them,” added Ford.
”Every Calcutta Cup I’ve been involved in it’s been a phenomenal atmosphere. Every time the crowd seem to love getting involved, and it’s important we give them a performance that enables them to lift us.
”It’s the noise that gets me, the sound reverberates around the stadium. With the crowd behind you, you might not look as if it does anything extra but on the mental side it’s a huge boost.”
Photo by Graham Stuart/PA Wire