How would you react to a butt naked Justin Fitzpatrick asking you to play ‘mummy or daddy’?
That’s exactly the situation Stephen Ferris faced on his very first away trip with Ulster.
Many rugby teams are renowned for their strange initiation rituals for any new players joining the squad, such as Chris Ashton’s revelation that he had to sink 21 alcoholic drinks in a few hours upon his arrival to the England National team set-up, or Joey Carberry having to sing in front of the whole the Leinster squad last year.
It would take some story to match that of Ferris’s initiation, which he revealed on The Hard Yards.
One of Ulster’s leaders at the time was their prop forward, Justin Fitzpatrick, who obviously had a strong personality to match his physical stature.
A young Ferris, like all other inexperienced players attempting to make their breakthrough into the senior set-up, was nervous and uptight at this stage of his rugby career.
Fitzpatrick had quite a surprise in store for the young Ferris, when they were arranged to be rooming together, however.
“I remember my first away trip to Galway, we were playing Connacht away. We got the bus down, I was still one of the young lads trying to make sure I was starting week in, week out, for Ulster. We got the rooming list and Fitzy was like, ‘Fez, you’re with me, let’s go.’ I was like ‘right okay,’ so I grabbed his bags and my bags and we walked up to the room, we got into the room and I think he goes to the bathroom, for a number two or something.”
Ferris revealed that Fitzpatrick came out of the bathroom, then, with no clothes on, much to a young Ferris’s confusion.
“He walks out and he’s completely butt naked and he goes, ‘Alright Stevie’ and he goes ‘Do you want to play mummy or daddy tonight?’… and I said well, ‘Mummy,’ and he goes ‘Okay, daddy it is then,’ and he’s just standing there, completely butt naked and I’m like ‘Is this the way this goes?’ what have I signed up to?’ and then, of course, you get down to the team-room and I slag a few people and chat about what Fitzy’s just done, and they’re like ‘he’s been doing that for the last 15 years with any roommate that he has.”
Ferris eventually settled in, and the 31-year-old Antrim native felt that treatment like this, despite its unorthodox nature, can help a player settle into their new surroundings.
Fitzpatrick went on to be a successful coach with clubs in America before becoming their national sides assistant coach in 2013.
“Big Justin Fitzpatrick, now he’s out coaching in America. He was a good character to be around and it was good fun, but yeah that’ll live in my memory forever, seeing Justin Fitzpatrick waddle out of the bathroom to ask me if I wanted to play ‘mummy or daddy’.
You’d wonder did he try similar behaviour with his players in America.
You can listen to Ferris’s recollection of the incident here from 8’25”.
