{"id":507053,"date":"2025-10-17T14:57:13","date_gmt":"2025-10-17T14:57:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/507053\/"},"modified":"2025-10-17T14:57:13","modified_gmt":"2025-10-17T14:57:13","slug":"new-ross-moriarty-has-a-simple-answer-to-the-wales-question-after-years-of-snubs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/507053\/","title":{"rendered":"New Ross Moriarty has a simple answer to the Wales question after years of snubs"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The 31-year-old could feature in Steve Tandy&#8217;s first Wales squad, having fallen out of favour under Warren Gatland<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/0_JS380063404.jpg\" loading=\"eager\"  \/>Ross Moriarty in action for the Ospreys(Image: Huw Evans Picture Agency Ltd)<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\" publication=\"walesonline\">Ross Moriarty insists he&#8217;s not thinking of a Wales recall, having returned home after falling back in love with rugby in France.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\" publication=\"walesonline\">The 31-year-old hasn&#8217;t featured for Wales since the 2022 <a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.walesonline.co.uk\/all-about\/six-nations\" target=\"\" aria-label=\"\" tabindex=\"0\" rel=\"noopener\">Six Nations<\/a>, having fallen out of favour with <a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.walesonline.co.uk\/all-about\/warren-gatland\" target=\"\" aria-label=\"\" tabindex=\"0\" rel=\"noopener\">Warren Gatland<\/a>. However, with Gatland gone after his disastrous second spell, replaced by Steve Tandy, there&#8217;s every chance Moriarty could add to his 54 caps this autumn when Tandy names his first Wales squad next week.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\" publication=\"walesonline\">However, despite a solid start to the season with the <a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.walesonline.co.uk\/all-about\/ospreys\" target=\"\" aria-label=\"\" tabindex=\"0\" rel=\"noopener\">Ospreys<\/a>, Moriarty insists a Wales recall isn&#8217;t on his mind.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\" publication=\"walesonline\">&#8220;I&#8217;ve come home to play for the Ospreys and enjoy my rugby,&#8221; says Moriarty. &#8220;That&#8217;s what I&#8217;ve been doing.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\" publication=\"walesonline\">&#8220;Whatever else happens outside of that is not in my control. I just want to enjoy playing rugby now.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\" publication=\"walesonline\">&#8220;I&#8217;ve been doing that with the Ospreys. We&#8217;ll see what happens when it comes to it.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\" publication=\"walesonline\">Moriarty has come full circle this summer, joining his home region Ospreys after a spell with Brive. His stint in France helped the former Dragons back-row rediscover his love for rugby, having swapped Welsh rugby&#8217;s goldfish bowl for the altogether different intensity that French club rugby offers.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\" publication=\"walesonline\">&#8220;I&#8217;d always wanted to play in France and it didn&#8217;t disappoint,&#8221; he said. &#8220;It was great.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\" publication=\"walesonline\">&#8220;It was a great place, a great town. Everyone was really in it for the rugby. I had missed that and while I was there, I think I got back the love of the game again and why I do it.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\" publication=\"walesonline\">&#8220;It was a great experience. Rugby was like a religion there. We would average about 10 or 11,000 fans throughout the season and 15,500 for big games.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\" publication=\"walesonline\">&#8220;When you lost you really felt around the town and outside of training. It was full-on.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\" publication=\"walesonline\">&#8220;But I got to play with some amazing players, young guys who have since gone to top clubs and a lot of ex-internationals. Courtney Lawes came last season, who I&#8217;d played with on the Lions tour.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\" publication=\"walesonline\">&#8220;It&#8217;s a different style of rugby. It&#8217;s very physical, but very expansive. It&#8217;s tough, but it&#8217;s enjoyable when it goes well.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\" publication=\"walesonline\">&#8220;I&#8217;ve played in every top league in Europe now. I think it&#8217;s definitely expanded my game again, with how loose and open it can be.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\" publication=\"walesonline\">&#8220;That&#8217;s brilliant to have in your back pocket, being able to not be bogged down by structure all the time. That definitely changed my way of playing rugby and I get more enjoyment out of it now.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\" publication=\"walesonline\">Even with the Ospreys&#8217; move to St Helen&#8217;s delayed until next season, the latest chapter in the British and Irish Lion&#8217;s career represents something of a homecoming.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\" publication=\"walesonline\">Moriarty began his rugby journey in the Ospreys&#8217; academy before heading to Gloucester, even playing his first match for the Cherry and Whites against the Ospreys in 2012.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\" publication=\"walesonline\">And, of course, his father is none other than former <a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.walesonline.co.uk\/all-about\/swansea\" target=\"\" aria-label=\"\" tabindex=\"0\" rel=\"noopener\">Swansea<\/a> and Wales back-row Paul.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\" publication=\"walesonline\">Signing for Ospreys is a homecoming for Moriarty, the son of former Swansea back-row Paul who grew up in the city and took his first steps in rugby with the region&#8217;s academy before forging his professional career at Gloucester.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\" publication=\"walesonline\">&#8220;It&#8217;s quite funny that I&#8217;ve come full circle,&#8221; he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\" publication=\"walesonline\">&#8220;I always had an ambition to play for the Ospreys, but it didn&#8217;t go that way for me at the time (at the academy), he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\" publication=\"walesonline\">&#8220;This is where I&#8217;m from, my family, my wife, so it makes sense. It&#8217;s great to be back.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\" publication=\"walesonline\"><strong class=\"Strong_strong__e2x35\">* Follow all of our channels to ensure you stay up to date with the latest Welsh rugby news. 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