Peter Jackson: Bull-dozing Ross Moriarty may be Wales’ missing link
Richard, or Dick to his confidants, captained the team from the second-row and younger brother Paul scrummed down behind him on the side of the scrum. With a little help from the rest, not least Paul Thorburn’s winning touchline conversion, they beat the Wallabies into third place by a point.
By the time Wales run into them at Twickenham in early October, they will be keen to take a leaf out of the history book and decide that another Moriarty among their forwards, while not as good as two, is better than none.
Just as the Aussies will be rather more interested this time than they were at the fag-end of that inaugural tournament in New Zealand after losing a classic semi-final to France, so Wales will be taking an increasingly serious interest in the chip off two formidable blocks.
At 21, Ross Moriarty is on course to blast his way into the World Cup at an earlier age than his father, the cross-code international Paul, and his equally hard-nosed uncle, a character as tough as the old boots he wore through 472 matches for Swansea spanning more than 20 years.
The vast majority of the uncapped players in the outsized 45-man Wales training squad will not make the cut when the 31 for the tournament proper are named at the end of August. Moriarty has every chance of being the exception and going straight into the match-day 23 against England on September 26.
He is exactly the type of player Wales need at exactly the right time. His improbable but perfectly legitimate switch from England’s U20s to the Welsh seniors promises to remedy the biggest deficiency in the Red Dragon armoury – a dearth of alternatives on the blindside of the backrow and a shortage of horse-power in the big bash department.
At last Danny Lydiate will have a serious challenger. Three of those used in his position during the last two years – Aaron Shingler, Josh Turnbull and the Dragons lock Andrew Coombs – have already been declared surplus to national requirements.
Moriarty’s turbo-charged power, as used for Gloucester to blast holes in Bordeaux during last Sunday’s Champions’ Cup decider, offers Wales an irresistible bull-dozing quality, be it off the side of the scrum or from the base at No.8.
The holy back-row trinity of Lydiate, Taulupe Faletau and Sam Warburton will take some breaking into but if the manner of England’s victory at Cardiff in February is anything to go by, Wales will need another element at Twickenham on September 26.
Ross Moriarty, reclaimed from England by the Land of His Father, fits the bill down to a tee. And they ought to be very grateful for his having come off the Red Rose assembly line which makes further ridicule of all the hot Welsh air about giving priority to players who stay at home.
