brett wilkinson

outwest

is it true that he is irish qaulified in the summer,
cos i rate him alot higher the marcus horan, and he is quite young too, i know healy is performing well but i think it great that ireland will have two looseheads who do donkey work and not stay on the wing,

anyway horan days in green are nearly up

bamboozle

imagine how an irish pack would perform with 8 lads hitting rucks rather than 7 with a certain waster 'loitering' out on the wing.....

wilkinson is a solid player...then again great things were expected from knoop....whatever happened to him is a mystery

Serenity Now!

outwest wrote: »

is it true that he is irish qaulified in the summer, cos i rate him alot higher the marcus horan, and he is quite young too, i know healy is performing well but i think it great that ireland will have two looseheads who do donkey work and not stay on the wing,

anyway horan days in green are nearly up

Horan is playing very well for Munster at the moment and he had a decent november series (Munster scrum for example is vastly improved this season).
Maybe Wilkinson, a player playing in Ireland thanks to Kolpak ruling, isn't considered good enough or to have played high enough standard? Maybe he has no intention of ever playing for Ireland? Court and Healy would be ahead in the pecking order, in my view.

Hazys

Give me Irish born, Irish breed Horan anyday no matter whos more talented.

Irish rugby has come a long way in the past 10 years that we don't need to do what the 'Irish' soccer team did in the 90's.

TBF I dont know Wilkinson and what his motives are to play for Ireland; just to play international rugby or if he actually cares for the jersey. I dont mind non-nationals playing on the team as long as they have a real desire to play for the country and not so they can play at international level.

Serenity Now!

Hazys wrote: »

Give me Irish born, Irish breed Horan anyday no matter whos more talented

Silly comment to make.

Does foreign-born, Irish bred suit you? :rolleyes:

Makes no difference. If they qualify and are good enough, they get picked. A player can't switch countries like the late 90s so I doubt you'd even be justified questioning their 'loyalty' to the shirt they were.

From what I gather no-one knows what this prop's intentions are. If he is not even in the 'A' squad then he's either just earning a living playing pro-rugby union in Ireland as a Sth African or just not good enough.

Crash

bamboozle wrote: »

then again great things were expected from knoop....whatever happened to him is a mystery

Stephen Knoop is still injured - have no idea how long its been now at this stage, must be talk of it being career ending if its going on to this extent.

Hazys

Serenity Now! wrote: »

Silly comment to make.

Does foreign-born, Irish bred suit you? :rolleyes:

Makes no difference. If they qualify and are good enough, they get picked. A player can't switch countries like the late 90s so I doubt you'd even be justified questioning their 'loyalty' to the shirt they were.

By breed i meant grew up in this country.

"If they qualify and are good enough they should play." I dont agree with that. If they have a granny from Ireland and may have never been to Ireland should be picked over somebody who actually lives in the country and considers it home?

Robbo

I've heard talk that he's going to join up with the Ireland squad for training and he's as good as starting in the Churchill Cup, provided he's fit of course.

Junior

Who's Brett Wilkinson ?

Serenity Now!

Hazys wrote: »

By breed i meant grew up in this country

I know what you meant by 'bred'. I thought it was a silly requirement.

Hazys wrote: »

"If they qualify and are good enough they should play." I dont agree with that. If they have a granny from Ireland and may have never been to Ireland should be picked over somebody who actually lives in the country and considers it home?

Its called professional sport. The best get picked and if the team win, the country celebrates. Its that simple.

Crash

SA prop for Connacht.

Junior

Going Waterforward wrote: »

SA prop for Connacht.

Hadn't heard anyone raving about him till now, is he good or whats the general thoughts on him ? I wouldn't be as familiar on Connuacht Rugby as I should be ..

pollypigwash

http://www.irishrugby.ie/images/news/Ireland_maul_training_RDS.jpg

i think this pic should put the commitment thing to bed. there he is with the 6 nations squad training in rds last week.

Robbo

He's signed for another 2 years at Connacht, along with Ray Ofisa who will also be Irish qualified by the summer, just in case we're running out of backrowers.

Diom

Fantastic scrummager. Has come up against every experienced international prop in the ML and never has looked outclassed. Progression wise he is far ahead of Healy IMO, he's getting more game time (almost too much) and playing really well. He's been here for a good while now, and he's committed to Connacht and Ireland for the rest of his career.

It's great that we are actually talking about who our best young prop is!

sm.org

outwest wrote: »

is it true that he is irish qaulified in the summer,
cos i rate him alot higher the marcus horan, and he is quite young too, i know healy is performing well but i think it great that ireland will have two looseheads who do donkey work and not stay on the wing,

anyway horan days in green are nearly up

Two exremely stupid comments in one post , well done. Horan is on the form of his life and has a good shot of being a Lions tourist.

There's a reason that Wilkinson is playing for Connacht and its not because he likes the lifestyle.

outwest

when i made this comment about ur friend horan, he was spending his days waiting on the wing. i will admit, in the last two games he has played well, but to say he is on the form of his life is a joke.

before the six nations i wud of had healy there insterad of horan. horan is playing well and his days are numbered. court and healy are breathing down the guys neck. healy was outstanding against the scots A

Ceartgoleor

sm.org wrote: »

Two exremely stupid comments in one post , well done. Horan is on the form of his life and has a good shot of being a Lions tourist.

There's a reason that Wilkinson is playing for Connacht and its not because he likes the lifestyle.

Bit of a stupid comment, Wilkinson is a quality prop. Admiteddly Horan is playing very well, but I'd still think a Lions tour is a bit of a reach for him.

Crash

Folks, calm down. Sm.org no need to be snippy and snide at other posters.

sm.org

outwest wrote: »

when i made this comment about ur friend horan, he was spending his days waiting on the wing. i will admit, in the last two games he has played well, but to say he is on the form of his life is a joke.

before the six nations i wud of had healy there insterad of horan. horan is playing well and his days are numbered. court and healy are breathing down the guys neck. healy was outstanding against the scots A

I thought this thread was about you promoting Wilkinson ? Are you saying Healy and Court are better then him?

Ceartgoleor

sm.org wrote: »

I thought this thread was about you promoting Wilkinson ? Are you saying Healy and Court are better then him?

haven't seen that much of Court and haven't been that impressed with what I've seen of him. Horan is a good player, but the problems with his scrummaging will always linger over him. Healy definitely has the potential to be a much better player than Marcus.

outwest

sorry sm.org

i just said that court did well on sunday and healy played well on sunday. shoot me for not making a new tread about it. how dfare i mention them on a brett wilkonson thread.

Diom

Stick to your guns outwest. Sm.org obviously doesn't his teeth from his toenails if he doesn't rate Wilkinson quite highly. He is the best srummager in his age group out of any of the four provinces. Healy is great in loose (far better than Wilkinson, who's a bit dopey at times), but in the scrum Wilkinson has his number. Court is a very good prop too, but he doesn't have the experience that Wilkinson has.

Sm.org Horan has improved his scrum technique...that's obvious. I wouldn't say that he'll get the Lions spot just yet though. You have to consider the considerably talents of both of the Welsh props, and Hayes would be ahead of him too.

darrenh

sm.org wrote: »

There's a reason that Wilkinson is playing for Connacht and its not because he likes the lifestyle.

why not for the lifestyle. galway's the best place in the whole country to live!

irishbucsfan

Diom wrote: »

Hayes would be ahead of him too.

...

a player who plays tighthead exclusively would be ahead of Horan?


TBH I'd put Sheridan and Jenkins ahead of Horan at the moment.

Podge_irl

bamboozle wrote: »

wilkinson is a solid player...then again great things were expected from knoop....whatever happened to him is a mystery

As mentioned Knoop has had a torrid time with injuries, though he has been named in the most recent Leinster squad. Shame really, cause last time he played (though it must be over a year ago at this stage) he made complete ****e of the opposition scrum.

sm.org

outwest wrote: »

sorry sm.org

i just said that court did well on sunday and healy played well on sunday. shoot me for not making a new tread about it. how dfare i mention them on a brett wilkonson thread.

Sorry m8 for being so defensive , I realise you comments on Horan are tongue in cheek but I just get sick of all the bad mouthing of Horan that goes on here.

The guy who said Wilkonson has more experience then Court ? Interesting since he has only played pro rugby for Connacht.

Sheridan is past it and has looked it for about 18 months now. If your going to pick a Lions squad purely on current and NOT reputation who is ahead of him? Jenkins has a big rep and has played well , Murray hasn't played a game yet but should travel. The Lions will travel with at least 5 props.

I'll keep a closer on Wilkinson next time I watch Connacht.

outwest

u can see him play on sunday on setanta.
i agree with ya sheridan was good at world cup but is a different man know.

Diom

sm.org wrote: »

The guy who said Wilkonson has more experience then Court ? Interesting since he has only played pro rugby for Connacht.
...

I'll keep a closer on Wilkinson next time I watch Connacht.

Yeah... he does. He starts every single game for the last two seasons when available. That's two solid seasons starting for a senior professional team. Correct me if I'm wrong but Court has only started to be regularly starting this season right?


Irishbucsfan...yeah Hayes is fantastic at the breakdown. Horan has improved there but he's not near the level of Hayes. If Horan keeps up the good work for the rest of the 6ns then he may be in with a shout, but I can't see it happening TBH.

As SM.org said,Horan is in the form of his life and I as a critic of his will be the first to admit hes playing well but it is surely an damning indicator of how badly the Lions are going to do if either him or hayes get near the team

irishbucsfan

Freya Enough Stick wrote: »

As SM.org said,Horan is in the form of his life and I as a critic of his will be the first to admit hes playing well but it is surely an damning indicator of how badly the Lions are going to do if either him or hayes get near the team

Yeah... against SA it'll be unfortunate if we have to go with Hayes and Horan.

I don't think it'll be them... even if Horan is is the form of his life. Jenkins is a better LH at them moment. Jones is probaly a better TH.

I've never noticed Wilkinson so I'll check him out if I get time. Is he Irish Qualified?

Ceartgoleor

irishbucsfan wrote: »

Yeah... against SA it'll be unfortunate if we have to go with Hayes and Horan.

I don't think it'll be them... even if Horan is is the form of his life. Jenkins is a better LH at them moment. Jones is probaly a better TH.

I've never noticed Wilkinson so I'll check him out if I get time. Is he Irish Qualified?

Irish qualified in the summer, only 25 as well. I've seen him a couple of times and been impressed with him on every occasion.

sm.org

irishbucsfan wrote: »

Yeah... against SA it'll be unfortunate if we have to go with Hayes and Horan.

I don't think it'll be them... even if Horan is is the form of his life. Jenkins is a better LH at them moment. Jones is probaly a better TH.

I've never noticed Wilkinson so I'll check him out if I get time. Is he Irish Qualified?

I wasn't suggesting that he'll start a test but I think he's playing well enough to justify a place on the plane.

Here's my selections for the Lions props :

Tightheads: Murray and Vickery (who I think will be captain )
Looseheads: Horan and Jekins (can play both , better LH)
Utility: Adam Jones

Like I say they're picked on current form not past exploits.

Sorry for hijacking your thread Outwest