STEPHEN FERRIS was telling a story this morning about a day when he was in his pomp and Ireland were on the rise.
This was the Ireland of Bod, Paulie, ROG and The Bull, a team so beloved that their players were known by their affectionate nicknames as much as by their ability with a ball.
Grand Slam winners in 2009, they then defeated the Springboks and drew with the Wallabies, rising to fourth in the world. That was what Declan Kidney, their then head coach, drew their attention to as he gathered the boys in a team meeting.
In large bold print, Kidney scribbled the names of the world’s leading three sides, New Zealand, South Africa, England, on a flip chart. Then, to add to the drama, he turned the page and had just one further name, Ireland’s, placed in fourth. “And we were all like, ‘Oh Jeez, there’s us, we’re sitting fourth, unbelievable!’
“We thought we were heroes but the team has gone to a different level now.”
They certainly have. Ireland’s recent head to head record against the world’s leading nations has impressed. It is five wins from the last eight games against New Zealand; six from 10 against South Africa; three wins from the last four against Australia; 11 wins, 10 defeats against England; six wins from their last 10 against France.
“I never experienced getting to number one,” said Ferris, “but it’s a bit like Rory McIlroy getting to that ranking in the golf, as soon as he gets there he’s like, ‘nobody has any idea of the amount of hard work I’ve put in to get back to this’.
“And it feels like Rory is now going to hold on to that position for a significant period of time, the mindset that he’s in, and that’s very similar to where Ireland are.”
It’s why he is not expecting Andy Farrell to experiment against the Springboks this Saturday, why he still sees value in laying down a marker, while the ghosts of previous World Cups don’t haunt them.
Back then November spawned a monster, Ireland achieving big wins in the autumn series on the eve of a World Cup year, especially in 2006 and 2018 but also in 2014. As we all know, nothing came of it.
This time, though, Ferris believes a marker can be set.
“This South African side, the question mark has always come up, can Ireland mix it with big, strong, physical packs. Can they do it? We haven’t seen if they can or not yet.
“So everything is just on the result and that’s what they’ve got to chat about.
“And I think we’ll do it. I know that Rassie Erasmus, off the back of South Africa’s Rugby Championship and playing some half decent rugby, will have his boys completely fired up.
“We’ve always watched the documentary ‘Chasing The Sun’ in the lead up to the last World Cup and the passion, the focus on physicality, going out and f’ing up the opposition, it’s clear that is their mindset.
“If they do get into Ireland’s psyche early on and absolutely flatten them, then I can’t wait to see how Ireland react; to see what their mettle is.
“If they can get this performance right and get the win, everyone across world rugby will be talking about Ireland as one of the favourites for the World Cup.
“They’re at the top and they want to hang onto it for as long as possible. Johnny Sexton wants to write his name into the history books even more, for keeping Ireland at the top for such a long period of time.
“Imagine Ireland going into the Rugby World Cup, first game, number one seed in the world. It would be a brilliant talking point for everybody.”
Talk of Sexton inevitably leads to talk about whether it’s worth resting him for some of these big games, just to see what else is out there, a possible Plan B if next year’s World Cup goes the way of the previous two, when Sexton got injured and the stand-ins failed to deliver.
“Johnny only has a handful of games left at the Aviva Stadium and he’s going to want to play in every single one of those,” said Ferris.
“I know I was banging that drum before the New Zealand tour about giving others opportunities like Harry Byrne, Ciaran Frawley, get them in and see what they’re made of.
“But it’s at the stage now where there aren’t going to be that many meaningful games to use players.
“I’m not worried about Johnny Sexton not being able to cope with the South African physicality.”
If anything he’s more worried about Ireland losing Jamison Gibson Park, who people have stated is ‘as important to Ireland as Sexton’.
“I totally disagree with that assessment,” said Ferris. “He’s a fantastic scrum-half. But I go back to the Six Nations last year when Johnny Sexton didn’t play against France and Jamison Gibson-Park made two or three errors and two of them led to tries. That’s what he has to cut out of his game.
“We like the maverick as well. He is not afraid to dart down the short side and all of a sudden stick it into reverse and pop the ball off to a couple of forwards and gets everybody moving again. I kind of like that about him; he plays a little bit like Caolin Blade the way he just nips around the breakdown.
“He’s not afraid to hold onto the ball for a few seconds before getting rid of it if needs be. When he is wired for fast ball he can put it on a sixpence for Johnny and them so I am really excited to see that combination fire once again. The other question mark is who is going to sit on the bench. Is it going to be Conor Murray? Is it going to be Craig Casey?
“Watching Munster over this season, Craig Casey has been super. Just the tempo he puts on the Munster play even when they were struggling. The pack wasn’t getting the go forward, the lineout wasn’t functioning but he was still playing pretty big rugby so that is probably the bigger call for Andy Farrell because Gibson-Park has no game time this season.”
Canterbury, the official kit partner to Irish Rugby, has revealed the new Ireland Rugby Heritage jersey, inspired by the classic jerseys of the past. The Heritage jersey is available now via Intersport Elverys in store and via Elverys.ie, and on Canterbury.com.