Which player is moments from greatness

Gprem

Right, the WC is just around the corner, so it time to ask that time honoured question “Which player is moments from greatness”. It was JW last time round who’s your top tip for the one to shine this time round?

redmca

James Hook of Wales

Sangre

I'm thinking francois steyn of SA and isaia toeva of NZ. Would have probably said Strettle of Eng as well if he wasn't injured.

marco_polo

Daniel Carter is a player who can really make a claim for greatness in this RWC if he can find his top form again. He will have to leave 3N Carter at home though.

It would be nice if this was the year of the BOD, I think when he is on the top of his game it brings the whole team up to a different level and we could possibly top the pool. Too early for James Hook he is still too inexperienced, especially playing in that Welsh side, he will be some player come 2011 though.

Sandwich

Gavin Henson.

Injury problems force Wales to call on him as they get out of the group stages - and he steers them to final glory adding to his try hat trick earlier in the game, scoring a last minute drop goal to snatch the cup from Ireland.

Charlotte leads the crowd in Land of Our Fathers.

JC 2K3

^He was left out of the Welsh squad.

Sandwich

^ Noooooooooooooooooooooooo !:eek:

Surely there's some clause that will allow them to call on such a Titan in Wales' hour of need ?

Marshy

Sandwich wrote:

Gavin Henson.

Are you having a laugh? He'd probably be last on my list. Most over-rated player in the history of the game. He's a good place kicker, that's it. I remember he single handedly cost Wales victory against Ireland a couple of years back when he came on for Stephen Jones.

I'd say Skrela of France may come through. If they're to win they need him to perform.

marco_polo

Sandwich wrote:

Gavin Henson.

Injury problems force Wales to call on him as they get out of the group stages - and he steers them to final glory adding to his try hat trick earlier in the game, scoring a last minute drop goal to snatch the cup from Ireland.

Charlotte leads the crowd in Land of Our Fathers.

Eh I suspect he was taking the piss lads

Stev_o

Alex Tuilagi he;s been great with Leicester i want to see how well he'll do with Samo

Endurance Man

Brian Habana, fastest man in france .

chris85

I think Habana will light up the world cup, but also think Hickie will have an absolute stormer to see out his career. He is on fire the last year (except against the italians a few weeks ago).

zAbbo

chris85 wrote:

I think Habana will light up the world cup, but also think Hickie will have an absolute stormer to see out his career. He is on fire the last year (except against the italians a few weeks ago).

He was probably the best Irish back though, his movement and off the ball positioning was good.

I'd also tip Hickie, but I think the 'star' will come from a team which can win it.

sioda

Eoin Reddan if he gets the chance

jdivision

Yannick Nyanga if he can get his form back.

jameshayes

Mathew Tait - England...

(if he gets the chance)

nacho libre

Hopefully Denis Hickie. I'm also expecting something special from Skrela when France need it.

thebaz

Paddy Wallace



....

but seriuosly , love to see BOD explode like only he can , and hopefully Neil Best and Denis Leamy might lite some sparks

wixfjord

Sean Lamont could have a big tournament, Alex Popham, Tom Rees. I think Juan Hernandez the argentinian fullback is a class act too and waiting to explode and of course Darce.

mrincredible

I would love to see Andrew Trimble stepping up on the world cup stage. The guy has been showing sparks of world class performances over the past few months, but seems to lack the killer instinct to finish the job. I think he has the potential to be one of the greatest players in the worls and would love to see him play out of his skin and achieve that recignition.

Marshy

mrincredible wrote:

I would love to see Andrew Trimble stepping up on the world cup stage. The guy has been showing sparks of world class performances over the past few months, but seems to lack the killer instinct to finish the job. I think he has the potential to be one of the greatest players in the worls and would love to see him play out of his skin and achieve that recignition.

I don't recall any of these world class performances you speak of. I think he's quite a long way off a very good player at the moment.

I mean he's a great athlete but a liability in defence really.

MrJoeSoap

McAlister, Carter, Steyn and hopefully Hickey. I was at all the Western Force home games in Super 14 this season and have to say Giteau might just do it as well if he gets the chance.

RonBonJovi

A lot of people say Trimble is weak in defence.I can't think of any time when his defence has cost Ireland points.Do you have any examples of poor defence?

Marshy

He hasn't started much for Ireland in important matches so there isn't much evidence to draw from. But its fair to say his general positioning is poor.

RonBonJovi

Marshy wrote:

He hasn't started much for Ireland in important matches so there isn't much evidence to draw from. But its fair to say his general positioning is poor.

He hasn't started much but in seventeen caps he boasts seven tries not to mention countless tries for Ulster.There isn't much evidence to draw from but you still manage to critcise his defence.

Crash

In fact i've seen him come back with incredible pace to cover others defensive mistakes.

zAbbo

I'm a big fan of Trimby as well, His running can be devastating at times, and he's a long way from being a liability defensively.

Some of the less obvious players like

Castrogiovanni (Italy)
Parrise (Italy)
Bortalami (Italy)
Marius Tincu (Romania)
Census Johnson (Samoa)
Finau Maka (Tonga)
Delasau (Fiji)

mariowilliams

i would have said pierre spies until he was ruled out due to blood clots in his lungs

now i'll have to go for isaia toeava the new zealand outside centre

he's a bigger brian o'driscoll

Danie Gerber

Picking players with around ten caps or thereabouts who could make a name for themselves in this WC:

Andy Farrel - Eng
Alesana Tuilagi - Samoa
Francois Steyn - SA
Ruan Pienaar - SA
Graham Dewes - Fiji
Julian Huxley - Oz
Chris Horsman - Wales
Isaia Toeava - NZ
JMF Lobbe - Arg
David Marty- Fra
Neil Best - Ire
Kees Lensing - Namibia

Some of these will have to get a break to get a game... Like the break Lomu got in 95.

BTW, Namibia have a very decent front row (relative to the weak side outside of that).

Scobius90

I don't think Toeava is worth mentioning .... ok he's big and fast but when he has come against more established centres he has failed to make any impact and is relatively quite. If .... if ..... ireland qualify to play NZ in Cardiff, I reckon BOD and the Darce will cause him a lot of problems.

I think Skrela will have a really excellent tournament but I think either Rokocoko or Sivivatu will bag a load of tries and cause a huge amount of excitement. I also agree with MrJoeSoap that Giteau could be a real star .... that is if the aussies have a good tournament.

ROLE on Fri and lets see if we are right or wrong

Peter B

From an Ireland point of view I reckon Brian Carney and David Wallace.

Carney - from a union rugby perspective he is still relitavely unknown.

Wallace - Internationally not known very well but is fast, powerful, has good ball handling skills.

angry

Lome Fa'atua could be worth watching in the pool stages. Samoa wont get any further though.

buck65

Jauzion

mikeruurds

Sangre wrote:

I'm thinking francois steyn of SA and isaia toeva of NZ. Would have probably said Strettle of Eng as well if he wasn't injured.

I agree 100% with your vote for Francois Steyn. That kid is talented. And I'm not just saying that because I'm a South African Pierre Spies would've been a massive star in this WC if he wasn't off injured. Ruan Pienaar is super talented and can play in a number of positions.

There are a lot of talented guys breaking through in other sides, but I've focused on the boys from SA.

MrJoeSoap

mikeruurds wrote:

I agree 100% with your vote for Francois Steyn. That kid is talented. And I'm not just saying that because I'm a South African

He'll shoot from anywhere thats for damn sure! And a lot of the time, he'll succeed!

mikeruurds

MrJoeSoap wrote:

He'll shoot from anywhere thats for damn sure! And a lot of the time, he'll succeed!

He's defo not short of talent, but he's still lacking a little confidence and can have bad games. I think he will mature into a great player.

I'm really upset about Spies :mad:

Hugh_C

Sebastien Chabal, although the Munster lads might like to renew his acquaintance.

mariowilliams

Scobius90 wrote:

I think Skrela will have a really excellent tournament

u do realise freddie michalak is back and will start for france at 1st 5/8. skrela will have a very minor role to play barring injury to michalak. also if i was laporte i would play beauxis before i'd play skrela. the guy is an unbelievable talent and will be a star in the future.

watch out for the argetinian full back fernandez. if he's on song ireland will be in trouble.

italian no.8 parisse is also ready to become a superstar.

Hugh_C

mariowilliams wrote:

italian no.8 parisse is also ready to become a superstar.

If he doesn't get a dig off Peter Stringer!

LFC5Times

In fairness to Trimble - he is a centre.

He made his name at schools and U.21s as an outstanding centre and played some great games for Ulster at centre.

For obvious reasons he cant get his game at centre so arguably has being played out of position,it took Horgan a few years to get better as a winger.

I also remember a certain Gordon Darcy playing wing for Leinster and being quite average and a liability till they then moved him into centre.

Trimble is only a baby in international terms.

LFC5Times

In relation to the title of the thread i would side with James Hook - extremely talented.
I think Jones will be playing 10 for Wales so presume Hook will get in at 12.

marco_polo

mariowilliams wrote:

u do realise freddie michalak is back and will start for france at 1st 5/8. skrela will have a very minor role to play barring injury to michalak. also if i was laporte i would play beauxis before i'd play skrela. the guy is an unbelievable talent and will be a star in the future.

watch out for the argetinian full back fernandez. if he's on song ireland will be in trouble.

italian no.8 parisse is also ready to become a superstar.

Really? Michalak is not not starting against Argentina, Skrela is. Perhaps Laporte is saving him for the big games against Namibia and Georgia. Michalak will only get game time in this RWC if France are behind and Laporte is desperate for a result.

LFC5Times

Michalak hasnt a hope of playing for France(in the big games) at flyhalf unless Skrela gets injured.
He has been injured alot over the last few years.

He is a luxury player - talented but mixes the good with the bad and at the last World Cup - was appalling and bottled in under pressure in the match against England.

smok

from an Irish point of view I think that D'Arcy should step up and underline himself as a world great. I think that given his Lions tour he has a lot to prove. I think he has looked mentally much stronger.

Scobius90

Skrela had a really good 6N - he was dependable, a good kicker and got the french backline moving - while not flash he is exactly what you would expect from a Laporte player, dependable to do the job under pressure - not what Michalak is.

In fact for at least one of the minor games against Nam and Geo, I wouldn't be surprised if we saw Beauxis play outhalf and not Michalak

Scobius90

mariowilliams wrote:

u do realise freddie michalak is back and will start for france at 1st 5/8. skrela will have a very minor role to play barring injury to michalak.

and before you make a statement like that please read the teamsheet first, its been out since Mon

Danie Gerber

Poor mariowilliams really put his foot in it... In fairness, Michalak hasn't been Laporte's first choice for a few seasons now...

LFC5Times

Wait and see, Skrela will get injured Michalak will come on in a tough game and change it for the better and Michalak will start the next game for France and Mario will turn out to be right

redzerdrog

if dan carter plays to his full ability he will be head and shoulders above any player in the wc! pure class!!!!

gosplan

mariowilliams wrote:

u do realise freddie michalak is back and will start for france at 1st 5/8. skrela will have a very minor role to play barring injury to michalak. also if i was laporte i would play beauxis before i'd play skrela. the guy is an unbelievable talent and will be a star in the future.

watch out for the argetinian full back fernandez. if he's on song ireland will be in trouble.

italian no.8 parisse is also ready to become a superstar.

ha ha, everyone's picking on you cause you made a mistake!!

Who do I hope is moments from greatness?....D'Arce

Who probably is?....Styen, Habana.

Can you include Carter? i mean if he's considered the best player in the world, he's already great no?

Patterson seems to be unmentioned. He's been super impressive over the last couple of years. is he injured or something?

LFC5Times

gosplan wrote:

Can you include Carter? i mean if he's considered the best player in the world, he's already great no? Yeh woulda thought myself he is great already

Patterson seems to be unmentioned. He's been super impressive over the last couple of years. is he injured or something?

No he is not injured and will be playing 10 for Scotland and will be crucial to them as they dont score to many tries and his boot will be very important.