Chuchill CUp Squad [aka Ireland A]

tHE vAGGABOND

Ireland A squad for churchill Cup. Its really more like a mixture of Ireland B and C teams tbh due to the first choice lads getting some time off, and therefore the weakend team going to Argentina

Yet another great chance for blokes to make a name for themselves, some good up and coming players here..

Ireland A Squad:

Forwards (15):

Ryan Caldwell (Dungannon/Ulster)
Sean Cronin (Shannon/Munster)
Andrew Farley (Buccaneers/Connacht)
Declan Fitzpatrick (Belfast Harlequins/Ulster)
John Fogarty (Buccaneers/Connacht) (Captain)
David Gannon (Buccaneers/Connacht)
Ray Hogan (Galwegians/Connacht)
Stephen Keogh (Shannon/Leinster)
John Lyne (Lansdowne/Leinster)
John Muldoon (Galwegians/Connacht)
Johnny O’Connor (Wasps)
John O’Sullivan (Garryowen/Munster)
Michael Ross (Harlequins)
Devin Toner (Lansdowne/Leinster)
Roger Wilson (Belfast Harlequins/Ulster)

Backs (13):

Darren Cave (Belfast Harlequins/Ulster)
Keith Earls (Thomond/Munster)
Luke Fitzgerald (Blackrock College/Leinster)
John Hearty (Galwegians/Connacht)
Ian Humphreys (Leicester)
Chris Keane (Buccaneers/Connacht)
Seamus Mallon (Northampton)
Frank Murphy (Leicester)
Johnny Murphy (Leicester)
Paul McKenzie (Belfast Harlequins/Ulster)
Fergus McFadden (UCD/Leinster)
Danny Riordan (Buccaneers/Connacht)
Johnny Sexton (St.Mary’s College/Leinster)

Nukem

tHE vAGGABOND wrote:

Johnny Murphy (Leicester)

Supposed to be a very strong player. Glad to see a lot of young players there

daveirl

This post has been deleted.

Chucky the tree

Like to see Ian humphreys given a go on the argie tour.

burnedfaceman

yeah johne murphy is a good prospect ex newbridge college and lansdowne fc, one for the future. nice to see devon toner ex castleknock and lansdowwne man too in squad too at 6"10 and 18 stone at 20 years of age will def go on to get capped in the future

loadabollocks

fan of David Gannon....think he's a quality 2nd row. he needs to just bulk up a little more.

jdivision

No Ian Dowling?

daveirl

This post has been deleted.

RuggieBear

bradley certainly likes his connacht players.

psicic

RuggieBear wrote:

bradley certainly likes his connacht players.

Heh...that's cause they train their players so well; spend time, effort and expertise maturing fine, rounded players right from the word go.... providing a ready pool for other teams to swoop in and steal!:D

bugler

The majority of decent players from the big three are all going to Argentina -so it's no surprise that a lot of Connacht players feature for the A squad. The timing of these tours has effectively stretched Irish rugby to breaking point.

John Lyne hasn't got within an Ass's roar of the Leinster side in their weakest position (off to Connacht next season), and Sean Cronin hasn't even played for Munster yet (which itself is criminal).

burnedfaceman

john lyne hasnt got within an asses roar of team in last season or two due to injury, he broke a leg and damaged shoulder and has been out of favour eversince, has been a big performer for lansdowne all season in AIL and at 24 i wouldnt write him off just yet. im anything john should benefit from going to connaught were he will get game time in magners league

Goodluck2me

i think Fergus McFadden is one of the most exciting inclusions to that squad, at 20 himself and Luke are some prospects, the same with Keith Earls.
good to see a tour like this being useful, i remember Kearney going last year and dropping one over from about 50m, its on your tube if you type in "super rob".

marco_polo

Chucky the tree wrote:

Like to see Ian humphreys given a go on the argie tour.

I think it is better that both he and Paddy Wallace get som game time ahead of the RWC, it would be pointless having one of them warming the bench for the Argie tour (I assume thats what Jermey Staunton is there for). I would imagine that this is EOS thinking too.

Amazotheamazing

Ian Humphreys can't defend, Leicester put him on the wing when they're defending a set piece. It's a pity, but if he can't defend by now (and lets be honest, most outhalves don't need to be strong front-up tacklers) then he'll never bloody learn.

Paddy Wallace is just not an outhalf, even Andy Ward says it every now and again when he commentates on Ulster games for Setanta, he's a first centre (in the 2nd 5/8ths mould) being played at outhalf. Yes, he is very good a breaking, and he has a nice (if short) range of passing but his kicking is not good enough, and worse, he's not up to controlling a game.

If O'Gara gets injured, we are absolutely screwed, sure we'll still have D'Arcy (who rescued O'Gara a lot this 6nations) but like none of his challengers are anywhere near his standard.

nacho libre

so, who out of this squad do you see establishing themselves on the Irish first team in the future?

LFC5Times

Johnny Murphy if he was at Leinster would never make a Leinster squad.

Would be behind Kearney,Fitzgerald,McCarron,Grissing etc etc etc.

Seen him play for Lansdowne a few times and also for Leinster U.21 and was nothing special at all , fairly safe at the back and that was it.

Just goes to show that more young Irish players should head to England much better chance of getting a chance at professional rugby.

EdgarAllenPoo

I'd say Sean Cronin will make a good accounting of himself. Am I the only one who doesn't see what the bug fuss is about Luke Fitzgerald?

burnedfaceman

no id have to agree with you and say he is overhyped im sure he will develop into a great player in future but right now i dont rate him..hes been moved into argentina tour squad as jeremey staunton has been moved to A squad to get game time

loadabollocks

i think Luke shows great promise. He has shown he is quite capable to hold his own but he is still only 19 so it would be dificult at this stage for him to produce week-in week-out.

Linford

Gordan D'Arcy was hyped a bit like Luke Fitzgerald is now. He got his first cap very early on, but at the start didn't seem as impressive as was being made out, he then had to wait ages to get his next and look how he turned out.

Diamondmaker

http://www.irishrugby.ie/283_8224.php

So irelands 3rd team hammers Canada. This goes further to fuel that any discussions had on another thread about letting Portugal in..........Nonsense.

Canada are one of the strongest 2nd div teams, Im not sure was this their 1st team ( not being up on Canadian Rugby ) but goes some way to show a gulf that needs to be appreciated.

Roll on Argie match, Jennigs debut likely, hard to believe.

EdgarAllenPoo

When any Irish side regardless of being the "A" side can be worried by a team like Canada(though fair play to them for doing as well as they did) you really have to wonder just what the hell they were doing.

bugler

Bear in mind that due to the timing of the WC, this is really Ireland B.

Apparently Mike Ross did very well at TH. It's only Canada, but it's good to see. Why Leinster didn't approach him is a bit of a mystery to me.

daveirl

This post has been deleted.