Stephen Ferris sat down with Balls for one of his regular chats - in association with Ladbrokes - and gave his thoughts ahead of the [likely] Six Nations decider between Ireland and France tomorrow afternoon.
Interestingly, Ferris touched on the referee for the game, Wayne Barnes, and his penchant for being involved in 'controversial' and 'last gasp moments'.
The former Ulster and Ireland flanker has history with Barnes in these types of situations, and was no doubt alluding to the infamous yellow card incident from 2012 which saw Ferris controversially sin binned by Barnes against Wales, handing them the game in the last minute.
"Yeah, it's really exciting. Weather forecast looks half decent as well. 10/11 degrees in Dublin," remarked Ferris about tomorrow's showdown.
"Not maybe the damp squib that we've, you know, maybe witnessed in the past at the Aviva Stadium. France have won the last three games against Ireland, in the Six Nations, obviously two years ago, I think 15 - 13 very tight encounter.
"But the three losses that about Ireland had have all come in figure margins. So it's gonna be really, really tight.
I think it's, you know, the referee as well. You look at the referee for this game, it's Wayne Barnes. Any games that he is involved in, there's always controversial decisions, there's always last gasp moments.
You know, the whole stadium is holding their breath and for some reason it just seems to be much tighter when he's got the whistle. And I think a lot of Irish fans will be a little cautious and apprehensive of maybe some decisions going against them.
Especially after last week, because France were blown off the pitch by Matthew Carley the referee, 18 penalties. Shaun Edwards had said in his post match interview that he'd never been involved in a team in his whole career to give away that many penalties in an international match.
So that's an area of their game that they're going to brush up on and it's going to be an epic encounter as you rightly say, number one in the world versus number two in the world.
Stephen Ferris On Ireland vs France
Arrived in Dublin ready for my 26th @SixNationsRugby match in the middle.
I'm told this is the 17th Six Nations tournament I’ve refereed in!
Just checking that the stadium is still there. pic.twitter.com/aNU5SxIsx5— Wayne Barnes (@WayneBarnesRef) February 10, 2023
READ HERE: Sheehan Out As Ireland Team Named For Blockbuster France Clash
"Yeah, I'm leaning towards Ireland for the win," continued Ferris, before breaking down his reasons for having Ireland as favourites.
"I think Ireland are 1/2 for the win. And you know, the bookmakers, they're always very, very close on the winning margins and this week I'm going to go to Ireland by five points.
"So that would make it, if you went for a draw on the margin, it's 25-1 on a draw. And like as I said there, the last three encounters have been all very, very close, one score games really. So I think this is going to be something very similar.
"France are going to be much better than they were last week. We're all hoping that Ireland can pick up where they left off last week. I think if that happens then it will be in around that five points.
"The Irish bench for me is slightly weaker, and with the heavy artillery that the french possess and the heavy duty rampaging forwards, that when they get their tails up, they can be very, very dominating.
"Get an upper hand or at least party in the forward when it comes to set piece, I think we have enough ammunition in the back line to cause serious problems. So yeah, my sort of tip or outside bed of the week would be a draw in the handicap of 25-1, but it's definitely 1/2 to win the game."
SEE ALSO: Ferris Recounts The Childish Reaction From French Hooker After Grim Gouging Incident
