JOHN O'SULLIVANgets the reaction of Stephen Ferris, who modestly deflects the spotlight elsewhere after the Scotland game on Saturday
STEPHEN FERRIS is Ireland’s totem in defence, an uncompromising, brutish tackler who specialises in high velocity collisions. It’s tempting to marvel at the manner in which he stops, hogties and then despatches opponents backwards from whence they came at a rate of knots commensurate with the momentum at which they arrived to the point of contact.
However, to simply champion his impact based on the laws of physics does not do justice to the Ulster flanker. He has already compiled a highlights reel during the Six Nations that represents a considerable body of work but it is the calibre of his tackling rather than the sheer volume or the manner in which they register on rugby’s Richter scale that is most striking.
He reads the game astutely. He chooses his moments to explode into the tackle, wrapping the ball carrier in a gigantic bear hug or testing the fleshy crumple zone of an opponent. In the first 20 minutes when the game was a contest Ferris managed several interventions that stopped Scottish ambition.
One instance offered a homily to the virtues of a choke-tackle, the second saw him represent the epitome of the immoveable obstacle at the breakdown that ultimately led to a turnover. He modestly deflects the spotlight elsewhere but it’s soon retrained based on the consensus of others.
“The last couple of weeks, we have had to do a bit more defending than I would have liked. I’m just putting my body on the line, getting into the defensive line and making very good reads. I think as a team we defended really well; one or two missed tackles and they got a soft try but apart from that they didn’t look like breaking us down.
“Against France there was a bounce that popped up into their hands [which was unfortunate from our perspective] but defensively we have been really good since the criticism we got after the Welsh game. We have been working hard on it and we will be definitely working hard on it when we head for Twickenham this weekend.”
Ferris accepts that Ireland have got better in terms of performance as the tournament has progressed, describing the nature of the display against Wales as “sluggish”, but highlighting the incremental improvement in most aspects of the team patterns.
Then there is the not the inconsiderable matter of the injuries that threaten to scupper Ireland’s chances but rather than become a millstone it served as an opportunity. Man of the match Donnacha Ryan grasped it with both hands as did Peter O’Mahony.
Ferris admitted: “You had guys like Donnacha Ryan coming in there and taking over the lineout he has an awesome game. He’s been taking control over the last number of weeks in training. It is not just Paul [O’Connell] that calls the lineout; the other secondrows get an opportunity to do that. He [Ryan] is very calm, cool and level-headed, nothing seems to faze him. When you’re up against two of the tallest secondrows in the competition . . . he just kept getting up and winning ball for us there; stealing ball at the back of the lineout. Our lineout defence was brilliant.
“Over the last couple of weeks he’s made a great impact off the bench. He is on top of his game at the moment, playing some great stuff. Peter [O’Mahony] was great. I was rooming with him for the last couple of days. He did a tremendous job, one crucial turnover close to our own line. He put in a great days work. There is a bright future there. He seems like quite a serious bloke but he just loves his rugby. He gets stuck in; typical Munster, hard as nails.”
Ferris also had a word on Ireland’s new captain Rory Best. “I think his leadership from day one in the camp all those weeks ago, alongside Paul [O’Connell] has been great. He’s helped out Paul in the last number of weeks and he was the perfect man to come in there and lead us out there.
“I was fortunate enough to be captained by him at Ulster for a few seasons so I know what he is all about. He doesn’t say an awful lot but what he does sinks in. When he needed to say something he did; if nothing needed to be said he just got on with his job.” Ireland head to Twickenham for a St Patrick’s Day shindig with England, their fourth match in as many weeks. The performance graph shows an upward curve in terms of the team dynamic and one that will have to continue if they are to manage a third victory: should that pertain then expect Ferris to be its heart and soul.
