Nearly fully-fit after a long absence through injury, Stephen Ferris is raring to go ahead of the World Cup next month. JOE caught up with him for a few words ahead of the first warm-up game against Scotland this weekend.
It has been nearly seven months since Stephen Ferris threw a ball, made a tackle or hit a ruck in anger after twisting his knee in a Heineken Cup clash for Ulster against Aironi back in January.
Such has been the flurry of rugby at both provincial and international level since then that it has been easy enough to forget about the absence of the towering back-row who played such a huge part in Ireland’s successful Grand Slam campaign two years go.
Appearances in the latter stages of both the Heineken Cup and Magners League for Ulster and in a turbulent Six Nations campaign for Ireland have all had to be passed up as Ferris embarked on the long road to recovery.
And that journey, he believes, is nearly at an end.
Whether it will be soon enough to make the plane to New Zealand next month depends on the amount of game time he gets in the upcoming warm-up games – although he will play no part against Scotland this weekend – and whether, having proved his fitness, he can impress sufficiently to see off some stiff competition for places in the back-row.
We caught up with Stephen for a chat about the recovery process, his experiences of the World Cup four years ago and his bid to give Declan Kidney a headache.
JOE: First of all Stephen, how’s the leg and how’s the recovery coming along?
Stephen Ferris: Really good thanks, it’s holding up well. I’m getting a lot of miles on the clock, so it’s just about trying to get fit now.
JOE: Are you on a different schedule to everyone else at the moment?
SF: I am at the minute, but hopefully in the next week or two, I’ll get some rugby stuff done. I’m sick of the old fitness stuff; it’s been so long now that I need to get the rugby batteries charged again.
JOE: Tell us a little about this fancy treadmill you’ve been working on?
SF: I’ve no cartilage in the knee, so I’ve been running on an anti-gravity treadmill to get the joint back used to impact again, instead of running straight onto a pitch where you’re putting 100 per cent onto the joint with every single footstep,. When you’re running on the anti-gravity treadmill, it lifts you off the treadmill so you can put 30, 40, 50, 60, 70 per cent body weight on your joints.
We started off at 40 or 50 per cent body weight and you feel like you could run a marathon! We worked our way up, we did two weeks at 50-60 per cent, two weeks at 70-80 per cent, a week at 90 per cent and a week at 95 per cent and then straight out onto the pitch and that’s you back to 100 per cent. With the way my knee is, it just needs to get used to impact again and in fairness, the treadmill has been a revelation for me.
JOE: What’s the next step? Do you hope to play a couple of warm up matches?
SF: I think the intention is just to get game time and to get back on the pitch and get my confidence back. It’s been six months since I played, but the way I’m training now, I’m feeling confident and feeling good. I’m the strongest I’ve ever been and I’m just looking to get back out there and put in a performance.
JOE: I know it mustn’t be easy to talk about, but it must have been a frustrating few months for you?
SF: You’re not the first person to ask me that! Of course it is. When your province is doing really well and when you’re missing out on Heineken Cup quarter-finals, Magners League semi-finals and the Six Nations, it is tough. I know I’ve had a good few injuries in the past, but the longest lay-off I’ve had is probably six weeks instead of six months.
Fingers crossed and touch wood, it’ll not happen again in the future, but it was very frustrating mentally when you see your team doing well, especially getting such a good win against England. You want to be a part of that and it’s hard sitting watching it, but at the same time, you’re absolutely delighted for the rest of your team mates.
You have ups and downs as well, but it’s hard to bounce back. Thankfully, over the last four or five years every time I’ve been injured, I’ve bounced back really, really well and have come back fitter, stronger and faster. Hopefully I’ll be able to do exactly that this time around.
JOE: Because you’re more of a central figure now than you were four years ago, your expectations in regard to this World Cup must be different to what they were in 2007?
SF: I’ve a lot more experience under my belt now with a World Cup, a Lions tour, 24 caps for Ireland and nearly 100 for Ulster, whereas four years ago, I had four caps (for Ireland), a handful for Ulster. I wasn’t the same player then as I am now.
‘Fez’ touching down against Argentina back in November
It was difficult back in 2007. I wasn’t part of the squad, well, I was part of the squad but I wasn’t really in the frame for selection and I was kind of a squad member. It was tough, whereas this time around, I think Declan has made the squad over the last couple of years and I think everybody’s going to play a part in these warm-up games. Hopefully, I’m one of those guys.
JOE: Speaking about competition for places, in your own position, in the back row, do you ever remember it being as competitive as it is now?
SF: Well, when I first came into the Irish team, it was tough to come in and try and stake a claim for a place. I had the number six jersey for about 18 months and was playing some really good stuff. Sean (O’Brien) has come in and done a fantastic job, he’s probably been one of the best players in Europe over the last year, but you know, if I get an opportunity, I’ll go out there and try and give Declan a few headaches.
You have Wally (David Wallace), he turned 35 a couple of weeks ago and he’s training as hard and as well as he’s ever trained. he was still putting the performances in last year and you can’t overlook him either. Jamie (Heaslip) has been consistent for the last three or four years and you’ve also got players like Denis Leamy, Niall Ronan and Shane Jennings, who came on in the second half of the Heineken Cup Final and probably made the difference. It is tough but fingers crossed, I’ll get an opportunity to prove what I’m about.
JOE: The build-up this time more is more focused on games and match practice as opposed to fitness and conditioning four years ago. Do you prefer the structure of build-up this time as opposed to last time?
SF: Yeah, we went away to camps and stuff last time, we played Scotland away and lost, obviously, I played in that game. It just seems like, with the experience of the disappointment in 2007, we don’t want that to happen again. We’re doing everything in our power: training, analysis, rest and recovery, we’re in a different hotel now and we’ve got our own facilities so we can go out and play golf at night and get away from rugby and it just seems that it’s working better.
If it’s working better then hopefully it will work better on the pitch. Everybody has felt the disappointment of last time and we want to make amends for it.
JOE: Four years ago, there was a very confident air about the squad heading into the competition and there was a lot of talk about going out to win the World Cup. Is there a need to rein in expectations this time around?
SF: There was a lot of talk about winning it four years ago, but I think the way Declan has come into the Ireland team, the Six Nations, the Grand Slam, we took it game by game and didn’t look any further. Even when we played Scotland at Murrayfield, we knew we were a better team than Scotland and we knew we could win that game, but we weren’t talking about the following week and the Grand Slam decider.
That’s the way he was talking. It was about Scotland and when we beat Scotland, we’ll look at the next game. This time, we’re looking at the group stages; he’s not talking about anything post-group stage or anything outside of the group matches. That’s the way Declan is, he’s a very hard man to change, but he’s done a great job.
Stephen Ferris is an ambassador for Guinness, Proud Partner of Irish Rugby.
Guinness Rugby ambassador Stephen Ferris may be travelling to the other side of the world in September, but rugby fans can get all the latest news updates from inside the Irish camp with Stephen and the six other members of the Guinness Rugby team including player updates, blogs and rugby analysis on the Guinness Rugby Supporters Facebook Page.
www.Facebook.com/GuinnessRugbyIreland
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