The Wheel of Fortune – Independent.ie

With victory so scarce, when they arrived, they all felt sweeter. However, the damage tends to be very varied. Ferris has witnessed both such agony and ecstasy, winning in 2010 after a bout best remembered for the previous Tommy Bowe scoring double, in what eventually became the hat. His final test two years later, he was part of the St Patrick’s Day Massacre when England annihilated their opponents en route to a 30-9 win.

He believes this immobilizer will always carry less weight.

“You tell yourself it’s no different than any other game and that’s how you have to approach it,” says Ferris. “But it is always sweeter to defeat a sworn enemy. For me, when I arrived, they were a benchmark, one of the dominating teams in the world and beating them is always a bit sweeter, especially in their own backyard.

“I think in the past, for as long as I can remember, there seems to be a sense of arrogance that accompanies the British. I don’t think it’s just rugby either, it’s for all sports.

“And I think one of the reasons for that is that they’ve always been quite successful. They’ve won the World Cup, they’ve reached another final at the most recent World Cup, countless Six Nations and Grand Slam titles. ”

That win in 2010 at Twickenham was Ferris’ first experience at Twickenham, with the previous year’s Grand Slam campaign being his first Six Nations season. The 2012 game, best remembered for the incident where Tom Court unfortunately brought the can with him because of a crate collapse while on duty on the other side of the division, would happen just two months before Ulster lost. Heineken Cup final at the same venue. in similar decisive circumstances.

“Everybody thinks it’s this great stadium because of what’s inside, but you might be surprised when it’s this concrete block at first, it looks like a prison or something. It’s when you walk out of the dressing room and see the steep stands and the sheer size of it, I wouldn’t say it frustrates you but it makes you uncomfortable.

“England, London, Twickenham and all the hype it brings. Play with him there, that’s where you want to be. You know, in 2010, I played against Jonny Wilkinson, I grew up looking at him and thinking he’s the best player in the world so it’s great to play against him. That 2010 team was a good team and we’ll do well with Tommy’s effort.

“I was playing exceptionally well at the time and against James Haskell, the best six in England at the time, I was the best six in Ireland, and that was always a class player.

“Even now, 2012 is the kind of game you don’t want to talk about. We played very badly. Tom Court has had a really hard time that I don’t think is much of a good or guaranteed thing.

“But the score doesn’t even reflect the game. They can beat us much more. “

In today’s contest, Ferris hopes for a better day for Ireland, siding with the bookies who make Andy Farrell’s men the favourites. Eddie Jones had fun with it this week when Ferris himself joined in the build-up after quotes from him and former Irish colleague Jamie Heaslip were shared.

“All those people make a living making comments, right?” Jones asked rhetorically during one of his press conferences. “Unless you say something remarkable, you’re not getting paid, so all they’re doing is trying to make a living doing their job, very lucky for them.”

Ferris had no problem with Jones’ comment but his opinion of England and their ongoing development remained unchanged.

“Eddie Jones talked about how we get paid to give an opinion, and if we don’t, we don’t get paid,” he said. “He is absolutely right, 100pc is right, and his mission is to win titles.

“With England over the last two years, that is not the case. I think England always seem to be a work in progress, the squad is constantly changing, there are different partnerships everywhere, the back line, the center.

“They are about to leave the power game, most likely they will try and come back this weekend.

“England should be the best team in the world every year because of the number of players they have to pick. However, for some reason they struggle to fill certain positions. If you were to ask any England fan at this minute what your best team is, I don’t think they would know.

“Ask any Ireland fan alike and they might list 15 names and 99pc would probably agree.

“With England, would even 50pc fans agree? I don’t think so and I think it’s a concern.”

Ireland, on the other hand, believes they are simmering very well despite a defeat to France in the second round, ensuring that they will need a win to carry on their championship hopes into the final weekend. While there are some fire concerns in the face of what is certainly a physical match, Ferris is backing the Ireland forwards to give the best they can.

“The way Ireland are playing, as Eddie Jones calls them the most cohesive team in world rugby, I think they look razor sharp,” he added.

“Cian Healy coming, Dan Sheehan with a bit more playing time at this level, I don’t expect to back down either.

“You’ve got James Ryan back from a few concerns, leaving Iain Henderson on the bench for 80 minutes under him is another positive.

“I would love to see Jack Conan come off the bench. He made such an impact against Italy and sometimes it works in your favor and sometimes it’s not because he comes off the bench with half an hour left which can be a huge advantage. ”