Massive presence eager for the fray

STEPHEN FERRIS INTERVIEW:HE NOW enjoys the kind of iconic status once afforded David Humprheys. Each bullocking, barnstorming ball-carry induces a guttural roar from the Ravenhill faithful. All the more so in the absence of Rory Best, he is likely to be Ulster's go-to man every time he plays this season, but he has broad shoulders and will carry it well, writes GERRY THORNLEY

It almost goes without saying that the player in question is Stephen Ferris. The main crumb of comfort in Ravenhill last Friday was the return of Ulster’s “Samoan” flanker. The fearless 24-year-old has, alas, been a little injury-prone in recent years, starting only 23 games for Ulster in the last two seasons, and both management and supporters alike will be keeping their fingers crossed that despite his high-octane game he can remain relatively unscathed this season.

The prototype for the modern-day backrower, Ferris was making his first appearance since the Lions’ tour when he scored tries as a second-half sub against the Golden Lions and then in his sole start in the win over the Free State Cheetahs.

He’d have been a shoo-in for the Test series but put that huge disappointment behind him when returning for the first time against Edinburgh and continuing where he left off with a try-scoring, man of the match performance despite, by his own admission, sucking diesel within the first few minutes.

“It was fantastic to be back. There was a good pace to start off with and I got a good second wind early on – about five minutes into it,” he recalls, chuckling.

“Yeah, it was good to get back and get onto the scoresheet. That was brilliant. I tried to put myself about as much as possible. I was cramping up after about 60 minutes and tried to dig in for another 10, but that was me finished after that.”

There’s no substitute for games though, and one imagines that return to arms will have done as much for his rehabilitation as a couple of weeks’ training.

“My body feels great actually, no bumps or bruises. I feel really good and have been working hard. We tried to get as many turnovers as we could and there were two or three there last Friday night, which we’ve been working on, and we’ll try and improve on that this Friday. But I felt I carried the ball particularly well and got us good front-foot ball. I was happy enough with my performance.”

However, it is a measure of both Ferris’s standing and his own heightened standards after his Grand Slam-winning/Lions year that he doesn’t hold back in his assessment of where his team went wrong last Friday.

Analysing the game succinctly, Ferris highlighted the “seven points missed at goal” in the first half as where the game got away from Ulster.

“If we had gone in 20 points to six up (at half-time) Edinburgh would have been trying to run the ball from everywhere in the second half. One in four kicks is not good enough and (Chris) Paterson as usual landed his. And that’s what it’s all about. He wasn’t hitting them particularly well but they were still going over.

“I think after the first half we came into the dressingroom and were a bit shaken back that we weren’t a few scores up, but we said ‘listen, dig in, we’re still winning this game and we were on top of them’.

“And I felt we were on top of them. But then we gave away a soft penalty up in the top corner and let them out very easily and were just defending for the last 15 minutes even though we were trying to get up there and score ourselves.”

The sin-binning of Paddy Wallace undoubtedly damaged Ulster and Ferris felt the loss of shape was compounded by the customary spate of replacements.

“There were a lot of changes being made in both teams and it sort of suited them a bit more. We got a bit disjointed, and we were playing really well. You were seeing new faces coming onto the pitch every couple of minutes and it was like, ‘what’s going on? What’s going on?’ I don’t know why that was but we felt a bit disjointed in the last 20 minutes and we didn’t have the same shape that we had in the first half and it cost us in the end.”

Ulster played most of the rugby, supporting runners holding their depth and running onto offloads or clearing out the ball. Despite the amended laws at the breakdown which have favoured the tackler of first defender to the breakdown, Ferris’s own try came off five well-constructed phases.

“Neil Doak, our backs coach and skills coach, was saying that there’s a lot to take out of that performance. It was just disappointing with the new (£3.5 million) stand and our first home game of the season that we didn’t get a win. But we picked up a point and we’ll battle on this week.”

Now comes Connacht away in what Michael Bradley has described as a massive game for his side which, by extension, might mean the same for Ulster. Ulster coach Brian McLoughlin has recalled the fit-again Dan Tuohy, a try-scorer in the win over the Ospreys, and Tom Court, Thomas Anderson and Paul Marshall are also added to the 22 who were on duty against Edinburgh, while Cillian Willis and Tamaiti Horua drop out. The playing 22 for the first “interpro” of the season will be announced tomorrow.

Connacht’s win over the Cardiff Blues at the Sportsground was a timely boost in confidence for the westerners, and also a reminder to Ferris and co of the threat Connacht pose even if they, Ulster, have won the last six meetings. Indeed, Ulster succeeded there last season where Leinster and Munster failed, and that was for the third year running.

“Once they get a few points up they get a bit of confidence and they’re a tough enough team to beat if they’re playing on their own patch,” says Ferris.

“But if we throw the ball about and be direct like we were in the first half against Edinburgh then hopefully we’ll be okay.”

“It was good to get back and get onto the scoresheet. That was brilliant. I tried to put myself about as much as possible. I was cramping up after about 60 minutes and tried to dig in for another ten, but that was me finished after that.