When Stephen Ferris talks back row play, we’re listening.
And the Ulsterman has made a big call in choosing his Ireland line-up for the World Cup, leaving out Munster captain Peter O’Mahony in favour of rising star Iain Henderson.
Henderson has been earning rave reviews for his performances in the World Cup warm-up matches, but those displays came at second row, where he is putting serious pressure on Devin Toner for the right to pack down beside skipper Paul O’Connell.
But Ferris says he would keep faith with Toner and instead use Henderson, whose powerful style resembles Ferris’s own play at blindside flanker, in the back row alongside Jamie Heaslip and Sean O’Brien.
“We are missing that little bit of go forward and that’s why I think it’s so important Iain Henderson is in the team and, just as crucially, in the back row,” Ferris wrote in his BBC column.
“I would keep Devin Toner at lock alongside Paul O’Connell because in the back row you can use your energy a little more efficiently by carrying ball and making big tackles and that’s what Henderson is good at.
“Seanie O’Brien’s form is not quite there yet after all his injury problems over the past couple of years which is putting a big burden on Jamie Heaslip even though you can see he is trying very hard.
“And with Peter O’Mahony coming back from shoulder reconstruction last season, the back row just isn’t firing.
“However, Henderson is a marauding force at the moment and we have got to get him in there alongside Seanie and Jamie and let him tear at teams.”
