Very good points Bart and I agree in particular with the Heaslip comments as I've said myself elsewhere on the thread.Bart S wrote:Ferris has yet to truly shine in any game against the top 4 nations. I'm sure it will happen (hopefully on the summer tour) but until he does, I fail to see how anyone could call him world class. In the past year he was decent against France once (at Croker, although completely outshone by Heaslip that day) and part of a backrow that was completed outplayed in Paris (again Heaslip was the standout performer). He was also part of the backrow that was outplayed against Australia and before his injury against SA was steady, but no more. Injury deprived him of a chance to take on the full Boks team, but whilst he showed promise in the tour games, they were no comparison.
Until he proves he can come out on top against the big boys and not just Haskell and co, he cannot be viewed as world class. Playing for Ireland provides a perfect opportunity for him to do that in the future.
The irish media is in danger of overhyping him a la Chabal.....
A lot of us, including myself, are guilty now and then of overhyping or overpraising players we are a bit excited about before they realise anything near their full potential.
However I would take a bit if issue with any comparisons between Ferris and Chabal.What has Chabal ever done that justifies all the balderdash spoken about him I'd love to know.To me he is just a battering ram who looks scary but isn't really that scary once you stand up to him as has been shown on numerous occasions.I'd like to think Ferris will be much better than that over the coming years.Some like to think Ferris isn't much more than a wrecking ball but I think he has much more skill than that.