Your irish 22 for the 2015 rugby world cup

.ak

Cpt, please use the report function if you suspect a re-reg, thanks. Leftleg, do you really have to comment on everything Cpt does? You seem to have a habit of derailing threads. If you want to keep posting here keep the off-topic stuff to PM.

Back on topic please.

ormond lad

ComeOnYou BoysInBlue wrote: »

My 23:
1. Cian Healy
2. Cronin/Strauss
3. Jamie Hagan
4. Iain Henderson Donnacha Ryan
5. Devin Toner/Tuohy
6. Stephen Ferris
7. Dominic Ryan
8. Seán O'Brien
9. Luke McGrath/Marmion
10. Johnathan Sexton/ Ian Madigan
11. Luke Fitzgerald
12. Fergus McFadden/Harrison Brewer/Luke Marshall
13. Eoin O'Malley/Darren Cave/Keith Earls
14. Tommy Bowe/ Craig Gilroy/Dave Kearney
15. Rob Kearney

Bench:
16. Seán Cronin/Richardt Strauss
17. Jack McGrath
18. Fitzpatrick Tadhg Furlong
19. Ian Nagle/Donnacha Ryan
20. Tommy O'Donnell
21. Marmion/Murray (If Murray's form picks up)
22. Johnathan Sexton/Ian Madigan/ JJ Hanrahan
23. Andrew Conway/ McFadden/ Gilroy/Cave/Kearney

Few changes to your team. Earls will almost def be involved(stupid go at him and other munster players. "useless":rolleyes:) and i think Don Ryan will def start. Tadhg Furlong has great potential at tighthead prop will more than likely be involved
I wouldnt be so sure on Fitz as a definate starter. Long time to go between now and 2015 but dont think he will at all and IMO he is a more a centre/full back than a winger
JJ is playing with a province that will allow him play well
Fez is a given if fit but fez staying going for 3 more years is an issue.
At hooker there is several munster hookers in with a shot and not just the 2 who were the irish 20s hookers this year
Brewer is much more likely to be a backrow than a centre in 3-4 years time

Quint2010

ormond lad wrote: »

Few changes to your team. Earls will almost def be involved(stupid go at him and other munster players. "useless":rolleyes:) and i think Don Ryan will def start. Tadhg Furlong has great potential at tighthead prop will more than likely be involved
I wouldnt be so sure on Fitz as a definate starter. Long time to go between now and 2015 but dont think he will at all and IMO he is a more a centre/full back than a winger
JJ is playing with a province that will allow him play well
Fez is a given if fit but fez staying going for 3 more years is an issue.
At hooker there is several munster hookers in with a shot and not just the 2 who were the irish 20s hookers this year
Brewer is much more likely to be a backrow than a centre in 3-4 years time

Don't think so. Brewer moved to centre as Leinster have too many back rows coming through and not enough centre's.

leftleg

.ak wrote: »

Cpt, please use the report function if you suspect a re-reg, thanks. Leftleg, do you really have to comment on everything Cpt does? You seem to have a habit of derailing threads. If you want to keep posting here keep the off-topic stuff to PM.

Back on topic please.

It was meant to be a joke; absolutely nothing else in it;

mogwai81

bilston wrote: »

Tommy Bowe? Rory Best? Stephen Ferris? Keith Earls?

It's all a game of opinions of course but I expect those guys to be there still.

Fair point. But Rory Best will be 33 and unlikely to be playing at the same level of the last few years.
By 2015 i reckon Tommy Bowe will have lost a yard of pace, which is crucial on the wing. I would be
concerned about Stephen Ferris knee after 3 more years of abuse. I have concern's about earls in the
center ( although he has greatly improved ) and i think Simon Zebo has the potential to be stronger
defensively. That's not to say they all couldn't make the bench along with the likes of Madigan, O' Mahony etc

totallegend

Just FYI; we're now three years away from the RWC.

At the same point in the last RWC cycle, i.e. summer 2008, EIGHT of the guys who made the 22 in the World Cup had yet to be capped; Earls, Murray, Healy, Ross, O'Brien, Cronin, Sexton and Ryan.

It will be interesting to see if that many currently uncapped guys are in the 23 in 2015; I think we will definitely see:

- a new hooker; either Strauss or AN Other, can't see Cronin being there.
- a new TH prop (maybe 2); even if Ross limps to 2015, we'll still need someone on the bench*
- a new SH (maybe 2); Boss and Reddan will be 35 and probably retired, Murray's current form needs vast improvement.
- a new out-half; just in case ROG doesn't manage to play until he's 40 like...
- a new centre; hard to see both berths filled from guys who have already been capped.

So we're looking at 5-7 guys at a minimum, should be interesting to see who else comes through.

*I'm assuming it will be 23-man squads by 2015

bilston

mogwai81 wrote: »

Fair point. But Rory Best will be 33 and unlikely to be playing at the same level of the last few years.
By 2015 i reckon Tommy Bowe will have lost a yard of pace, which is crucial on the wing. I would be
concerned about Stephen Ferris knee after 3 more years of abuse. I have concern's about earls in the
center ( although he has greatly improved ) and i think Simon Zebo has the potential to be stronger
defensively. That's not to say they all couldn't make the bench along with the likes of Madigan, O' Mahony etc

You may well be right. Just one thing is defence not one of Zebo's weaknesses? Munster fans can tell me if I'm right or wrong.

The one I'd be most concerned about of those guys is Fez and that's because of his knee obviously.

I suppose I'm sceptical there'll be that much change because that's not the nature of Irish rugby but it all depends on who the coach is.

Teferi

If Fez is still playing top level rugby by 29/30 then I'll be surprised. He constantly seems to be playing injured and he plays in one of the positions that is hard on your body.

mogwai81

bilston wrote: »

You may well be right. Just one thing is defence not one of Zebo's weaknesses? Munster fans can tell me if I'm right or wrong.

The one I'd be most concerned about of those guys is Fez and that's because of his knee obviously.

I suppose I'm sceptical there'll be that much change because that's not the nature of Irish rugby but it all depends on who the coach is.

Zebo is definitely weak defensively at the moment, but due to his physical advantage over Earls and with
the right coaching i believe he has the potential to be better then Earls. But who know's, my views could be
completely different in twelve months let alone 3 years.

profitius

I've a feeling we might see a good few changes.
I think there'll be some players dropped from the squad before 2015 - D'Arcy, DOC, Court, Reddan, ROG etc.
Some old players relegated from first team to being squad players BOD, POC, Best etc.
Most importantly there'll be a load of new players coming through. We'd be able to field a whole new team or 2 with all the players coming through. Thats why its important for the IRFU to bring in stricter NIQ rules next season.

Quint2010

profitius wrote: »

I've a feeling we might see a good few changes.
I think there'll be some players dropped from the squad before 2015 - D'Arcy, DOC, Court, Reddan, ROG etc.
Some old players relegated from first team to being squad players BOD, POC, Best etc.
Most importantly there'll be a load of new players coming through. We'd be able to field a whole new team or 2 with all the players coming through. Thats why its important for the IRFU to bring in stricter NIQ rules next season.

So people still believe BOD will be around in 2015?* He will be nearly 37?

*I am not implying he will be dead-just "not around" in the rugby sense...

armchaircoach

If we are relying on a 37 year old back in the 2015 world cup then we'd all have to admit that any semblance of a succession policy that the irfu has , will have been a failure.

profitius

Quint2010 wrote: »

So people still believe BOD will be around in 2015?* He will be nearly 37?

*I am not implying he will be dead-just "not around" in the rugby sense...

Probably not but if he is half decent it remains a possibility. I think he'll be overtaken by the young players by then.

Podge_irl

I think Lions next year is as far as BOD could go. We're in a bad, bad way if we'll be relying on a 37 year old BOD come the next world cup. The key is to bring another player in to be the backline general now while BOD can still mentor him.

There will obviously be new players we can't see coming but a lot of the squad is in a pretty prime age.

tolosenc

Podge_irl wrote: »

I think Lions next year is as far as BOD could go. We're in a bad, bad way if we'll be relying on a 37 year old BOD come the next world cup. The key is to bring another player in to be the backline general now while BOD can still mentor him.

There will obviously be new players we can't see coming but a lot of the squad is in a pretty prime age.

Thorn did it at that age. To continue to produce that late in your career, you need to be special, which BOD undoubtedly is. With him, I'd never rule anything out. If ROG can still get Ireland caps at 35...

Realistically we need to get Cave/O'Malley/McFadden/Griffin/Macken/whoever experienced in that position.

johne30

chupacabra wrote: »

I know threads like this are utterly pointless but its fun to put our opinions up based on what we THINK we know now and then look back in years to come and see how right or how terribly wrong we were.

Here's mine assuming that by 2015 we have 23 man squads:

15. Felix Jones
14. Andrew Conway
13. Nevin Spence
12. Fergus McFadden
11. Keith Earls
10. Jonathan Sexton
9. Luke McGrath
8. Jamie Heaslip (c)
7. Dominic Ryan
6. Sean O'Brien
5. Dan Tuohy
4. Ian Nagle
3. Jamie Hagan
2. Richard Strauss
1. Cian Healy

16. Sean Cronin
17. Jack O'Connell
18. Stewart Maguire
19. Dave O'Callaghan
20. Rhys Ruddock
21. Conor Murray
22. JJ Hanrahan
23. Eoin Griffin

Honorable mentions or shouts for squad players: Tiernan O'Halloran, Paddy Butler, Peter O'Mahony, Paddy McAllister, Brendan Macken, Mike Sherry and too many more to name

no sign of jj hanrahan , i put him at 10 and sexton in centre fo mfadd .

johne30

who the fug wrote: »

22. JJ Hanrahan

Is he really that good

Brillant , a lion in waiting

Podge_irl

tolosenc wrote: »

Thorn did it at that age. To continue to produce that late in your career, you need to be special, which BOD undoubtedly is. With him, I'd never rule anything out. If ROG can still get Ireland caps at 35.

Thorn did it, but top end pace is less of an issue at second row and that is really where BOD is going to struggle.

ROG has taken less "damage" then BOD has over the years. I'll leave it to your imagination to figure out why...

Podge_irl

johne30 wrote: »

no sign of jj hanrahan , i put him at 10 and sexton in centre fo mfadd .

I highly doubt McFadden will be our best 12 in 2015 (and we'd be in trouble if he was) but there is no way JJ is pushing Sexton out to 12 either. If either of them are going to 12 its JJ. There is only one person in the world who thinks Sexton is a 12.

Fireball07

Podge_irl wrote: »

I highly doubt McFadden will be our best 12 in 2015 (and we'd be in trouble if he was) but there is no way JJ is pushing Sexton out to 12 either. If either of them are going to 12 its JJ. There is only one person in the world who thinks Sexton is a 12.

Especially considering Hanrahan is a 12.

Podge_irl

I think Hanrahan made a good shift of 10 at the RWC. I think he would make a better 12 in the second five-eights role then a 10 in some respects - somewhat similar to Contempomi.

totallegend

Podge_irl wrote: »

I highly doubt McFadden will be our best 12 in 2015 (and we'd be in trouble if he was) but there is no way JJ is pushing Sexton out to 12 either. If either of them are going to 12 its JJ. There is only one person in the world who thinks Sexton is a 12.

Agree on McFadden.

Hanrahan will never be the Irish 10 IMO; even when he was tearing it up at the World Cup, the qualities he showed were more those of an inside centre, i.e. lovely step, good pace, soft hands etc. Since we appear to have a gaping hole at 12 coming up in the next year or two, this isn't a bad thing.

I would imagine that the threat to Sexton will come from Jackson and Madigan.

GerM

I would very much struggle to see McFadden ever getting more than a few caps at 12 for Ireland. He's 26 now and there are a number of very promising young inside centres on the horizon. Luke Marshall, JJ Hanrahan and Chris Farrell all look like very natural inside centres and are tipped to step up to the next level. I can see Darce holding off McFadden for at least another 18 months at which point I would think Hanrahan or Marshall will have had regular rugby for his province and will be primed for a Wolfhounds cap at the very least.

Would agree, TL. The threats for Sexton will be from guys who are going to be natural outhalves. Jackson is the stand out candidate for me purely because he's going to be getting a lot of game time with Ulster now. Madigan will get games but not the high level ones. At this point, it seems very likely that PJ will be Ulster's starting 10 in the HEC which, realistically, is something Madigan might never be at Leinster.

armchaircoach

It's funny how those exact same criteria apply to madigan, who is also a young and up and coming star. Is there a chance that we'll see him pay a bit at 12 over the next few years.

totallegend

armchaircoach wrote: »

It's funny how those exact same criteria apply to madigan, who is also a young and up and coming star. Is there a chance that we'll see him pay a bit at 12 over the next few years.

I've always thought that too; with his step and acceleration, he'd be a decent 12 (and of course, he played full-back for Ireland U20s).

Fishooks12

GerM wrote: »

I would very much struggle to see McFadden ever getting more than a few caps at 12 for Ireland. He's 26 now and there are a number of very promising young inside centres on the horizon. Luke Marshall, JJ Hanrahan and Chris Farrell all look like very natural inside centres and are tipped to step up to the next level. I can see Darce holding off McFadden for at least another 18 months at which point I would think Hanrahan or Marshall will have had regular rugby for his province and will be primed for a Wolfhounds cap at the very least.

Would agree, TL. The threats for Sexton will be from guys who are going to be natural outhalves. Jackson is the stand out candidate for me purely because he's going to be getting a lot of game time with Ulster now. Madigan will get games but not the high level ones. At this point, it seems very likely that PJ will be Ulster's starting 10 in the HEC which, realistically, is something Madigan might never be at Leinster.

I agree, and this is why I felt Madigan should have left Leinster for the good of his own career. He might reach 26 before he's first choice

Although If he continues his upward curve he'll put Sexton under serious pressure

profitius

Remember folks that Hanrahan got nominated for JWC player of the tournament when playing at 10. I'd have him at 10 because he has so many moves in his locker its hard to defend against and 10s receive the ball more than most players. I think Leinster should also consider moving Sexton to center more to allow Madigan play more at 10.

They could also switch 10 and 12 during the match. Some teams do it for defensive reasons but it can be done for attack reasons too.

GerM

Hanrahan is much more suited to 12, I think, profitius. Whilst he had a great tournament, the specific tasks that are handed to a 10 were his weakest points such as his kicking from hand where he struggled. He's a cavalier player and comes up with great moments rather than offering a calm control on the game. There's a chasm between U20 and senior level and those moves won't often work at senior level. The opposition will be stronger, faster and smarter.

It's not a coincidence that nearly all his rugby comes at centre for Munster and Ireland U20 with the likes of Jackson, Deasy and McKinney being preferred. I think his side would benefit much more from him playing inside a good passer and controlling player that can make him more a running threat himself as well as a second playmaker. Perhaps he will improve the weaker areas of his game, he certainly has the time to do so but I think we might lose out on an excellent inside centre for a good outhalf if he is sent out at 10.

Quint2010

Fishooks12 wrote: »

I agree, and this is why I felt Madigan should have left Leinster for the good of his own career. He might reach 26 before he's first choice

Do people not realise that Madigan has become such a good player BECAUSE he is playing at Leinster? He is being coached by an outstanding team and playing in an environment that encourages the exact type of rugby he excels at.

I reckon he is good enough to really push Sexton this year and give Schmidt a major headache

totallegend

profitius wrote: »

Remember folks that Hanrahan got nominated for JWC player of the tournament when playing at 10. I'd have him at 10 because he has so many moves in his locker its hard to defend against and 10s receive the ball more than most players. I think Leinster should also consider moving Sexton to center more to allow Madigan play more at 10.

They could also switch 10 and 12 during the match. Some teams do it for defensive reasons but it can be done for attack reasons too.

Well Declan, did you enjoy your summer holidays?

[only kidding...]