Ross Ford

Ross William Ford (born 23 April 1984)[1] is a Strength and Conditioning coach for the Scottish Rugby Academy.[2] He was previously a Scotland international rugby union player who played as a hooker. He made 110 test appearances for Scotland, making him their most-capped player. He played in three World Cups (2007, 2011 and 2015) and toured with the British and Irish Lions in 2009, making one appearance.

Ross Ford
Ford in 2017
Birth nameRoss William Ford
Date of birth (1984-04-23) 23 April 1984
Place of birthEdinburgh, Scotland
Height6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Weight115 kg (18 st 2 lb; 254 lb)[1]
SchoolKelso High School
Occupation(s)Strength and Conditioning coach
Rugby union career
Position(s) Hooker
Amateur team(s)
Years Team Apps (Points)
Kelso RFC ()
Correct as of 18 October 2007
Senior career
Years Team Apps (Points)
2004–2007
2007
2007–2019		 Border Reivers
Glasgow Warriors
Edinburgh Rugby		 84
0
197		 (5)
(0)
(60)
National team(s)
Years Team Apps (Points)
2004–2019
2009		 Scotland
British and Irish Lions		 110
1		 (25)
(0)
Correct as of 24 June 2017
Teams coached
Years Team
  • 2019-
Scottish Rugby Academy (Strength & Conditioning)

He played professional rugby for Border Reivers (2002–2007) and then Edinburgh Rugby between 2007 and 2019.

Rugby Union career

Amateur career

Ross Ford grew up in Kelso and went to Kelso High School in the Scottish Borders. He played for Kelso Harlequins (u18s) and then Kelso RFC.

Professional career

In May 2002 Ford signed for Border Reivers, before he had finished school.[3]

He initially played at loose forward, but was convinced to switch to hooker while at Border Reivers.[4][5]

After the Reivers disbandment in the summer of 2007, Ford was left without a club. He initially signed for the Glasgow Warriors in August 2007[6] but on 18 October 2007 it was announced[7] that he had been transferred to Edinburgh who were back under the Scottish Rugby Union's control in that year.

He made his 150th appearance for Edinburgh in December 2015.[8]

International career

Ford was a member of the Commonwealth Games Scotland 7s squad at Manchester in 2002.[9]

He captained Scotland under-16 and has also represented his country at under-18 and under-19 level. He is a member of the Scottish Institute of Sport.[9]

Ford was first capped by the Scotland senior side in the 2004 Abbey Autumn Tests against Australia at Murrayfield, making his second appearance over a year later, coming on as a replacement against Wales in the 2006 RBS 6 Nations. After one further appearance against England he missed the 2006 summer tour to South Africa through a knee injury but returned to the Scotland squad in the 2007–08 season.

He made his first start in the RBS 6 Nations Championship in Scotland's final match of the 2007 competition, away to France.[10] He followed that up by winning plaudits for his line out throwing and play in both tight and loose in Scotland's World Cup warm-up victory against Ireland.

He was named in Scotland's Rugby World Cup 2007 squad, and became the first choice hooker after the previous #1 hooker Dougie Hall pulled out of the whole World Cup altogether with injury. In his first match at the tournament he came on as a replacement against Portugal and scored his first try for Scotland.[9][11]

In 2009, he was selected for the British & Irish Lions as a replacement for Jerry Flannery. He played for 50 minutes in the third test and was Scotland's only representative in the three test matches of that tour.[1][9][12] Ford was the captain of the Scotland Team for the 2012 Six Nations Championship[13] and the 2012 mid-year rugby test series.[14]

In June 2014 he made his 76th appearance and overtook Gordon Bulloch as Scotland's most-capped hooker.[15] In August 2015 he won his 88th cap against Italy, overtaking Scott Murray as Scotland's most capped forward.[16] His one hundredth cap came against Australia in November 2016, with only two other Scots previously having gained 100 caps- Chris Paterson and Sean Lamont.[17]

On 24 June 2017 Ford made his 110th test appearance for Scotland and overtook Chris Paterson as the most capped Scot.[18][19]

Coaching career

On 27 June 2019 it was announced that Ford was retired from playing rugby. Instead he took a role as a Strength and Conditioning coach at the Scottish Rugby Academy.[2]

Other

In 2011 he appeared on cereal boxes for Scott's Porage Oats along with Chris Paterson and Thom Evans.[20]

References
  1. "Player: Ross Ford". edinburghrugby.org. Edinburgh Rugby. Retrieved 26 February 2017.
  2. https://scrummagazine.com/scotland-legend-ross-ford-retires-from-rugby/
  3. Ferguson, David (2 May 2002). "Borders put faith in youth". The Scotsman. Retrieved 5 March 2017.
  4. Reid, Alasdair (2009) "Scotland's happy hooker Ross Ford is looking forward to the physical battle against Ireland", Daily Telegraph, 13 March 2009, retrieved 2010-08-30
  5. Morrison, Iain (18 June 2010). "Rugby: Ross Ford's coach pulls a flanker". The Scotsman. Retrieved 8 October 2010.
  6. "Ross Ford joins Glasgow Warriors". glasgowwarriors.com (unofficial fansite). 6 August 2007.
  7. "Edinburgh latest stop for Ross Ford". glasgowwarriors.com (unofficial fansite). 18 October 2007.
  8. Baldock, Andrew (24 December 2015). "Hooker Ford to reach major milestone for Edinburgh". Belfast Telegraph. Retrieved 26 February 2017.
  9. "Ross Ford". Scottish Rugby. Retrieved 5 March 2017.
  10. Fotheringham, William (17 March 2007). "Scots carefree to prey on France's nerves". The Guardian. Retrieved 13 February 2017.
  11. "Scotland 56-10 Portugal". BBC News. 9 September 2007. Retrieved 5 March 2017.
  12. Hands, David (2009) "Ross Ford called up to join Lions tour", The Times, 23 May 2009, retrieved 2010-08-30
  13. Ferrie, Kevin (25 January 2012). "Ross Ford to captain Scotland in Six Nations". The Herald. Retrieved 5 March 2017.
  14. Mason, Jim (17 May 2012). "No summer holiday for Scots tourists". BBC News. Retrieved 5 March 2017.
  15. "Ford reaches Scotland milestone". BBC News. June 2014. Retrieved 11 February 2017.
  16. Smith, Duncan (27 August 2015). "Cotter hails Ryan Wilson on return from ban". The Scotsman. Retrieved 13 February 2017.
  17. Scott, Andrew (10 November 2016). "Ross Ford to earn 100th Scotland cap against Australia". STV News. Retrieved 13 February 2017.
  18. "Fiji 27-22 Scotland: Scots pay price for errors in Suva". The Scotsman. 24 June 2017. Retrieved 24 June 2017.
  19. Bathgate, Stuart (16 March 2017). "Ross Ford closes in on Chris Paterson's cap record". The Herald. Retrieved 24 June 2017.
  20. "New porridge proves truly scrum-ptious: Scots rugby stars appear on iconic cereal pack". The Scotsman. 5 January 2010. Retrieved 25 June 2017.
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