Ross Moriarty sports a large tattoo at the top of his left arm bearing the family crest of an eagle being watched over by a guardian angel. Like his father, Paul, he will make his debut for Wales against Ireland, in Cardiff rather than Dublin, and on Saturday he will become the third member of his family to play for the men in red. His uncle, Richard, led his country in the inaugural World Cup in 1987.
The Moriarty brothers were not renowned for their angelic qualities during their playing days. It may have been said of them, as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle wrote about Sherlock Holmes’s adversary, Professor Moriarty, that they were “the organisers of every devilry” and one of the reasons for Ross’s elevation after his breakthrough season with Gloucester, when he made 31 appearances, was what the Wales head coach, Warren Gatland, described as his “nasty edge”.
Richard Moriarty was sent off three times at Stradey Park in his career, tending to see red against the Scarlets, and Paul carried on the family tradition in the west Wales derby. Ross was sent off playing for England in an under-20 international against Ireland in 2013, earning a ban for seven weeks for a spear tackle, and was suspended for two weeks in May after being cited for kneeing an opponent in the European Challenge Cup final against Edinburgh at The Stoop.
“I suppose it is good to have a bit of an edge but you have to keep it under control,” he says. “I have got a lot better at that as the years have gone by. When you are younger you feel you can do what you want but, as you get a bit older and become involved in professional rugby, you cannot do silly things any more. I understand I cannot do the things I used to.
“Uncle Richard had a pretty big edge to him. My dad seems to think that I have got some of my uncle in me but I will control it more. He could get away with things a lot more easily back then.
“You can only be inspired by having a family history in international rugby and the World Cup. It provides me with a big motive.”
Moriarty qualified to play for England. Born in St Helens when his father was playing rugby league, he was brought up in Swansea but spent his final years in education at Hartpury College in Gloucestershire, from where he was selected by England at under-18 level before graduating to the under-20 side and appearing in two Junior World Championship finals, one against Wales, along with Jack Nowell, Anthony Watson and Luke Cowan-Dickie. He had by then joined Gloucester, when his father was on the coaching staff, but he never envisaged playing international rugby for anyone but Wales.
“It is all I have ever dreamed of,” he says, “growing up in Swansea with my father having played for Wales. I was well looked after by England but Wales gave me an opportunity I could not turn down. If it had come to a choice, I would have chosen with my heart and gone for Wales. It was not a difficult decision.”
Moriarty is one of four new caps in a virtually reserve team to face Ireland. Fourteen players will be trimmed from the squad this month before the 31 for the World Cup is announced and Moriarty, who interested Wales after establishing himself in the starting line-up towards the end of the season following an injury to Ben Morgan, has a real opportunity to emulate his father and uncle, who both played in the 1987 tournament.
While England could field A and B teams broadly equal in strength, there is a gap between Wales’s finest and what comes next, even if some positions are more adequately covered than they were in the 2011 World Cup. Wales have one of the outstanding back rows in world rugby but only Justin Tipuric is a proven replacement and he is a specialist openside. Moriarty started in all three back-row positions for Gloucester last season, a blindside by preference who has the ball-carrying ability to play at No8.
“It took me a while to get used to training with Wales because the physicality was unbelievable,” says Moriarty, who played in the backs at schoolboy level when he was one of the smallest players in the squad. “At the start of last season I did not give a thought to playing in the World Cup. My focus was on Gloucester but I have been handed an opportunity. It is up to me to do what I can.”
Wales H Amos; A Cuthbert, T Morgan, S Williams (capt), E Walker; J Hook, M Phillips; N Smith, R Hibbard, A Jarvis, J Ball, D Day, R Moriarty, J Tipuric, D Baker. Replacements R Evans, K Dacey, S Andrews, J King, T Faletau, L Williams, G Anscombe, M Morgan.
Ireland F Jones; A Trimble, K Earls, D Cave, F McFadden; P Jackson, E Reddan; J McGrath, R Strauss, M Ross, D Ryan, I Henderson, J Murphy, T O’Donnell, J Heaslip (capt).Replacements R Best, D Kilcoyne, M Bent, D Tuohy, C Henry, K Marmion, I Madigan, S Zebo.
Referee G Jackson (New Zealand).
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