No fear, just a wary respect

INTERVIEW STEPHEN FERRIS: Unafraid of raw-boned match-ups, South Africa will prove a useful and welcome physical contest for Stephen Ferris, writes JOHNNY WATTERSON

FORMER GAA man Danny Lynch once said Jamie Heaslip, Denis Leamy and Stephen Ferris command enough acreage on which a small farmer could make a tidy living. It was as though a media officer had caught the three backrow forwards nicking biscuits from the kitchen and said “right you three will do. Go into that room and talk”. Not a bad Irish backrow selection at that.

Heaslip storming for Leinster; Leamy captaining Munster and making moves after a year in the injury wilderness and Ferris, who Matt Williams called the Irish Samoan, back with Ulster after his own mini-injury break.

If Declan Kidney was having his problems with numbers and positions for this weekend’s squad session in Limerick, the backrow wasn’t one of the areas generating anxiety attacks.

Factor in Leinster’s dynamic flanker Seán O’Brien and Kidney could perm any three from four and few would complain about a dilution of strength.

“Definitely,” says Ferris on the competition issue.

“Denis has been playing really, really well. He’s been very consistent and Seán in the last couple of weeks has been putting in man-of-the-match performances. They will definitely think they are in with a shout.

“Last week didn’t go so well for Ulster but we have shown glimpses over the last five or six weeks that we are a team on the up and hopefully I have added to that and can give myself a chance for selection.

“This year’s autumn international series probably has the most competition in the backrow because everybody is playing really well. It will be a difficult decision for Declan I’m sure.”

Ferris, fit and healthy, will be picked, Heaslip, too, having become a leader Leinster players now look to. The former etched his name on the international stage after he was selected as part of the 2009 British and Irish Lions tour to South Africa.

Ferris’s Samoan quality is his dynamic strength and capacity to knock back and make yards, along with quick feet and useful hands that add to his natural strength.

Unafraid of raw-boned match-ups, South Africa will prove a useful and welcome physical contest.

“I think they are lacking a bit of confidence but they are coming over here on a grand slam tour, to win every game,” says Ferris.

“Matfield has taken over the captaincy and I don’t think Victor would have taken it on if he didn’t think his team was up to scratch. We expect a big team coming over and they are always a tough team to beat.

“With South Africa, the pack is usually very, very big. They usually have a couple of massive centres in there that can make life difficult. But if you can match it and get on top of them it makes life that much easier throughout the game. They are a very aggressive, powerful side and hopefully we can match that and beat it.

“They put a lot of emphasis on their scrum and lineout. Matfield runs the lineout and they have got a couple of really good props in there so if we can get our set-piece ticking along it will be a really good day for us.”

There is little fear but a wary respect. That Ireland beat the tourists last year means little after a summer tour that may have done more to encourage the Irish team to question their worth than reaffirm it. Ferris remembers names like Australian flanker David Popcock and the rampaging ‘Bok, Schalk Burger, who has tempered his game since the famous attack on Luke Fitzgerald’s eyes during the last Lions tour. Every backrow can have a really good day.

“Last year against Australia, their number seven (Pocock) gave us a horrible day so we can’t let the players get on top of us.

“Schalk Burger is having a really good year and I actually thought he might have gotten a bit of a rest but he’s coming over and I look forward to playing against him if I get the opportunity. But the way our backrow is playing at the minute with the provinces, it will be good day for us if we get on top of them early.”

Ferris left Friends Quaker school in Lisburn, paved driveways, worked in Finlay’s foods, then fell into rugby by default. At 21 he was capped and he admitted in an interview 18 months ago that himself and former Ulster team-mate Neil Best used watch monster hits on YouTube and try to hurt when they tackled so that players wouldn’t come back at them.

“International rugby is very tough and every game is challenging,” he says sounding a little bored.

“With South Africa up first, it means a one-game-at-a-time approach. It’s going to be very, very tough, on the body and mentally.”

And you feel like asking: for who exactly?