Although struggling to make it on to the Ulster side and currently a distance from reclaiming his Irish shirt, Stephen Ferris believes there is no need to give up yet on Tommy Bowe.

The Ireland and Lions winger has struggled through long bouts of injury but was elevated from the bench to start against Munster last weekend. But he is far from the devastating winger of old. Bowe will be 33 in February.

“There is plenty of mileage left in that big man,” said Ferris. “I think Tommy, right now, believes that he can play for the Lions next year. That’s the attitude and mindset you’ve got to have.

“He believes in himself. He just needs a run of games. He was out for six months, came back for one game and was back in for another operation and out for another five months.

“When I was playing, I was out for 14-15 months. When I came back, I knew I wasn’t the same player at all. And I knew it was coming to an end in two or three weeks time.

“I believe Tommy doesn’t feel like that. He just needs a bit of game time, more training sessions, more mileage, more reps.”

Injury often erodes confidence and Bowe is not immune to that. Last week the sure-handed winger uncharacteristically dropped the ball out wide as Munster came back from 14-0 down to win the derby match.

“His confidence, I’m sure, isn’t great after the weekend, dropping the ball on the touchline. He wasn’t going to score anyway. The cover was coming,” added Ferris, who had to face up to premature retirement from the game because of an ankle injury.

“He just needs to get the ball in his hands and get a bit of confidence. He’s a great player, somebody who people would be foolish to write off.”