Ross Ford wary of fired-up Dragons in semi-final

Ross Ford is playing down the favourites tag. Picture: Lisa Ferguson

EDINBURGH will go into this Friday night’s home European Challenge Cup semi-final against Newport Gwent Dragons as favourites but the odds will have tightened after a contrasting weekend for the two teams.

While Edinburgh were being comprehensively outclassed and soundly beaten 34-3 by Munster at BT Murrayfield, the Welsh region stormed back to beat Leinster 25-22 at Rodney Parade and secure an impressive home and away double over the reigning Guinness Pro12 champions.

Alan Solomons’ eighth-placed team are now one spot above the Dragons in the table, six points ahead, have beaten them on their last three visits to the Scottish capital and hold home advantage. But make no mistake, come Friday evening, an Edinburgh side determined to secure a historic European final will face opponents equally desperate for some much-needed exposure to the limelight. The Dragons are very much the poor relations of the four-region Welsh club game, operating on a much smaller budget and lacking the glamour of the Ospreys, Scarlets and Cardiff Blues.

There have been off-field financial troubles and controversy about how the Newport-based side is branded and marketed. After the satisfaction of beating Cardiff in the quarter-finals of the competition, the Dragons will be highly motivated to go all the way to the final at Twickenham Stoop and bask in the kind of attention that is normally reserved for their more high-profile Welsh rivals.

Dragons director of rugby Lyn Jones, who has won three Pro12 titles as Ospreys coach, was delighted with the win over Leinster but believes it will have little bearing on this week’s match.

“Edinburgh were stuffed 34-3 at home by Munster on Saturday night but that and our win over Leinster will mean nothing next Friday night,” the former Wales flanker told the Welsh media. “We know we have to take our ‘A’ game to Murrayfield.”

Edinburgh and Scotland hooker Ross Ford, who spent the early part of his pro career with the Border Reivers can probably relate to the Dragons’ chippy mindset as they battle for greater recognition. “I can’t speak for them but if I was in that situation then it would make me feel a bit like that,” agreed Ford. “They’ll be coming into this game highly motivated, we know that for sure.

“They’ve got talented players, a good mix of young and old and they’re coming off the back of a good win at the weekend. It’s not easy to turn over Leinster. They are a dangerous team.”

The favourites’ tag is not one Edinburgh have been used to in recent years and Ford was understandably keen to play it down. “We’re not thinking about it in that way,” said the Kelso man. “Obviously we wanted the home semi-final and we knew we’d be getting one if we won the quarter-final. It’s an advantage to us and we have to make use of any we can get. But there’s no point in getting bogged down and pressurising yourself with thoughts that you’re at home and should win. We’ve proved of late we can win games away from home too so we just need to take the advantage a home game gives us and make the most of the opportunity.”

Ford was part of the Edinburgh team that made it to the Heineken Cup semi-final in 2012, beating Toulouse in front of 38,000 at Murrayfield in the quarter-finals before a narrow loss to Ulster in Dublin, and he admits there is a sense of familiarity if not absolute deja vu. “There is a little bit of the same feeling around the club as we had during that run, though maybe not quite on the same scale,” said Ford. “Obviously it is the second-tier competition this time but there is a buzz around. The boys are excited about knockout rugby and the thought of making a final.”

Scotland’s most-capped hooker – he took is tally to 85 in the recent Six Nations – was asked if he had been passing on any pearls of wisdom gleaned from that European run to the younger players. “They don’t ask,” Ford chuckled in response. “It’s just a case of training away like we need to. Words are pretty much useless. It’s all about what we can do on the pitch.”

He continued: “That Heineken Cup semi-final against Ulster was the biggest game in my club career by far. This Friday is another big game but for it to mean anything to us we’ve got to win it and make it to the final.”