Irish Rugby and Sevens

sydthebeat

Mick mcgrath

Some man

clsmooth

How big has Mick McGrath gotten?!

kingofthekong

Wouldn't mind seeing Aaron Sexton get a run out in the sevens, would be some sight

tmc1963

Oh dear - those Fiji lads are good.

Purist98

kingofthekong wrote: »

Wouldn't mind seeing Aaron Sexton get a run out in the sevens, would be some sight

Heard that might be the plan for him next season

shotgunmcos

Good win over Scotland to get to Challenge SF.

Squidgy Black

Australia in the semi final and then the winner of England v Canada in the final.

Would be great to see the lads finish out with a medal considering the poor start to the tournament vs Argentina.

kingofthekong

Anyone know why Peter Sullivan wasn't picked up by any of the academy's ? I mean it shouldn't have taken this sevens tournament to show he was a talent ? Coaches in the know would surely have known about him ? Did he turn and offer down from Connacht ?

Squidgy Black

kingofthekong wrote: »

Anyone know why Peter Sullivan wasn't picked up by any of the academy's ? I mean it shouldn't have taken this sevens tournament to show he was a talent ? Coaches in the know would surely have known about him ? Did he turn and offer down from Connacht ?

Mostly down to injury I believe, was out injured with a fairly bad knee injury that required surgery and was dropped from the Leinster sub-academy. Been playing with Lansdowne since. Top try scorer in the AIL this season, he's definitely on the radar you would imagine but nobody has taken the chance.

RuPi

Good interview with him here about it all

https://www.the42.ie/peter-sullivan-lansdowne-rugby-interview-4580230-Apr2019/

First Up

Just beat Australia to go through to the Challenge Cup final.

Not that anyone in RTE will notice.

Squidgy Black

Canada starting to run away with it against England, looks like we'll be facing them in the final.

Really really poor showing from England over the last two events.

shotgunmcos

Been a great 2nd day from the squad. Great experience for the young guys. I fancy our chance v Canada if we repeat that last game performance but possession will dictate. Winning the Challenge Trophy would be a brilliant return from the start yesterday

Clegg

Oh God we've gotten murdered in these last 5 minutes.

First Up

Well we know what we need to work on.

eagle eye

What we need is a superstar that the other team looks at and knows they need to nearly double cover him. We have a good style of play and we have a lot of very good players, we just need the superstar and we'll be challenging for titles every tournament.

First Up

eagle eye wrote:

What we need is a superstar that the other team looks at and knows they need to nearly double cover him. We have a good style of play and we have a lot of very good players, we just need the superstar and we'll be challenging for titles every tournament.

That would be Jordan Conroy but he did his hamstring in London last week.

eagle eye

First Up wrote:

That would be Jordan Conroy but he did his hamstring in London last week.

Yeah, he has elite level speed and has the potential to be that player.

typhoony

First Up wrote: »

That would be Jordan Conroy but he did his hamstring in London last week.

and Aaron Sexton!! other teams would be chasing shadows if we had the 2 of them on the same team, apparently it's a distinct possibility

But the IRFU need to sort out the meagre payments given to the sevens players, 18k a year is pathetic

First Up

typhoony wrote:

and Aaron Sexton!! other teams would be chasing shadows if we had the 2 of them on the same team, apparently it's a distinct possibility

Looks an exciting prospect for sure. He is contracted with Ulster but the 7's squad has to be an option.

7's teams tend to have just one pure speedster so not sure we'd see both Conroy and Sexton is the same line up.

Squidgy Black

First Up wrote: »

Looks an exciting prospect for sure. He is contracted with Ulster but the 7's squad has to be an option.

7's teams tend to have just one pure speedster so not sure we'd see both Conroy and Sexton is the same line up.

Worked well for USA over the years with Isles and Baker in the same squad. Means Conroy doesn't get flogged and have to play every single game and in case of injury (like this tournament) we're not without that kind of weapon.

First Up

Squidgy Black wrote:

Worked well for USA over the years with Isles and Baker in the same squad. Means Conroy doesn't get flogged and have to play every single game and in case of injury (like this tournament) we're not without that kind of weapon.

No problem with them being in the same squad. I just don't expect them to be in the same seven.

Squidgy Black

First Up wrote: »

No problem with them being in the same squad. I just don't expect them to be in the same seven.

Sorry only half read the post.

It depends on how Sexton picks up in defence over the next couple of years. If he's strong in defence it could be an option. Most of the 'speedsters' on the 7s circuit are just sprinters converted to run with a ball in their hand, but a natural rugby player might be a different case.

arsebiscuits1

eagle eye wrote: »

What we need is a superstar that the other team looks at and knows they need to nearly double cover him. We have a good style of play and we have a lot of very good players, we just need the superstar and we'll be challenging for titles every tournament.

I think we're lacking some top end size.

Nick Timoney was fantastic in his brief stint at Sevens. As was Adam Byrne.

Currently our biggest regular player is Harry McNulty who is a fantastic player but tops out at 6'1" I reckon

We need a player in the James Rodwell mould. 6'4 or taller with a bit of mass on them to suck some players in in the middle of the park.

Said it a few pages back, I would love to see Max Deegan play Sevens. Wont happen but my god an athlete like him would thrive.

kingofthekong

Ireland are very good at scoring and maintaining possesion, the biggest area of concern is defensively they are very easy to score against

If Ireland had everyone fit we have a strong team for olympic qualification, Peter Sullivan and Jack Kelly have really gotten into the grove and are now potent weapons in attack,

Add those two to returning Conroy, Mcgrath, Keenan, terry Kennedy and O'donnell and this team could get even better,

A couple more academy players may be involved next season with Aaron sexton rumours and who knows else.

VillaMad

kingofthekong wrote: »

Ireland are very good at scoring and maintaining possesion, the biggest area of concern is defensively they are very easy to score against

If Ireland had everyone fit we have a strong team for olympic qualification, Peter Sullivan and Jack Kelly have really gotten into the grove and are now potent weapons in attack,

Add those two to returning Conroy, Mcgrath, Keenan, terry Kennedy and O'donnell and this team could get even better,

A couple more academy players may be involved next season with Aaron sexton rumours and who knows else.

One of the main reasons that they have struggled defensively is because they have been mainly playing the likes of Germany, Russia etc. for the last 4 years and were simply never tested like that.

It will take a while for them to come to terms with the higher class of opposition and even still if the likes of Fiji and New Zealand are on their game, there isn't a whole lot than you can do.

Squidgy Black

arsebiscuits1 wrote: »

I think we're lacking some top end size.

Nick Timoney was fantastic in his brief stint at Sevens. As was Adam Byrne.

Currently our biggest regular player is Harry McNulty who is a fantastic player but tops out at 6'1" I reckon

We need a player in the James Rodwell mould. 6'4 or taller with a bit of mass on them to suck some players in in the middle of the park.

Said it a few pages back, I would love to see Max Deegan play Sevens. Wont happen but my god an athlete like him would thrive.

Mick McGrath has to be hitting 110kg if not heavier at this point. He's a bit short at 6 foot, but he's got some serious mass at the moment and shown that he has pace as well.

kingofthekong

Squidgy Black wrote: »

Mick McGrath has to be hitting 110kg if not heavier at this point. He's a bit short at 6 foot, but he's got some serious mass at the moment and shown that he has pace as well.

ye he'd probabaly be far more useful to the team if he shifted 10kgs off his frame

D14Rugby

kingofthekong wrote: »

ye he'd probabaly be far more useful to the team if he shifted 10kgs off his frame

I don't think so. He isn't exactly slow, there's plenty of pace around him, he was never particularly steppy so the extra weight isn't really impacting him in any way but its very beneficial to have someone of that size to just draw in two tackles which is absolutely huge in 7s

kingofthekong

D14Rugby wrote: »

I don't think so. He isn't exactly slow, there's plenty of pace around him, he was never particularly steppy so the extra weight isn't really impacting him in any way but its very beneficial to have someone of that size to just draw in two tackles which is absolutely huge in 7s

Its beneficial if he can spend more than 4 minutes per tournament on the pitch actually playing rugby...

One run and he needs to be taken off, has added great impact but he hasnt needed that extra 10kg for anything most of his tries have been speed and acceleration not bulk and weight