Where’ve All The Rude Boys Gone? Japan

Stephen Ferris

Stephen Ferris looks likely to accept a one year deal to play in Japan next season rather than accept an offer from the IRFU that is contingent on gametime. Having missed out on contention for a Lions tour this summer due to an injury plagued season, it’s not a bad idea to earn good money, play some lower intensity rugby and then come back for a season leading up to RWC15, at which stage he’ll just have turned 30 years old.

If Stephen Ferris makes the rumoured switch to the Top League, he won’t be the first Irish backrower to play in Japan’s top flight rugby competition. Continue reading

The Big 46 [Sic] Pt.2 – Then Everything Is Wrapped Up In A Neat Little Package

 

The idea that test matches are a neat block of matches played at one level, with Heineken Cup games forming another distinct grouping a step down from that in intensity, speed, skill levels, physicality, time allowed in possession and tactical appreciation – and Pro12 matches a discrete block a further notch down from those Heineken Cup games – is one to which The Mole doesn’t subscribe. Continue reading

Ulster: A Season At The Brink Or A Place At The Top Table?

“Stand Up For The Ulstermen” rings out and Stephen Ferris is all ears. Having had a taste of Heineken Cup knock-out rugby over the last two seasons, Ulster will be looking to get to the top of the mountain next season. Do they have what it takes?

Ulster are a fine team who got into the Heineken Cup final on merit: they beat ASM Clermont Auvergne, Leicester and Munster [in Thomond Park, no less] in the competition, a very worthy set of scalps in any season.  Continue reading

Heineken Cup Semi-Final Preview: Ulster vs Edinburgh

There were quite a few people who picked Ulster to knock over Munster in the quarter-finals, even though it was played down in Thomond Park, where Munster had been invincible at the quarter-final stage for over a decade … but who were the geniuses that had Edinburgh over Toulouse? Continue reading

Report Card: Back Row

Stephen Ferris: Bueller… anyone, Bueller? The injury plagued Ulster man rivals Luke Fitzgerald and the camera shy Donncha O’Callaghan for media utterances. It was his form in this World Cup that created the headlines. Ferris is a very talented athlete who hasn’t consistently produced at the international level. In this tournament he showed good ball skills as well as some feats of power that few players could match. His tackle on Genia was iconic while his hit on Castrogiovanni brought the battle to the Italians. The Welsh stopped him with some great tackles and stopped Ireland. Continue reading