Crazy no holds barred Irish Rugby rant.

smok

People wont like some of the things i say. I dont like it either in parts.
Yeah its reactionary but so what - Its time to purge our anger people!

Question - what is the state of Irish Rugby?

Short answer:
it sucks we are doomed

Long answer:
Of the current Irish pool this is who I am happy to pick on the Irish team

1.Horan 2. 3.

4.O'Callaghan 5.

6.Leamy 7.Wallace 8.Heaslip

9.Reddan

10.O'Gara

12.

13.

11. Kearney 15.Murphy 14.

We have no front row. The front row is terrible at the moment. I have included Horan because he is skilful and relatively young with a good attitude but I question his discipline and is size. Hooker, there is nobody who is competent at all 3 of throwing, ball carrying and strength. The Bull is past it - way too slow and clumsy -he is there for 60 minutes of scrum power - not good enough. I don’t know about this Buckley fella - looks powerful but looks like a stupid f€cker.

We have been hyping up Paul O'Connell for years but if he hadn't taken that leap against England in croker his impact would have been two years old. That game was the only impressive game in 2 yeas and you have to call it a fluke. O'Connell has completely deteriorated in the lineout and is far too slow to the rucks. He was diabolical in the World Cup. Mick O'Driscoll should not have lost his place to him for the last couple of games.

The back row is our greatest position of strength. Those 3 seem strong to me and that's not even counting Alan Quinlan, Neil Best or Shane Jennings.

Reddan and O'Gara are class I think. So impressed by O'Gara's attitude - improved elements of his game to international level which were previously terrible. I think that Sexton looks a very good prospect too.

Biggest heartbreak of all is writing this next bit.
BOD is gone - slower than before. Seems to have lost his spark of ingenuity and I think the years of rugby have caught up. Not as strong as previous defensively to my mind. Its time to start looking on the horizon for a replacement. Nothing burgeoning though*! Worrying. Without that spark he is coming across as a poor captain and for the short term needs to lose this. Praying that a new manager brings him back to life but right now I feel EOS stole the best years of our best ever player and its too late to reclaim

I'm Sorry but D'Arcy may have all the skills but he is a bottler. The guy who came to life in 2004 is gone now forever. Something inside him has been broken, and on form doesn’t deserve to be in the team. Every big occasion of his career he has come up short. Wont change now.

I think Kearney Reddan and Heaslip are the only positives to come out of this campaign Kearney was class and show a winners attitude stepping in to the full back role with aplomb. Still only 21 - what a talent!

Geordan Murphy is still class at full back despite EOS's best efforts - Imagine how good he would be with a manager who believes in him. The position does not require quite as much energy as winger so I think so that’s possibly why these players last longer. Hopefully Geordan can too.

Right wing, I just don’t thing Bowe quite cuts it - long term I think Fitzgerald - for an astonishingly low 20 years old, can do well there but I don’t think he should be rushed in. He or Kearney will have to play Fullback in a few years too so I would be adverse to including both of them in the same team and neither at fullback, given Murphy's age.



*The lack of burgeoning talent is all that is wrong with Irish Rugby setup.
How can we justify having an unwritten rule that only Irish based players can play for us when we only pick from 3 teams and half the spots are filled with foreigners? We should let players play in England or France after they establish themselves. Why spend the money on bringing someone like Jennings or Reddan back? Let the young lads learn from old foreigners like Pomi and Whittaker and actually pick our foreign based players. Would Reddan have progressed to his current level if he stayed in Ireland? Probably would have been Stringers understudy at Munster still - how is a player of 27 in Buckley only breaking into the Irish team now? He is at the whim of the provincial manager. Also - we should never be in a situation where the foreigners block the local lads.

Munster have two foreign centres - why are they doing this? Bring a local in and play him with one Nzer. Its all a mess. Kidneys job should be threatened for this behaviour



How can we have freedom of choice at our provinces and not have it with our national team???

Stev_o

Well we spent 4 years with basically the same squad year in year out with minor changes, there was never anyone standing directly behind the front line players trying to push for places.


There's alot of things you could say though, that the academies are too slow at developing players compared to the rest of the Home Nations. We are hampered by the fact we have only 4 professional teams even though people will say we only have 3. The use of foreign players in key positions isnt helping, i would prefer a Edinburgh type where the squad is made up of mostly eligible players bar say one

smok

Stev_o wrote: »

Well we spent 4 years with basically the same squad year in year out with minor changes, there was never anyone standing directly behind the front line players trying to push for places.

Thats a huge part of the problem. Because we did that there was nobady capable of coming in.

davyjose

Stev_o wrote: »

We are hampered by the fact we have only 4 professional teams even though people will say we only have 3. The use of foreign players in key positions isnt helping, i would prefer a Edinburgh type where the squad is made up of mostly eligible players bar say one

Again, you have to look to the IRFU here - they should be cradling Connaught like an infant, giving them the breaks, the funding to get them to the level the other 3 are at. You might argue that the support isn't what it is in the other 3 provinces (altho I've met a good few rugby-mad Galwegians), but that's where your point stands up: this is for the greater good. That's why our provincial set-up is how it is (and thankfully not like in England), so we need more investment (both money and effort) in this ignored province. Look at Kieran Lewis!!! Sent from warming Leinster's bench to warming Munster's. A player wasted; he might not have made it, but who knows - certainly every party would be better off he be at connaught than where he is now. Doug Howlett's boot polisher!!!

davyjose

smok wrote: »

1.Horan 2. 3.

4.O'Callaghan 5.

6.Leamy 7.Wallace 8.Heaslip

9.Reddan

10.O'Gara

12.

13.

11. Kearney 15.Murphy 14.

I'd be more inclined to question Leamy's place in the side than Horgan. the guy came back from injury and played two games, in the first he started off as Ireland's brightest player (with our best move of the tournament), and then lack of fitness told. In the second game he was played as centre, can I just clarify this for anyone who isn't yet aware: Shane Horgan is NOT a centre. Put Dan Carter in the back-row and see how he does.

thirdmantackle

let the top irish players who are out of contract go to england or france

make room for the new batch of players

it will be painful, but necessary

cull the number of teams in the AIL Division 1 to reduce number of games, but should improve quality

academies are all fine and dandy but these young players need competitive action at a high enough level. the club game can provide this

send the provincial U20 teams touring? SA, NZ, Eng, Fra?

dc69

here you go



1.Horan 2. 3.

4.O'Callaghan 5.

6.Leamy 7.Wallace 8.Heaslip

9.Reddan

10.O'Gara

12.Trimble

13.Fitzgerald

11. Kearney 15.Murphy 14.Bowe

sorted

davyjose

thirdmantackle wrote: »

let the top irish players who are out of contract go to england or france

But if we're going to do that, we should be clearing out the likes of Contepomi, and Howlett first, should we not.
The problem is, a lot of people don't support Rugby at a provincial level, but a lot of us do. I think, as I said before, Connaught is the key here. Send the new batches of players there.

davyjose

dc69 wrote: »

here you go



1.Horan 2. 3.

4.O'Callaghan 5.

6.Leamy 7.Wallace 8.Heaslip

9.Reddan

10.O'Gara

12.Trimble

13.Fitzgerald

11. Kearney 15.Murphy 14.Bowe

sorted

Do you mind me asking how exactly you are related to this guy? Because with all due respect I wouldn't put him within ten miles of a green Jersey again.

marco_polo

smok wrote: »

People wont like some of the things i say. I dont like it either in parts.
Yeah its reactionary but so what - Its time to purge our anger people!

Question - what is the state of Irish Rugby?

Short answer:
it sucks we are doomed

Long answer:
Of the current Irish pool this is who I am happy to pick on the Irish team

1.Horan 2. 3.

4.O'Callaghan 5.

6.Leamy 7.Wallace 8.Heaslip

9.Reddan

10.O'Gara

12.

13.

11. Kearney 15.Murphy 14.

We have no front row. The front row is terrible at the moment. I have included Horan because he is skilful and relatively young with a good attitude but I question his discipline and is size. Hooker, there is nobody who is competent at all 3 of throwing, ball carrying and strength. The Bull is past it - way too slow and clumsy -he is there for 60 minutes of scrum power - not good enough. I don’t know about this Buckley fella - looks powerful but looks like a stupid f€cker.

We have been hyping up Paul O'Connell for years but if he hadn't taken that leap against England in croker his impact would have been two years old. That game was the only impressive game in 2 yeas and you have to call it a fluke. O'Connell has completely deteriorated in the lineout and is far too slow to the rucks. He was diabolical in the World Cup. Mick O'Driscoll should not have lost his place to him for the last couple of games.

The back row is our greatest position of strength. Those 3 seem strong to me and that's not even counting Alan Quinlan, Neil Best or Shane Jennings.

Reddan and O'Gara are class I think. So impressed by O'Gara's attitude - improved elements of his game to international level which were previously terrible. I think that Sexton looks a very good prospect too.

Biggest heartbreak of all is writing this next bit.
BOD is gone - slower than before. Seems to have lost his spark of ingenuity and I think the years of rugby have caught up. Not as strong as previous defensively to my mind. Its time to start looking on the horizon for a replacement. Nothing burgeoning though*! Worrying. Without that spark he is coming across as a poor captain and for the short term needs to lose this. Praying that a new manager brings him back to life but right now I feel EOS stole the best years of our best ever player and its too late to reclaim

I'm Sorry but D'Arcy may have all the skills but he is a bottler. The guy who came to life in 2004 is gone now forever. Something inside him has been broken, and on form doesn’t deserve to be in the team. Every big occasion of his career he has come up short. Wont change now.

I think Kearney Reddan and Heaslip are the only positives to come out of this campaign Kearney was class and show a winners attitude stepping in to the full back role with aplomb. Still only 21 - what a talent!

Geordan Murphy is still class at full back despite EOS's best efforts - Imagine how good he would be with a manager who believes in him. The position does not require quite as much energy as winger so I think so that’s possibly why these players last longer. Hopefully Geordan can too.

Right wing, I just don’t thing Bowe quite cuts it - long term I think Fitzgerald - for an astonishingly low 20 years old, can do well there but I don’t think he should be rushed in. He or Kearney will have to play Fullback in a few years too so I would be adverse to including both of them in the same team and neither at fullback, given Murphy's age.



*The lack of burgeoning talent is all that is wrong with Irish Rugby setup.
How can we justify having an unwritten rule that only Irish based players can play for us when we only pick from 3 teams and half the spots are filled with foreigners? We should let players play in England or France after they establish themselves. Why spend the money on bringing someone like Jennings or Reddan back? Let the young lads learn from old foreigners like Pomi and Whittaker and actually pick our foreign based players. Would Reddan have progressed to his current level if he stayed in Ireland? Probably would have been Stringers understudy at Munster still - how is a player of 27 in Buckley only breaking into the Irish team now? He is at the whim of the provincial manager. Also - we should never be in a situation where the foreigners block the local lads.

Munster have two foreign centres - why are they doing this? Bring a local in and play him with one Nzer. Its all a mess. Kidneys job should be threatened for this behaviour



How can we have freedom of choice at our provinces and not have it with our national team???

Whoa so much I disagree with I don't even know where to start. But then again you did suggested O'Gara would make a great full back.

How on earth can you write off the international careers of D'Arcy, O'Driscoll, O'Connell, Bowe, Flannery, Buckley to name but a few?, and expect anyone to take you seriously. And who would you replace them with btw?

Also last time I checked Declan Kidney is the manager of Munster not the Irish development squad, it is to make Munster successful. And unfortunately to compete in Europe against the money rich GP and T14 teams outside players have be imported in key postions.

Clearly this is not nescessarly in the best interests of the national team, but successful provinces are arguebly just as important for the future of rugby in this country. People aren't going to fill the new Thomond park/RDS every year to see a team of 15 homegrown players fail miserably to qualify out of their pool in the HEC every year.

davyjose wrote: »

But if we're going to do that, we should be clearing out the likes of Contepomi, and Howlett first, should we not.
The problem is, a lot of people don't support Rugby at a provincial level, but a lot of us do. I think, as I said before, Connaught is the key here. Send the new batches of players there.

I would love to know why Connaught is not being better utilised as a deveopment province. There are plenty of guys playing only the occasional game ML game or 'A' game for Munster (I'm sure Leinster is the same) who would be far better server plying their trade at Connaught at least for a few years. I amm thinking of guys such as Neil Ronan, Donnacha Ryan, Keith Earls, Darragh Hurley, John O'Sullivan, to name a few who happen to be stuck behind very good established players in the queue.

The other solution is for the IRFU to drop this policy of not picking English based players (whether this policy is official or not) so that more players who are struggling for game time (like Eoin Reddan) can move across the water and not have to worry about damaging their potential future international careers.

davyjose

marco_polo wrote: »

Also last time I checked Declan Kidney is the manager of Munster not the Irish development squad, it is to make Munster successful. And unfortunately to compete in Europe against the money rich GP and T14 teams outside players have be imported in key postions.

No, but the IRFU are Declan Kidney's boss. And guess what, they are responsible for the development of the Irish squad.
Fair point, but at the end of the day we have 4 teams, so if you want to compete with the GP and the Top 14, it will be at the cost of the national side (which has been very much the case of the English, and somewhat the french sides).

toomevara

I think with irish rugby at the minute its a classic glass half-full or half empty scenario. Your perception of it depends on a number of factors, but for me the glass is very firmly half full.

Yep, we're in a rebuilding phase, but rugby is a cyclical beast and with a fresh, forward thinking management team in place there's no reason why by the next 6n we can't be competitive again. A blend of youth (we've got the talent it just needs to be nurtured and utilised) and experience and a different tactical approach and we'll be there or there abouts before long...

Could be worse, we could be Scottish...

death1234567

dc69 wrote: »

here you go
1.Horan 2. 3.

4.O'Callaghan 5.

6.Leamy 7.Wallace 8.Heaslip

9.Reddan

10.O'Gara

Not bad so far, although we need a genuine 7 in the back row and Horan is only there because there is no-one else. Standing on the wing does not make you a good prop.

dc69 wrote: »

12.Trimble

:eek: Oh dear.

marco_polo

davyjose wrote: »

No, but the IRFU are Declan Kidney's boss. And guess what, they are responsible for the development of the Irish squad.
Fair point, but at the end of the day we have 4 teams, so if you want to compete with the GP and the Top 14, it will be at the cost of the national side (which has been very much the case of the English, and somewhat the french sides).

But it should be possible to have both a successful provincial setup and a successful national team also. Two steps that the IRFU could take that might help would help would be to make better use of Connaught (either fund it on a more equal footing or use it as a proper development province) and also to cease the policy of discouraging players from moving abroad. After all the more players playing in the GP the wider our player base is for the national coach.

Stealdo

smok wrote: »

Whole Post

I don't even know where to start with that, I whole heartedly agree with you that this is the time for an overhaul, that there's loads of players who need to head over the horizon at this stage and a look at our structures and recruitment/selection policy is definitely necessary.

In my opinion you don't undestand where the onfield problems lie if you say you're happy that Horan, Wallace and Murphy remain in their current positions, while we get rid of BOD. Having said that I don't think the onfield issues are really the point of your post, so rather than turn this into a debate about whether any of those three players know what they're supposed to do in their positions, I'll leave it at agreeing with you that there is a sharp review of the strucures and policies of the IRFU needed at this stage. One of the problems with the provinces is that in order to keep the Irish players playing at a decent level they need to be reasonably succesful in the HC, there's a definite problem of what's good for the province (and hence good for the national team players) versus what's good for the strength in depth. One thing we can all probably agree on is that the policy of not picking foreign based players has to go. Some bias is acceptable if you agree that control over when players play etc is a positive thing but not to totally exclude guys who play abroad.

marco_polo

toomevara wrote: »

I think with irish rugby at the minute its a classic glass half-full or half empty scenario. Your perception of it depends on a number of factors, but for me the glass is very firmly half full.

Yep, we're in a rebuilding phase, but rugby is a cyclical beast and with a fresh, forward thinking management team in place there's no reason why by the next 6n we can't be competitive again. A blend of youth (we've got the talent it just needs to be nurtured and utilised) and experience and a different tactical approach and we'll be there or there abouts before long...

Could be worse, we could be Scottish...

There is bucketloads of excellent talent bubbling just beneath the provincial first teams at the moment. The problem is that many of them are stuck behind one or more established senior internationals.

All this talk of a talent crisis is way wide of the mark. The question is how to handle the development of these players over the next few years because there is still some service left in most of the Irish current side. How best ensure that the provinces remain succesful while still developing our best young talent. I'm glad it is not my job to figure it out.

davyjose

marco_polo wrote: »

But it should be possible to have both a successful provincial setup and a successful national team also. Two steps that the IRFU could take that might help would help would be to make better use of Connaught (either fund it on a more equal footing or use it as a proper development province) and also to cease the policy of discouraging players from moving abroad. After all the more players playing in the GP the wider our player base is for the national coach.

Absolutely, and I made that point earlier. Connaught should be getting the most support, not the least.
To be honest I worry about Rugby at a grass roots level. Certainly when I was younger, because of the school I went to, or whatever, I was never encouraged to play Rugby. I played for my local soccer team, my local GAA team, but there was no local Rugby Club - just Rugby schools. This is something that needs to change. We need a Tallaght RFC, that sort of thing. If the Welsh had our population (a là NZ), they'd win the 6N every year.

Stealdo

davyjose wrote: »

We need a Tallaght RFC, that sort of thing.

There is a Tallaght RFC - the IRFU pumped a ton of money into it a few years back (I heard a while ago that it was now the biggest club in the country in terms of player numbers, but have no idea whether that is true or not). Chris Green who played at scrum half during the U19 World Cup a couple of years ago was (I think) the first player from the club to represent Ireland. Hopefully there will be many more to come.

marco_polo

davyjose wrote: »

Absolutely, and I made that point earlier. Connaught should be getting the most support, not the least.
To be honest I worry about Rugby at a grass roots level. Certainly when I was younger, because of the school I went to, or whatever, I was never encouraged to play Rugby. I played for my local soccer team, my local GAA team, but there was no local Rugby Club - just Rugby schools. This is something that needs to change. We need a Tallaght RFC, that sort of thing. If the Welsh had our population (a là NZ), they'd win the 6N every year.

I think it is better now in recent years, and playing numbers are up a good bit. But it is certainly true that there are large areas of the country still not serviced by a rugby club still so it would be good to see that improved upon in the future.

dc69

davyjose wrote: »

Do you mind me asking how exactly you are related to this guy? Because with all due respect I wouldn't put him within ten miles of a green Jersey again.

I think he is being treated unfairly but I also forgot about bod

so

12-Bod (hes so fat these days 12 is his best position now until he loses some weight

13-fitzgerald (one of the only players we have that I feel would do a good job at 13

Spaceman Spiff

Ireland's problems going forward start at the front row. If Horan is your best prop, you've got problems. John Hayes wouldn't have gotten 50 caps let alone 80 for any other top 8 nation and as for the hooker problems, I'm really hoping Best's throwing was an anomaly for this tournament. He's really all there is for the next 6 or 7 years by the looks of things. Flannery can still be an effective sub, but his days of starting are behind him. Jackman is rather useless really. I suppose Healy is definitely a bright spot considering his age, but I'd say England is the place he needs to go to learn how to be a great prop. I'm not sold on Buckley at all. He isn't young, he's just big. He isn't a starter provincially, why should we believe he's capable of being a starter internationally? He should have been starting every game in the 6N rather than Eddie bringing Hayes back out of retirement if he is indeed the tighthead of the future. Bryan Young seems to have regressed, which puts a damper on things. Ideally he would have replaced Horan for this tournament, or at least been the go to replacement. I always thought Declan Fitzpatrick was younger than he is, and if he's a spot starter for Ulster, he's not really an option.
Basically the front row isn't going to get any better, and that's a big problem.

In the second row things are fine. Say what you want about O'Connell (he shouldn't have played in this tournament at all nevermind start in it, but that's a different matter), but he's still the best lock Ireland have and he and O'Callaghan will be the locks for at least 4 more years, especially since not much is coming up the pipeline. Hopefully Ryan will go somewhere he can start, after him I ahve no idea what is really coming through (and its not like he's that young).

The back row isn't much to worry about. There's quality players there but there's also good depth. Neil Best, Stephen Ferris, Shane Jennings and even younger players like David Pollack should show that any of the current starters could be dropped without worry. A Ferris-Heaslip-Pollack back row could be pretty menacing in the future.

Reddan is the scrum half for the next 4 years at least, Boss is a capable enough backup if they decide to drop Stringer. Unfortunetely I don't really know who else there is to devellop. Frank Murphy is only a year younger than Boss and Reddan and he isn't even Leicester's first choice scrum half.

At 10 O'Gara will keep going until he decides to stop. Sexton and O'Connor are the natural successors IMO. If only Sexton wasn't hurt all the time and didn't have Felipe in front of him. Perhaps he should be looking abroad.

There isn't much to work with in the centre. D'Arcy, BOD and Trimble are really the only international centres there are (and many seem to have their reservations on Trimble). I guess Gavin Duffy can play centre, but why would you want him to? Fitzgerald is the only other choice but I think I'd like to see him excel at the provincial level or even Ireland A at 13 before dropping him in against the best.

Back 3 isn't a problem.

dc69

davyjose wrote: »

Do you mind me asking how exactly you are related to this guy? Because with all due respect I wouldn't put him within ten miles of a green Jersey again.

I think he is being treated unfairly but I also forgot about bod

so

12-Bod (hes so fat these days 12 is his best position now until he loses some weight

13-fitzgerald (one of the only players we have that I feel would do a good job at 13

Stealdo

Spaceman Spiff wrote: »

Ireland's problems going forward start at the front row. If Horan is your best prop, you've got problems. John Hayes wouldn't have gotten 50 caps let alone 80 for any other top 8 nation and as for the hooker problems, I'm really hoping Best's throwing was an anomaly for this tournament. He's really all there is for the next 6 or 7 years by the looks of things. Flannery can still be an effective sub, but his days of starting are behind him. Jackman is rather useless really. I suppose Healy is definitely a bright spot considering his age, but I'd say England is the place he needs to go to learn how to be a great prop. I'm not sold on Buckley at all. He isn't young, he's just big. He isn't a starter provincially, why should we believe he's capable of being a starter internationally? He should have been starting every game in the 6N rather than Eddie bringing Hayes back out of retirement if he is indeed the tighthead of the future. Bryan Young seems to have regressed, which puts a damper on things. Ideally he would have replaced Horan for this tournament, or at least been the go to replacement. I always thought Declan Fitzpatrick was younger than he is, and if he's a spot starter for Ulster, he's not really an option.
Basically the front row isn't going to get any better, and that's a big problem.

This really is our biggest problem area. Healy may well end up as a hooker and might be more suited to that. Has a long way to go to be a real prop and not end up as another Marcus Horan. Don't see where the answers are to this problem.

Spaceman Spiff wrote: »

In the second row things are fine. Say what you want about O'Connell (he shouldn't have played in this tournament at all nevermind start in it, but that's a different matter), but he's still the best lock Ireland have and he and O'Callaghan will be the locks for at least 4 more years, especially since not much is coming up the pipeline. Hopefully Ryan will go somewhere he can start, after him I ahve no idea what is really coming through (and its not like he's that young).

Caldwell is the one to watch here, will be a big thing if he keeps going the way he is.

Spaceman Spiff wrote: »

The back row isn't much to worry about. There's quality players there but there's also good depth. Neil Best, Stephen Ferris, Shane Jennings and even younger players like David Pollack should show that any of the current starters could be dropped without worry. A Ferris-Heaslip-Pollack back row could be pretty menacing in the future.

I think the back row is a real problem. Oh for a Martin Williams type player. We have a dearth of good back row players but no great ones. Has been that way for ages.

Spaceman Spiff wrote: »

Reddan is the scrum half for the next 4 years at least, Boss is a capable enough backup if they decide to drop Stringer. Unfortunetely I don't really know who else there is to devellop. Frank Murphy is only a year younger than Boss and Reddan and he isn't even Leicester's first choice scrum half.

I thought Reddan was bit disappointing (particularly his decision making) in the 6 nations. A great runner with the ball, but needs to be more decisive. This hopefully was down to the coach and his game plan.

Spaceman Spiff wrote: »

At 10 O'Gara will keep going until he decides to stop. Sexton and O'Connor are the natural successors IMO. If only Sexton wasn't hurt all the time and didn't have Felipe in front of him. Perhaps he should be looking abroad.

Agree here - Sexton will get game time now that Contepomi will be playing at 12 until Darcy returns, and hopefully O'Conner will continue to get the 10 shirt ahead of Wallace at Ulster. One more season should be enough to get one of these guys up to being on the bench for next year's championship.

Spaceman Spiff wrote: »

There isn't much to work with in the centre. D'Arcy, BOD and Trimble are really the only international centres there are (and many seem to have their reservations on Trimble). I guess Gavin Duffy can play centre, but why would you want him to? Fitzgerald is the only other choice but I think I'd like to see him excel at the provincial level or even Ireland A at 13 before dropping him in against the best.

Fitzgerald seems to be the only possible answer, and I think it's likely that BOD might move inside. Anyone who thinks we should be getting rid of him at this stage must be off their heads. The difference in the Irish defense with him there against Wales and Scotland vs not there against England was the most obvious demonstration of why he's still needed even if he's not the attacking force he once was.

Spaceman Spiff wrote: »

Back 3 isn't a problem.

Ah jaysus - you were doing so well....the back 3 is a big problem, we have zero wingers with international standard pace, and while Kearney looks like he'll be the business at full back he's largely unproven.

dc69

Stealdo wrote: »

This really is our biggest problem area. Healy may well end up as a hooker and might be more suited to that. Has a long way to go to be a real prop and not end up as another Marcus Horan. Don't see where the answers are to this problem.


Caldwell is the one to watch here, will be a big thing if he keeps going the way he is.


I think the back row is a real problem. Oh for a Martin Williams type player. We have a dearth of good back row players but no great ones. Has been that way for ages.


I thought Reddan was bit disappointing (particularly his decision making) in the 6 nations. A great runner with the ball, but needs to be more decisive. This hopefully was down to the coach and his game plan.



Agree here - Sexton will get game time now that Contepomi will be playing at 12 until Darcy returns, and hopefully O'Conner will continue to get the 10 shirt ahead of Wallace at Ulster. One more season should be enough to get one of these guys up to being on the bench for next year's championship.



Fitzgerald seems to be the only possible answer, and I think it's likely that BOD might move inside. Anyone who thinks we should be getting rid of him at this stage must be off their heads. The difference in the Irish defense with him there against Wales and Scotland vs not there against England was the most obvious demonstration of why he's still needed even if he's not the attacking force he once was.



Ah jaysus - you were doing so well....the back 3 is a big problem, we have zero wingers with international standard pace, and while Kearney looks like he'll be the business at full back he's largely unproven.

excellent post

Spaceman Spiff

Stealdo wrote: »

I think the back row is a real problem. Oh for a Martin Williams type player. We have a dearth of good back row players but no great ones. Has been that way for ages.

I think Ferris might be that guy, although he'd be doing it from 6 or 8. Doesn't really fit the mould of an international 7. Its a shame Neil Best was always stuck on the sidelines, he always had that edge.

I thought Reddan was bit disappointing (particularly his decision making) in the 6 nations. A great runner with the ball, but needs to be more decisive. This hopefully was down to the coach and his game plan.

Wasps has always been an extremely structured side, it would take a bit of adjusting to a different style, especially one built around a one-dimensional scrum half. I mentioned it in another thread, but when Reddan gets used to the Ireland players and set up and vise-versa, we should see alot better. His game against Italy and his game against Leinster last year shows just what kind of a weapon he can be.

Ah jaysus - you were doing so well....the back 3 is a big problem, we have zero wingers with international standard pace, and while Kearney looks like he'll be the business at full back he's largely unproven.

I guess I've gotten so used to watching Horgan that everybody else is a blur by comparison.