Leinster Out-Half for next season? Or 12?

anonymous_joe

Alright, so we've heard the grim news, Dr Phil is off to pastures new (and good luck to the boy. D4 has never before known your like :P) and we get the chance to rebuild the half backs.

Now, Sexton gets another chance I'm guessing (which I think he deserves). Offers a degree of continuity etc.

Onwards then to the second point - was Nacewa signed as our future 10? I don't know. He might prove good enough to be, at least with a different style of scrum-half (hardly Whitaker's fault that he's being asked to give different service than he normally does, much though it's vexed me). He did it in Super 14s which is a vaguely respectable competition.

So are we actually in the market for another 10?

If Nacewa makes it at 10, and D'Arcy returns to full fitness at inside centre, what do we do? Do we want a new player? (I do for international weekends)

Who would be available for Leinster - we're one of the premier names in club rugby at this stage I suppose, so we should be able to recruit with relative ease. So where do we recruit?

Timothy Bryce

The French teams pay serious wedge to get the players in and all of the good SH/OH's are playing there. The only player floating around with a dubious contract is Michalak - either that or we raid the GP clubs for someone!

remus808

Timothy Bryce wrote: »

The French teams pay serious wedge to get the players in and all of the good SH/OH's are playing there. The only player floating around with a dubious contract is Michalak - either that or we raid the GP clubs for someone!

Leinster are flaky enough as it is without signing Michalak :eek:

I still fancy Sexton as our 10 going forward..

Timothy Bryce

karmabass wrote: »

Leinster are flaky enough as it is without signing Michalak :eek:

I still fancy Sexton as our 10 going forward..

Agreed, although it was his forward pass that knocked out the All Blacks in Cardiff.

Podge_irl

Sexton hopefully. Keatley coming back and those two fighting it out would be ideal. Hopefully the Nacewa at 10 experiment is over.

chupacabra

Sexton and Keatley going forward, no other way about it. We NEED to start giving our young outhalfs the game time or we are seriously fecked internationally.

SomeFool

What is Nacewa like as a place kicker? I'd like to see Kearney develop this side of his game actually, could be of benefit to Ireland some day down the road.

Timothy Bryce

SomeFool wrote: »

What is Nacewa like as a place kicker? I'd like to see Kearney develop this side of his game actually, could be of benefit to Ireland some day down the road.

Nacewa was decent enough for Auckland but I think Kearney has huge potential. I saw him nail a kick from the half way line while he was playing a token game for UCD. Best left peg in Leinster.

Id like Steven Donald.
He can play 10 but is more of a 12,similar to the Dr.

[Jackass]

Timothy Bryce wrote: »

I think Kearney has huge potential. I saw him nail a kick from the half way line while he was playing a token game for UCD. Best left peg in Leinster.

I also saw him scuff a reletively straight forward penalty away to Edinburgh in this years HEC. Not to say he wouldn't be a good place kicker, but that's the only one I've seen him take, so I doubt it's an area he spends too much time on.

The ONLY option in my book is bring Keatley back. Sexton & Keatley fight for 10.

Games are so tight these days that you just can't afford to have Sexton in the team without an alternative kicker or him developing into a top drawer kicker. Which is why Keatley would have a massive chance at becoming first choice 10 at Leinster next year.

I believe Nacewa was signed this season as Chieka new Phil could be gone, and tried hos best to have Nacewa bed into the position and it just didn't happen.

With the loss of form of Shaggy and with it unthinkable to play Kearney anywhere other than 15 at this stage, I think Nacewa slots nicely into a lethal back 3 at 14 now anyway, with great cover in Dempsey, Keogh and Horgan.

Centre is covered with D'Ary back and O'Driscoll, but also with Fitzgerald, O'Malley & McFadden all there - there is much talent coming through to cover.

With the emergence of O'Donoghue as well and possible signing of stringer or Reddan, Scrum half will be covered when as expected Whitaker and possily Keane are let go at the end of this season.

So that just leaves 10 requiring someone to come in - how can we even look passed Keatley as the one and only and best option to bring in??? We've lost enough young talent to the other provinces, he's one we can't let slip away in such a crucial position and such a shalloe covered position for Leinster now also.

That would nicely bring in a squad of 15 backs, all of whom with the exception of Nacewa are Irish and most of whom are young promising Leinster talent.

I think next season will be the begining of a new era of players for Leinster, hopefully more to roll out of the seemingly endless world class back production line.

Sorry to go a bit off topic, and sorry for to the Western Cousins, but the answer is Ian Keatley.

jam_on_toast

Podge_irl wrote: »

Sexton hopefully. Keatley coming back and those two fighting it out would be ideal. Hopefully the Nacewa at 10 experiment is over.

Spot on, it's a no brainer, the next 10 has to be irish. Cheika can get lost if he's thinking otherwise.

louthandproud

Bishop Massive Halogen wrote: »

Id like Steven Donald.
He can play 10 but is more of a 12,similar to the Dr.

Perhaps with O'Gara playing so badly according to half the posters here, Munster might need to get a new OH and Leinster could then take ROG.

:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D


By the way this was not a serious posting, it is intended as humor only.

louthandproud

louthandproud wrote: »

Perhaps with O'Gara playing so badly according to half the posters here, Munster might need to get a new OH and Leinster could then take ROG.

:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D


By the way this was not a serious posting, it is intended as humor only.

Jesus,I know you dont like Leinster but surely thats taking it a bit far,I wouldnt wish him on my worst enemy.:D

louthandproud

Bishop Massive Halogen wrote: »

Jesus,I know you dont like Leinster but surely thats taking it a bit far,I wouldnt wish him on my worst enemy.:D

Who ever said I don't like Leinster? I do in fact..........Just not as much as the boys in Red........:D

Remember Brian O'Meara.

stephen_n

I'd be more worried about bringing in a decent scrum half with quick hands otherwise whoever is playing outhalf and I'd assume that will be between Keatly and sexton will be getting creamed!

John_C

This would be a good year for Leinster to do well in the 'ken. If they go out in the quarter or semi final the pressure will be on them to spend big again over the summer.

sm.org

Bishop Massive Halogen wrote: »

Id like Steven Donald.
He can play 10 but is more of a 12,similar to the Dr.

NZ would have no problem letting him go either. Surely the worst 10 to play for Kiwi this decade. They were practically begging Luke Mac to come back as soon as Carter got injured.

Conor_8

Got to be an Irish man. And Cheika has always said that he wants to have an Irish pairing at half back. If bringing Keatley back is an option then it would be a good one. I think Cheika may look for an experienced foreigner to help bring Sexton through.

No worries at 12 with McFadden coming through plus option of using Fitzgerald.

Scrum half is a much bigger problem!

Fishtits

Deffo should be Irish, we need to develop a 10 to replace ROG (eventually)

Don't forget, 10 doesn't have to be our place kicker...

Amazotheamazing

If guys like Madigan and McKinley are the future, a short term signing would be ok, the last thing Leinster should do is sign another youngish, foreign outhalf who would eventually stunt the development of young players.

Chucky the tree

I take it all you Leinster fans will happily scrafice H'ken cup runs in faovur of having an Irish OH(especially Sexton)?

[Jackass]

Chucky the tree wrote: »

I take it all you Leinster fans will happily scrafice H'ken cup runs in faovur of having an Irish OH(especially Sexton)?

Not exactly. Taking Keatley as an example, I feel he is already of a standard where throwing him in at the deep end he has risen to every challenge. It seems the more pressure you put on this guy and the higher the stakes, the better he does.

In the big derby games he played Sexton and Warwick off the park and his place kicking was flawless. He has some excellent tactical kicking games and I'll never forget his 70 yard punt in Galway v Munster when Connacht were soaking up the pressure and he turned Munster possesion on the Connacht 22 into a Munster line out deep in their own 22. Stuff if you saw O'Gara or even Carter do you would say, wow, what an amazing kick.

I don't think Leinster would suffer greatly from taking him on and making him first choice 10 and I think if it resolved the 10 jersey for the next 10 years at Leinster and gave us the first choice Irish and maybe even Lions 10 down the line then all the better!! It's not JUST that he's Irish, although it is a massive incentive to have your Irish players developed, both from ability to sign forign players elsewhere if needed and also have the academy churning out players to pick and choose from rather than chase.

If I didn't think we had a potential world class 10 to put in the team and let him develop for a year or two to reep those rewards, then I'd say sign Michelak (the only viable alternative to sign at present), but I don't think the standard would drop too far with someone like Keatley at 10 and the potential gain from taking the chance on him is massive.

Wow Zzipy must hate me I just REALLY want Keatley back!!

ALH-06

[Jackass] wrote: »

Taking Keatley as an example, I feel he is already of a standard where throwing him in at the deep end he has risen to every challenge. It seems the more pressure you put on this guy and the higher the stakes, the better he does.

Don't want to spoil the party over Keatley (I like him & he is the best Irish prospect currently) but for all his well-chronicled efforts v Leinster and Munster, I've seen him play a good few absolute shockers this year as well. Like against Ulster for example (I think it was Ulster) - I can't remember ever seeing an OH dissolve like that - everything he did was terrible...

He's a great prospect and will hopefully keep improving but I think he is being completely overhyped by people because everyone's so desperate to see him do well. He's in no way the finished article and is definitely not ready to be a regular HC starter for Leinster imo.