Up and coming open side

thebaz

Ireland seam well served for blind sides and No. 8s, and most positions for now and the future.
I dont think David Wallace will make it into next World cup (squad possibly) , is there any up and coming open sides to replace him, with the potential to overtake him and make it on the big stage ?

pisslips

Sean O'Brien.

Again though, like Wallace not an out and out 7 but the modern game is more about physicality anyway.

up them Schteps

thebaz wrote: »

Ireland seam well served for blind sides and No. 8s, and most positions for now and the future.
I dont think David Wallace will make it into next World cup (squad possibly) , is there any up and coming open sides to replace him, with the potential to overtake him and make it on the big stage ?

I don't understand this, how can you say you dont think he will make the squad, then ask if there is anybody out there to replace him.

Realistically, alot of places secure now could be filled by someone completly different after next years 6N, possibly forced due to injury. Next year will certinly be intresting! I hope there will be some smart rotation in this years autumn internationals!

thebaz

up them Schteps wrote: »

I don't understand this, how can you say you dont think he will make the squad, then ask if there is anybody out there to replace him.

I meant Wallace might/should make it to squad, dont think he will be fast eneogh to start the XV - O'Brien is playing No. 8 at the moment , there seams to be a gap for an Irish tearaway, somewhere

anonymous_joe

pisslips wrote: »

Sean O'Brien.

Again though, like Wallace not an out and out 7 but the modern game is more about physicality anyway.

The emergence of Heinrich Brussow suggests the opposite. The one team that never ever ever had an out and out 7 (6 in their parlance) finally does.


Anyway, candidates are;

Davey Wallace himself,
Niall Ronan,
Shane Jennings,
Sean O'Brien,
Pollock

Those four are those who'd look most likely right now to be challenging for the jersey in 2011.

bamboozle

anonymous_joe wrote: »

The emergence of Heinrich Brussow suggests the opposite. The one team that never ever ever had an out and out 7 (6 in their parlance) finally does.


Anyway, candidates are;

Davey Wallace himself,
Niall Ronan,
Shane Jennings,
Sean O'Brien,
Pollock

Those four are those who'd look most likely right now to be challenging for the jersey in 2011.

Johnny O'Connor deserves a shout...
wonder if Ronan would be big enough for international rugby.
Pollack has the potential to own the jersey for a number of years whereas Sean O'Brien needs to nail down a position soon or he'll be considered a jack of all trades back rower

there's great quality there though

anonymous_joe

bamboozle wrote: »

Johnny O'Connor deserves a shout...
wonder if Ronan would be big enough for international rugby.
Pollack has the potential to own the jersey for a number of years whereas Sean O'Brien needs to nail down a position soon or he'll be considered a jack of all trades back rower

there's great quality there though

I thought about O'Connor and decided against mentioning him.

He's got to be unreal for the guts of this season to even have a chance of making a World Cup squad.

As for jack of all trades, doesn't seem to have hurt Wallace.

Crash

I don't see another Jack of All trades backrower getting in over the next few years to the same extent that Wallace did, to be honest. I've said before that Wallace essentially gives us an unbalanced backrow, in that we don't have a stereotypical groundhog, but he's been simply too good to be excluded for the last while. I doubt any of the incumbent jack-of-all backrowers will be good enough to replicate that.

O'Connor will only ever get back up there if he gets decent game time. At times he looked fantastic last season, but then he'd have a couple of poorish matches and drop off the radar.

Haven't seen enough of Pollock lately to comment - SOB still needs to pick up his handling before he'll be anywhere deserving of challenging for the national side, and hopefully a season of tough matches will beat that into him. Ronan again is of the Wally mold, so whether that works for or against him is yet to be seen - he has a great workrate in the last few games, and if he can shift Leamy he's in with a decent shout. Jennings has had a few games where he's starred, and even the ones where he's underperformed, he hasn't exactly been quiet - so it'll be interesting to see who'll take Wallys spot.

In all fairness though, it'll be age that'll hit Wallace sooner, rather than ability. He'll be pushing it for 2011.

thebaz

With so many good young players coming through in most positions- its a pity that a dynamic natural open side is not one of them - to complement Ferris , Leamy, Heaslip

anonymous_joe

Crash wrote: »

I don't see another Jack of All trades backrower getting in over the next few years to the same extent that Wallace did, to be honest. I've said before that Wallace essentially gives us an unbalanced backrow, in that we don't have a stereotypical groundhog, but he's been simply too good to be excluded for the last while. I doubt any of the incumbent jack-of-all backrowers will be good enough to replicate that.

O'Connor will only ever get back up there if he gets decent game time. At times he looked fantastic last season, but then he'd have a couple of poorish matches and drop off the radar.

Haven't seen enough of Pollock lately to comment - SOB still needs to pick up his handling before he'll be anywhere deserving of challenging for the national side, and hopefully a season of tough matches will beat that into him. Ronan again is of the Wally mold, so whether that works for or against him is yet to be seen - he has a great workrate in the last few games, and if he can shift Leamy he's in with a decent shout. Jennings has had a few games where he's starred, and even the ones where he's underperformed, he hasn't exactly been quiet - so it'll be interesting to see who'll take Wallys spot.

In all fairness though, it'll be age that'll hit Wallace sooner, rather than ability. He'll be pushing it for 2011.

I'd prefer a specialised seven myself, whether Kidney would is a different issue.

O'Connor was probably the best flanker in England while at Wasps, but he's fallen far. Would love to see him back to his best.

Jennings is very talented, and not as inconsistent as some think.

irishbucsfan

anonymous_joe wrote: »

I'd prefer a specialised seven myself, whether Kidney would is a different issue.

O'Connor was probably the best flanker in England while at Wasps, but he's fallen far. Would love to see him back to his best.

Jennings is very talented, and not as inconsistent as some think.

O'Connor's interesting alright. It's very hard to look good playing 7 on a team that's not winning. Fair play to him for signing for Connacht but I think he could well have been better suited signing for one of the English teams, even if that cost him his international selection anyway.

siltirocker

As i brought up in another thread yesterday, Johnny O'Connor isn't even getting his game for Connacht.

anonymous_joe

siltirocker wrote: »

As i brought up in another thread yesterday, Johnny O'Connor isn't even getting his game for Connacht.

And when you consider he was IRFU player of the year only four years ago that's scary.

Never been the same man since that awful injury.