New Stephen Ferris? Sky is the limit for imposing Ulster flanker David McCann
In the seconds after Ulster’s gripping victory over Munster last Friday night, the camera focused in on David McCann, the home side’s young flanker.
The 23-year-old looked utterly exhausted after the final whistle. And with good reason, too.
McCann was relentless for the entire contest and played a key role in Ulster’s stunning second-half comeback, Dan McFarland’s men overturning an 11-point deficit to seal an impressive 21-14 win against the defending URC champions.
Fittingly, the Ulster backrower was involved in the last-gasp turnover along with Rob Herring to lift a late siege and secure a hard-fought result at Kingspan Stadium.
McCann was everywhere on the night. He broke into Ulster’s starting line-up at the tail-end of last season, but he has truly announced himself in the early stages of this campaign.
The Belfast native has been a mainstay in the Ulster backrow this term, playing 318 out of a possible 320 minutes in the opening four rounds of the league.
His high-energy, all-action displays have been a real standout in an Ulster team which seems to be turning the corner after last season’s downswing. Whether it’s carrying, tackling, hitting rucks or winning lineout ball, he looks a real talent.
McCann has a lot of people excited around Kingspan Stadium. He is finally realising the vast potential he displayed throughout a glittering underage career.
A schools star with RBAI, he helped his team reach the semifinals of the 2018 Ulster Bank Ulster Schools Cup.
Unsurprisingly, representative honours soon followed. McCann was part of a immensely talented Ireland U20 squad which stormed to a Six Nations Grand Slam in 2019. That squad included the likes of Craig Casey, Harry Byrne, Scott Penny, John Hodnett, Ryan Baird and Ben Healy.
McCann was handed the captaincy the following year by head coach Noel McNamara. If anything, the class of 2020 were even better. A precocious crew featured Tom Stewart, Tom Ahern, Cian Prendergast and Jack Crowley. That team looked destined to seal a Six Nations clean sweep as well before the Covid-19 pandemic brought a premature end to the rugby season.
Again, McCann moved seamlessly up the ranks and made his senior debut for Ulster against Treviso in October 2020. He was named academy player of the year a few months later.
There and then, McCann would have been short odds to make the No6 jersey his own, something of problem position for the province since Stephen Ferris retired in 2014, but like many underage stars he found the step up to the top level to be difficult.
He drifted into ‘A’ squads as well as AIL duty with Banbridge. His presence on last season’s Emerging Ireland tour was clearly a nod from Andy Farrell and the management that he was on the radar. But McCann was yet to impose himself.
He has needed to be patient and he is reaping the rewards now.
‘It’s weird being one of the biggest at under-age stuff and then you go in and you’re the smallest, so you get bullied and thrown about,’ McCann admitted in April.
‘It’s not a great sensation or feeling when someone is throwing you about so you need to go and work a bit harder. It’s good to experience it and it brings you down to earth.
‘Then slowly you’re building that up, the physicality, size and then experience and that’s the big thing; it takes a short time for some people, and for other people it takes a bit longer.’
McCann has developed in every sense of the word in the past two years. He has noticeably bulked up and there is more of an edge to his game. These days, he is going toe-to-toe with the biggest and meanest forwards on the club scene and he seems to be loving it.
Bringing more of an edge was a key piece of feedback from McFarland when he was trying to cement his status as a frontline forward in the Ulster ranks.
‘He said I needed to be more physical,’ McCann recently noted.
‘I’ve worked on mainly defensive physicality, so I feel like I’ve upped that in my game to get in the right positions to make an impact and selection has followed,’ he said.
‘(At six) You have to get through a lot of work so it’s focusing on a moment on doing everything and being physical.’
Blindside flanker is a position synonymous with tough, uncompromising customers. When you think of the position, teak-tough characters like Jerry Collins, Richard Hill, Serge Betsen and Schalk Burger spring to mind. There were all defined by a borderline reckless disregard for their own wellbeing and living on the edge.
Closer to home, Ferris was a wrecking ball of a backrow forward and a crowd favourite in the Ravenhill terraces. Alan Quinlan was cut from the same cloth and Peter O’Mahony bears the same traits.
As we enter a new phase and Farrell begins to rebuild his Ireland squad, the head coach is on the lookout for fresh faces and new blood to bring the national team forward.
After a fine career, O’Mahony is nearing the end. He is 34 and has a lot of miles on the clock. In the short term, he is the perfect candidate to replace Johnny Sexton as Ireland captain. It would be a temporary appointment, however. Farrell is surely thinking more long term, especially with the 2027 World Cup in mind.
He needs to start planning for life after the Corkman as well. No doubt, McCann has caught the attention of Farrell and Co already. He looks like the kind of player who would thrive in Farrell’s environment around Abbotstown.
For now, McCann will focus on delivering the same high-octane displays in an Ulster shirt. It will be fascinating how he fares against the might of the Leinster, Racing 92 and Toulouse packs in the coming months.
McCann doesn’t seem overawed by any opposition, mind you.
It’s taken him longer than expected to get here but if he keeps playing like this, he can expect higher honours in 2024.
