Jonathan "Jono" Ross (born 27 October 1990 in Sandton, Johannesburg) is a South African former

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

player who played mostly as a blindside flanker but also played at number 8.

Career

Youth

Ross started off playing for the and represented them at the 2007 and 2008 Under-18 Academy Week tournaments. He also represented them in the 2008 Under-19 Provincial Championship competition. Ross then joined the and played for their Under-21 team in 2010 and

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

Varsity Cup

In addition to playing for the , Ross also represented in the annual

Varsity Cup Varsity Cup is the collective name for four South African rugby union competitions involving the top rugby playing universities in the country. It was launched in 2008, with eight teams participating in the Varsity Cup competition and each unive ...

competition in

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

and

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

Blue Bulls

Ross made his senior debut in 2011, coming on as a substitute in the

2011 Vodacom Cup The 2011 Vodacom Cup was contested from 25 February to 13 May 2011. The tournament was the 14th edition of the Vodacom Cup, an annual domestic South African rugby union competition, and was played between the fourteen provincial teams in South ...

match against , as well as in the quarter-final match against former team the . Ross made his debut in the

Currie Cup The Currie Cup () is South Africa's premier domestic rugby union competition featuring teams representing either entire provinces or substantial regions within provinces. Although it is the premier domestic competition, four South African franc ...

competition a few months later in

against and made one further appearance that season. He established himself as a regular in the team for the

2012 Vodacom Cup The 2012 Vodacom Cup was played between 10 March and 18 May 2012 and was the 15th edition of this annual domestic cup competition. The Vodacom Cup is played between rugby union teams in South Africa from the Currie Cup Premier and First Division ...

, making eight starts and scoring a try.

Saracens

At the conclusion of the 2012 Vodacom Cup, Ross joined English side Saracens for one season, making two appearances in the

2012–13 LV Cup The 2012–13 LV Cup (styled as the LV= Cup) is the 42nd season of England's national rugby union cup competition, and the eighth to follow the Anglo-Welsh format. The competition consists of the four Welsh Pro12 teams and the 12 English Premie ...

Back to the Bulls

In 2013, Ross returned to the Blue Bulls and was called into the

Super Rugby Super Rugby is a men's professional rugby union club competition involving teams from Australia, Fiji, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands. It has previously included teams from Argentina, Japan, and South Africa. Super Rugby started as the S ...

side for their match against the , making four appearances in total during the

2013 Super Rugby season The 2013 Super Rugby season was the third season of the new 15-team format for the Super Rugby competition involving teams from Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. The tournament was won by the Chiefs, who defeated the Canberra-based Brumbi ...

including their semi-final elimination against

ACT Brumbies The ACT Brumbies (known from 2005 to 2022 as simply the Brumbies) is an Australian professional rugby union team based in Canberra, Australian Capital Territory (ACT), The team competes in Super Rugby and named for the brumby, feral horses wh ...

. In only his third ever

match – in the

2013 Currie Cup Premier Division The 2013 Currie Cup Premier Division was the 75th season in the competition since it started in 1889 and was contested from 10 August to 26 October 2013. The tournament (known as the Absa Currie Cup Premier Division for sponsorship reasons) wa ...

season against – Ross was named captain of the Blue Bulls, becoming the first-ever English-speaking captain of the team. At the end of 2013, he signed a contract extension to tie him to the Blue Bulls until October 2016. Ross was included in the squad for the

2014 Super Rugby season The 2014 Super Rugby season is the fourth season of the 15-team format for the Super Rugby competition involving teams from Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. For sponsorship reasons, this competition is known as Asteron Life Super Rugby ...

and, after four substitute appearances in 2013, made his first Super Rugby start in a 31–16 defeat to the in

Durban Durban ( ; , from meaning "bay, lagoon") is the third-most populous city in South Africa, after Johannesburg and Cape Town, and the largest city in the Provinces of South Africa, province of KwaZulu-Natal. Situated on the east coast of South ...

Stade Français

In November 2014, the announced that they granted Ross an early release from his contract to join French

Top 14 The Top 14 () is a professional rugby union club competition that is played in France. Created in 1892, the Top 14 is at the top of the national league system operated by the National Rugby League (France), France National Rugby League, also ...

side . In his first season he played in the

2014–15 Top 14 season The 2014–15 Top 14 competition was a French domestic rugby union club competition operated by the Ligue Nationale de Rugby (LNR). Two new teams from the 2013–14 Pro D2 season were promoted to Top 14 this season, Lyon and La Rochelle in plac ...

final as Stade Français defeated

ASM Clermont Auvergne Association Sportive Montferrandaise Clermont Auvergne () is a French professional rugby union club from Clermont-Ferrand in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes that currently competes in Top 14, the top level of the French league system. Clermont are two t ...

to become Champions of France. In his last season at the club he started in the 2016–17 European Rugby Challenge Cup final at

Murrayfield Murrayfield is an area to the west of Edinburgh city centre in Scotland. It is to the east of Corstorphine and north of Balgreen, Saughtonhall and Roseburn. The A8 road (Scotland), A8 road runs east–west through the south of the area. Murra ...

as they overcame

Gloucester Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city, non-metropolitan district and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West England, South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean ...

to lift the trophy.

Sale Sharks

On 11 April 2017, it was announced that Ross would return to England to join

Premiership Rugby Premiership Rugby, officially known as Gallagher Premiership Rugby, or the Gallagher Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is an English professional rugby union competition, consisting of 10 clubs, and is the top division of the English rugby ...

club

Sale Sharks Sale Sharks are a professional rugby union club from Greater Manchester, England, United Kingdom. Its team play in Premiership Rugby, and have been in England's top division of rugby union continuously since 1995. Originally founded in 1861 as ...

on a three-year contract starting in the 2017-18 season. Ross qualified to represent England through a grandparent and at the end of his first season with Sale in May 2018 was called up by coach Eddie Jones to train with the senior

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

squad although ultimately he did not make an appearance at international level. Ross was named club captain for the 2018-19 season, taking over from

Will Addison William Joseph Addison (born 20 August 1992) is an English-born Irish rugby union player who plays as a utility back for Premiership Rugby club Sale Sharks, and has represented Ireland internationally. A product of the Sale Sharks academy, Add ...

. He continued as captain for the 2019–20 campaign and led Sale to their first silverware since 2006 when they defeated Harlequins in the

2019–20 Premiership Rugby Cup The 2019–20 Premiership Rugby Cup was the 48th season of England's national rugby union cup competition and the second under the new Premiership Rugby Cup format following the disbanding of the Anglo-Welsh Cup at the end of the 2017–18 season ...

final. He was retained as captain for the 2020-2021 and 2021-2022 seasons. Ross played the last game of his career when he started in the

2022–23 Premiership Rugby The 2022–23 Premiership Rugby was the 36th season of the top flight of English domestic rugby union competition and the fifth to be sponsored by Gallagher. The competition was broadcast by BT Sport for the tenth successive season, with six le ...

final at

Twickenham Stadium Twickenham Stadium (; usually known as Twickenham, and for sponsorship purposes known as the Allianz Stadium Twickenham) is a rugby union stadium in Twickenham, London, England. It is owned by the Rugby Football Union (RFU), the English rugby u ...

which Sale lost against Saracens to finish runners up. At the end of that season he retired from the sport.

External links

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ross, Jono 1990 births Living people South African rugby union players Rugby union players from Johannesburg Blue Bulls players Bulls (rugby union) players Sale Sharks players Saracens F.C. players Stade Français Paris players Rugby union flankers Rugby union number eights South African people of British descent South African expatriate rugby union players in England South African expatriate rugby union players in France 21st-century South African sportsmen Alumni of St Stithians College