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

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

player who currently plays for and captains

Premiership Rugby Premiership Rugby, officially known as Gallagher Premiership Rugby, or the Gallagher Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is an English professional rugby union competition. The Premiership has consisted of thirteen clubs since 2021, and is the ...

side

Sale Sharks Sale Sharks is a professional rugby union club from Greater Manchester, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. Originally founded in 1861 as Sale Football Club, now a distinct amateur club, they adopted the n ...

. His regular position is blindside flanker but he can also play at number 8.

Career

Youth

He 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. He then joined the and played for their Under–21 team in 2010 and

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

Varsity Cup

In addition to playing for the , he 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 univers ...

competition in

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

and

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

Blue Bulls

He made his senior debut in 2011, coming on as a substitute in the 2011 Vodacom Cup match against , as well as in the quarter-final match against former team the . He made his debut in the

Currie Cup The Currie Cup is South Africa's premier domestic rugby union competition, played each winter and spring (June to October), featuring teams representing either entire provinces or substantial regions within provinces. Although it is the premier ...

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, making eight starts and scoring a try.

Saracens

At the conclusion of the 2012 Vodacom Cup, he 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 Premiers ...

Back to the Bulls

In 2013, he 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 previously included teams from Argentina, Japan, and South Africa. Building on various Southern Hem ...

side for their match against the , making four appearances in total during the 2013 Super Rugby season. 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) was t ...

season against – he 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. He 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 ( ) ( zu, eThekwini, from meaning 'the port' also called zu, eZibubulungwini for the mountain range that terminates in the area), nicknamed ''Durbs'',Ishani ChettyCity nicknames in SA and across the worldArticle on ''news24.com'' from ...

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 French National Rugby League, also known by its French initialism o ...

side .

Sale Sharks

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

club

on a three-year contract starting in the 2017-18 season. 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 Ulster in the United Rugby Championship and European Rugby Champions Cup, and internationally for Ireland. A product of ...

. He was retained as captain for the 2019–20, 2020-2021 and 2021-2022 seasons

External links

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ross, Jono South African rugby union players Living people Rugby union players from Johannesburg 1990 births Blue Bulls players Bulls (rugby union) players Saracens F.C. players Expatriate rugby union players in England South African expatriate sportspeople in the United Kingdom Rugby union flankers Rugby union number eights White South African people South African people of British descent South African expatriate rugby union players