Eddie Butler salutes the performance of Ulster flanker Stephen Ferris and calls for heavy sanctions against gougers in The Guardian.
"The performance of last weekend, when there was in general a welcome return to some audacious rugby, was by Ulster. Ian Humphreys weighed up safety and risk and decided to give the first the weekend off and take the second for a spin around Ravenhill.
"If you are brave enough to grow such a beard you are surely of a kind for whom heading west into the prairies with just a wagon and an ox is an everyday experience. Of course, he had Stephen Ferris at his side - or, in fact pulling his wagon - a No6 who once again revealed that he could become one of the very best players of his generation.
"Ferris played so well that not just one but two Stade Français players felt compelled to poke him in the eye. There is nothing more to be said about the crime of gouging, except to say that the disciplinarians who dole out bans in mere weeks bear full responsibility for its persistence, and that in the case of Ferris, its use in Ulster was a mark of respect for the performance of the ox."
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