In words that will probably be pinned to the wall of the English dressing room on Saturday, Stephen Ferris has branded England as ‘arrogant’ and as ‘bad losers’.
Veering wildly away from the Declan Kidney approach of saying everything while at the same time saying absolutely nothing before a big game, Ferris has added fuel to what was already a raging fire with some choice quotes about the auld enemy ahead of the Paddy’s Day clash at Twickenham.
“If you ask any team who do they like beating and it’s always the English. Why? It’s something I can’t really put my finger on,” Ferris said.
“We took so many beatings from England at under-age level. Any time we played Under-18s, -19s or -20s we always received a thumping. I never beat them.
“They come with bit of a tag about being arrogant and if you asked any team they’d probably say the same thing.
“They’re a good side and are full of winners, but when they lose they don’t like it. They’re bad losers and hopefully they’ll be bad losers on Saturday.”
If our recent record against England is anything to go by, Ferris has plenty of reasons to suggest that the men in white will be licking their wounds again come Saturday evening.
Ireland have won an impressive seven of the last eight games between the sides in the Six Nations and three of the last four encounters at Twickers, the only black mark coming in the final game of Eddie O’Sullivan’s reign in 2008.
Still, England looked formidable enough when getting one over the French in Paris last Sunday and will be further motivated by the remarks of a man who can do precious little wrong at the moment and has probably been Ireland’s best player in the tournament so far.
While some will criticise Ferris for stirring the pot, it is refreshing to hear a player say something aside from the same old clichés and platitudes normally trotted before the big games.
Oh, it’s on.
For all the Ireland team news ahead of Saturday click here.
In case you needed reminding, Ireland take on England at Twickenham on Saturday at 5pm.
