Any Irish opensides out there ?

Sandwich

Are there any openside wing forwards left in Irish Rugby? Or he an extinct breed?

Have we gone down a road of a backrow made of of three hybrid number8/blindisdes, as the only backrow combination for an Irish team. O'Brien looked good and has been having a good season, and is in the same format as Leamy, Ferris, Wallace, and not that different from Heaslip. Best, and Jennings slighter lighter versions of the same model.

Slattery, Carr from the top drawer. O'Hara, Ward, Dawson in the same style but lower level:

are the days gone where that type of wingforward was chief ballwinner/destroyer of the opposition and almost defined the success or failure of a team as the crucial backs/forwards link? Are they not needed anymore, does our current coaching body not develop that player, or do we just not have any at the moment?

Risteard

I am. Sadly I don't think I'll be getting a professional contract any time soon.

Seriously speaking though, Jennings is probably our closest but one player who always impressed me when playing for Ireland at 7 that did the job extremely well was Johnny O'Connor.

He has probably had one of the biggest fall from graces. A few years ago he was turning over ball for fun and now he's off the scene. I wonder should he have tried to get another premiership contract instead of heading back to Connacht?

thebaz

Dominick Ryan is getting rave reviews within leinster - i saw him play as a schoolboy and he looked a serious player , big and a huge hitter - think hes a blindside converted , but rugby players need bulk in the professional era

escape m1

To put put this question of bulk in perspective, i heard that ryan floored jennings in training after a disagreement ended in a bit of a scuffle. i know it's not an ideal way to gauge but i don't think his bulk seems to be an issue. also saw him at schools and he was already huge. it would be great to see him get some real chances soon with leinster.

marco_polo

Sandwich wrote: »

Are there any openside wing forwards left in Irish Rugby? Or he an extinct breed?

Have we gone down a road of a backrow made of of three hybrid number8/blindisdes, as the only backrow combination for an Irish team. O'Brien looked good and has been having a good season, and is in the same format as Leamy, Ferris, Wallace, and not that different from Heaslip. Best, and Jennings slighter lighter versions of the same model.

Slattery, Carr from the top drawer. O'Hara, Ward, Dawson in the same style but lower level:

are the days gone where that type of wingforward was chief ballwinner/destroyer of the opposition and almost defined the success or failure of a team as the crucial backs/forwards link? Are they not needed anymore, does our current coaching body not develop that player, or do we just not have any at the moment?

I think that we just do not have any at the moment. Due to our relatively small playing population there will always be a couple of positions that we are short depth in. A few years ago, outside of our starting players, it was positions like scrum half and center, now the problem has move on to tight head and openside.

Also world class groundhogs are pretty rare in world rugby anyway.

Stev_o

Faloon and Pollock are both natural seven's playing with Ulster. Hopefully Faloon can be fast tracked because he is a different animal on the floor then anyother seven in the country.

Stev_o

Stev_o wrote: »

Faloon and Pollock are both natural seven's playing with Ulster. Hopefully Faloon can be fast tracked because he is a different animal on the floor then anyother seven in the country.

+1, this guy plays rugby that nobody else is close to in this country. His development is essential

chupacabra

From what i have seen Paul Ryan (Leinster Academy), and Willie Faloon are our best prospects at the moment if your'e looking for opensides in the same mould as Brussow and Pocock.

bamboozle

chupacabra wrote: »

From what i have seen Paul Ryan (Leinster Academy), and Willie Faloon are our best prospects at the moment if your'e looking for opensides in the same mould as Brussow and Pocock.

+1
Willie Faloon has to be fast tracked. Pollock just seems to be unfortunate with injuries cause he too has the talent. Paul Ryan at Leinster is meant to be the bizz

outwest

o conner coming into form at the moment. next 3 games will be interesting.

jenning isnt an option either. i think sean o brein should be given more of a chance. he has youth on his side. same with the ulster lads.

2040

All this groundhog openside flanker stuff. Like the internet, it'll never catch on.

On a serious note though, Heinrich Broussow was kept quiet on Saturday, in part because the Boks were more than matched physically by the Irish backrow. People tend to take David Wallace for granted. He's a fantastic player and personally, i'd take him over, say, Martyn Williams. Still though, we need a 7 in some shape or form, groundhog or not, for 2011.

cityman 18

We have a very good one already and he's called Johnny O'Connor.

Why should playing for Connacht suddenly make somebody not good enough to play for Ireland?? He's in coming into great form at the moment aswel. All other blindsides mentioned here are'nt as good as him tbh.

PS. I know il sound very parochial here but how is John Muldoon not making the Irish bench? I know O'Brien did ok when he came on and he's a good honest player. But it seems that all you have to do is have three or four good games for Leinster and your in the Irish set up. Muldoon has been carrying Connacht for a while now and he just doesnt get the recognition he deserves. If he was born a couple of miles to the south and the other side of the shannon (munster) he'd be a regular in the squad at least.

Risteard

I agree Cityman that there does seem to be the attitude that a Connacht player has to play twice, or maybe more, as well as his counterpart in the other provinces to get a look in.

There are reasons though.

You obviously have seen a lot more of Connacht than I or a lot of other posters have by the fact that Connacht games aren't shown on TV all that much. This could also be the case of the Irish coaches who would go to the other provinces matches as most of the Irish team plays for these teams.

Also another reason could be that Connacht don't play at the highest level i.e. the Heineken Cup and that they suffer inconsistent form in the ML.

I can't comment on Muldoon's form because I haven't been watching him. Though as I said above, I'm a big Johnny O'Connor fan and if he's getting into form, then I think he could be a great seven for us as he was a few years ago.