Ulster and Irish legend Stephen Ferris has backed his former provincial and international team mates to achieve big things this season. We caught up with Stevie at the launch of his autobiography 'Man and Ball' at the Europa Hotel on Tuesday night... What can supporters expect from your book? People that have seen me play know that I played with a lot of honesty and the book reflects that. It's raw and it's from the heart. It's a rugby autobiography at the end of the day but it's an emotional read too. There's a lot of stuff in there that people have maybe forgotten about and it brings back plenty of memories. It goes back to my childhood and how I kind of fell into rugby. Every family goes through hard times and mine was no different. It maps out the journey I went on with Ulster and Irish rugby. It made me a more confident person and it made me a better person. I'm really proud of the book. The first chapter of the book starts with my comeback game against Scarlets after being out injured for 15 months. That was the last high of my career and I thought it was good to start off with that moment. That epitomises what my career was all about, it was a roller coaster. There were a lot of highs and lows throughout my career but I had an absolute blast playing for Ulster and Ireland. How do you assess Ireland's chances at the World Cup? They produced a very professional team performance against Canada in the opening game and there weren't too many individual errors. If Ireland get to the semi-finals the boys will come back as heroes. I came up short in the quarter-final in 2011 but hopefully they can push on and go one or two steps further. They've a couple of big hurdles before that; Italy isn't going to be a push over and France certainly isn't either. They just need to keep building momentum, starting with Romania this weekend. Do you think your old team mates at Ulster can win some silverware this season? We've been in the knock out stages of both competitions time and time again but never got that silverware and I think it's important that we keep knocking on the door. I've played with 90% of the guys in the current squad and they have so much capability. The young players coming through have so much talent and hopefully they can express that this season. They have Treviso at home next week and a few other tough games coming up but I'm backing them to come through that period well and then kick on when they get the big name players back from the World Cup. The home crowd at Kingspan Stadium will play a big role, as ever, and hopefully Ulster will be in the mix at the business end of the season, yet again. So what are your plans for the next while? I'm doing punditry for the BBC at 20 games this season across both TV and radio. I'm also doing the Saracens and Toulouse games at Kingspan Stadium for BT Sport and I'm really looking forward to that. My focus before Christmas will be on promoting the book and then I'll see what happens in the New Year. Tickets are still available for the Ulster v Treviso game on Friday 2nd October - click here to buy now .
News
Catch up with Stephen Ferris
23rd September 2015
Ulster and Irish legend Stephen Ferris has backed his former provincial and international team mates to achieve big things this season. We caught up with Stevie at the launch of his autobiography 'Man and Ball' at the Europa Hotel on Tuesday night... What can supporters expect from your book? People that have seen me play know that I played with a lot of honesty and the book reflects that. It's raw and it's from the heart. It's a rugby autobiography at the end of the day but it's an emotional read too. There's a lot of stuff in there that people have maybe forgotten about and it brings back plenty of memories. It goes back to my childhood and how I kind of fell into rugby. Every family goes through hard times and mine was no different. It maps out the journey I went on with Ulster and Irish rugby. It made me a more confident person and it made me a better person. I'm really proud of the book. The first chapter of the book starts with my comeback game against Scarlets after being out injured for 15 months. That was the last high of my career and I thought it was good to start off with that moment. That epitomises what my career was all about, it was a roller coaster. There were a lot of highs and lows throughout my career but I had an absolute blast playing for Ulster and Ireland. How do you assess Ireland's chances at the World Cup? They produced a very professional team performance against Canada in the opening game and there weren't too many individual errors. If Ireland get to the semi-finals the boys will come back as heroes. I came up short in the quarter-final in 2011 but hopefully they can push on and go one or two steps further. They've a couple of big hurdles before that; Italy isn't going to be a push over and France certainly isn't either. They just need to keep building momentum, starting with Romania this weekend. Do you think your old team mates at Ulster can win some silverware this season? We've been in the knock out stages of both competitions time and time again but never got that silverware and I think it's important that we keep knocking on the door. I've played with 90% of the guys in the current squad and they have so much capability. The young players coming through have so much talent and hopefully they can express that this season. They have Treviso at home next week and a few other tough games coming up but I'm backing them to come through that period well and then kick on when they get the big name players back from the World Cup. The home crowd at Kingspan Stadium will play a big role, as ever, and hopefully Ulster will be in the mix at the business end of the season, yet again. So what are your plans for the next while? I'm doing punditry for the BBC at 20 games this season across both TV and radio. I'm also doing the Saracens and Toulouse games at Kingspan Stadium for BT Sport and I'm really looking forward to that. My focus before Christmas will be on promoting the book and then I'll see what happens in the New Year. Tickets are still available for the Ulster v Treviso game on Friday 2nd October - click here to buy now .