Shane Jennings

nacho libre

Well, this has probably come up before but i'm wondering how many people here would like to see him in the Irish team at the World Cup. It would be pretty harsh on Wallace who was excellent in the Six Nations- arguably the no 7 of the tournament, but sentiment shouldn't come into it if we are serious about winning. Would Jennings be the better option against the best teams at the World Cup?

Nukem

Think he is an outstanding player and should have got a call up long long ago but hard to argue with the amount of quality back row players we have. Think he showed great potential in Leinster improved on it when he capt'd Ireland A and Leicester so I think he will be one of the players to watch for it not the WC defo next year in 6N and HC.

Diamondmaker

nacho libre wrote:

Well, this has probably come up before but i'm wondering how many people here would like to see him in the Irish team at the World Cup. It would be pretty harsh on Wallace who was excellent in the Six Nations- arguably the no 7 of the tournament, but sentiment shouldn't come into it if we are serious about winning. Would Jennings be the better option against the best teams at the World Cup?

Yeah look at the vice capt thread....hes the main man to take Leinster forward most will agree.

daveirl

This post has been deleted.

King.Penguin

My worst/best memory of Shane Jennings is blocking down a Donal Crotty clearance in a x minute of extra time in senior cup for st marys against belvedere when he was 16 or 17. he gathered the ball, ran half the pitch and touched down to steal the game. What class.

I dunno what to do with the Irish/ Leinster back row. It's very difficult in the Irish set up and in rugby in general to start playing guys like Jennings, Leyden and Heaslip in the big games when you've already got previously proven internationals looking to play.

Sandwich

Wallace issue not a problem. He should be moved to the blindside - his best position anyway. Easterby is fading a little but a very useful bench man.

And Jennings in as a 'real' No.7.

Sangre

Wallace isn't a blindside flanker.

shoutman

King.Penguin wrote:

My worst/best memory of Shane Jennings is blocking down a Donal Crotty clearance in a x minute of extra time in senior cup for st marys against belvedere when he was 16 or 17. he gathered the ball, ran half the pitch and touched down to steal the game. What class.

Yes I was at that game too, heartbreaking for us Belvo boys, but really was a superb showing of an athletic openside. That was Belvederes dream team too, but alas it was not to be.

burnedfaceman

did jennings play leinster schools in fourth year?

Sandwich

Wallace is more natural blindside than an open. (Or he's a small number 8).

Thats part of the problem with Wallace over the years and his in-again, out-again career. He is not a ball winner, but excellent going forward if his seven colleagues around him are sufficient to win enough ball against the opposition pack. If they're struggling then he can be a liability.

EOS, and WG before him, recognised this and knew they needed a faster, ball winning openside - hence Johnnie O'Connor, Keith Gleeson. But with the G Darcy 'accidental flowering' a few years ago into a world class player it was realised that BOD and GD as a pairing bring an openside quality to the team where it wouldnt normally be expected. And so EOS has been able to bolster the muscle and attack potential in our pack without the downside to Wallace impacting negatively on the team blend.

Jennings is the real thing for an openside. Skill, speed, and the size.

King.Penguin

shoutman wrote:

Yes I was at that game too, heartbreaking for us Belvo boys, but really was a superb showing of an athletic openside. That was Belvederes dream team too, but alas it was not to be.

yeah, I remember. I think Jennings was kept out of the leinster schools team when he was in TY by Andrew Cullen playing for belvedere (captained side), not 100% though, it's possible he played blindside.

shoutman

Yea as far as I know Andrew Cullen captained the world cup winning side.... I could be way off the mark though.

King.Penguin

i could be mixing irish and leinster schools too. I'll say no more on this topic cos my facts are dodgy.

Malmedicine

King.Penguin wrote:

My worst/best memory of Shane Jennings is blocking down a Donal Crotty clearance in a x minute of extra time in senior cup for st marys against belvedere when he was 16 or 17. he gathered the ball, ran half the pitch and touched down to steal the game. What class.

.

No please! reliving that one is not easy.

Diamondmaker

Sandwich wrote:

Wallace is more natural blindside than an open. (Or he's a small number 8).

Thats part of the problem with Wallace over the years and his in-again, out-again career. He is not a ball winner, but excellent going forward if his seven colleagues around him are sufficient to win enough ball against the opposition pack. If they're struggling then he can be a liability.

EOS, and WG before him, recognised this and knew they needed a faster, ball winning openside - hence Johnnie O'Connor, Keith Gleeson. But with the G Darcy 'accidental flowering' a few years ago into a world class player it was realised that BOD and GD as a pairing bring an openside quality to the team where it wouldnt normally be expected. And so EOS has been able to bolster the muscle and attack potential in our pack without the downside to Wallace impacting negatively on the team blend.

Jennings is the real thing for an openside. Skill, speed, and the size.

Very true and interesting point, I have to agree. I dont agree to dropping wallace however, that would be too bold a step no matter what the text book says. Some keen competiton in the new season ought to be great though..

Easterbunny, Best, Wallace, Jennings and the many others just outside the squad all screaming for game time! Its embarrasing:o

AbusesToilets

Malmedicine wrote:

No please! reliving that one is not easy.

Yeah, what with the ref playing about 10mins of injury time.That stills burns :rolleyes:

shoutman

AbusesToilets wrote:

Yeah, what with the ref playing about 10mins of injury time.That stills burns :rolleyes:

To go totally offthread, I never understood why with ten minutes injury time played the belvo full back still decided to come into the line, knowing full well what was going to happen.... habit I suppose but even if the kick didnt make touch would you not decide to drop back a bit just to be prepared....

nacho libre

The curse of the poster- namely me- as Jenning's was outplayed by his opposite number yesterday. Though, in fairness to him so were the rest of the Leicester forwards. Rees is going to be a problem handle on the international scene. A great performance by him yesterday

RuggieBear

yep there are a lot of very good england players coming thru.

Linford

Sandwich wrote:

Wallace is more natural blindside than an open. (Or he's a small number 8).

Thats part of the problem with Wallace over the years and his in-again, out-again career. He is not a ball winner, but excellent going forward if his seven colleagues around him are sufficient to win enough ball against the opposition pack. If they're struggling then he can be a liability.

EOS, and WG before him, recognised this and knew they needed a faster, ball winning openside - hence Johnnie O'Connor, Keith Gleeson. But with the G Darcy 'accidental flowering' a few years ago into a world class player it was realised that BOD and GD as a pairing bring an openside quality to the team where it wouldnt normally be expected. And so EOS has been able to bolster the muscle and attack potential in our pack without the downside to Wallace impacting negatively on the team blend.

Jennings is the real thing for an openside. Skill, speed, and the size.

I think because of what you said above about BOD and GD that Wallace is not as important to the Irish team as he is to the Munster team. Munster need a running, ball carrying openside, but Ireland less so. Ireland need a player a little more like Richie McCaw that can win ball on the ground, and that player is Jennings

Linford

nacho libre wrote:

The curse of the poster- namely me- as Jenning's was outplayed by his opposite number yesterday. Though, in fairness to him so were the rest of the Leicester forwards. Rees is going to be a problem handle on the international scene. A great performance by him yesterday

Tom Rees is going to one of the great opensides in world rugby, if he's not already.

marius

Linford wrote:

Tom Rees is going to one of the great opensides in world rugby, if he's not already.

Well whether he will be or won't be, he sure as hell is not already. Looks to have all the tools required but he still has a long way to go and is definately yet to prove himself on the international stage, it is not so long ago he was considered to be behind Magnus Lund :eek: in a terrible english team.

Linford

marius wrote:

Well whether he will be or won't be, he sure as hell is not already. Looks to have all the tools required but he still has a long way to go and is definately yet to prove himself on the international stage, it is not so long ago he was considered to be behind Magnus Lund :eek: in a terrible english team.

The fact that he was considered behind Magnus Lund last year is pretty irrelevant considering Rees's age he's only 22 and the fact that he was injured for a large part of the 05/06 season...

marco_polo

Looks like this thread is done after the weekend anyways