captain fantastic!..who will be successor to o'driscoll

defadman

were at a turning point Irish rugby. when BOD leaves who do feel is the best man to lead Ireland

Fireball07

POC or Heaslip.

Hagz

JONATHAN SEXTON!

wixfjord

Interesting question.
Perhaps a mod could add a poll and discount POC because he's obviously next in line but may be gone at the same stage as BOD, or soon after.

Options I'd include:

Best
Ferris
Heaslip
Sexton
Bowe
O Brien
Healy

defadman

well I think its a tough one! I mean yes POC is great but he is getting on now.Personally I feel Heaslip is probably best

Hype710

Is Rob Kearney a dark horse?

Would have said Heaslip last year but now am not so sure. You want your captain to be guaranteed his starting spot and while Heaslip is now, who's to say he will be in a couple of years?

Also, outhalfs have enough to worry about without the pressures of captaincy!

Fireball07

wixfjord wrote: »

Interesting question.
Perhaps a mod could add a poll and discount POC because he's obviously next in line but may be gone at the same stage as BOD, or soon after.

Options I'd include:

Best
Ferris
Heaslip
Sexton
Bowe
O Brien
Healy

Well POC could realistically still be starting in 2015...it's very unlikely that BOD will.

Heaslip would be the natural choice, and as long as he's guaranteed his place, he should get it if POC doesn't.

zinzan

O'Brien.

whysomoody

zinzan wrote: »

O'Brien.

/end thread/

antogz1979

POC for me still another 4 years in the man. BOD should be made give up the captaincy now. He is not going to see the next WC. Heaslip will be lucky to hold onto his place, not an option for me.

Sraw

Hype710 wrote: »

You want your captain to be guaranteed his starting spot and while Heaslip is now, who's to say he will be in a couple of years?

You could say that about anyone who is in the running to be named captain. Heaslip seems to be the name that pops into mind when thinking of a captain for the next world cup.

wixfjord

O Brien certainly doesn't have the smarts needed to be an international captain yet, he's a while to go before that.

Heaslip is certainly the obvious choice, and I'm sure he'll have a huge season for Leinster, plus he's matured quite a lot in the last few years, but Best would be a dark horse for me.

Will certainly be our number 1 hooker for the next year until Strauss qualifies, and he's huge experience with Ulster.

efb

Heaslip

.ak

I think it'll go to POC and then Heaslip in two years... if Heaslip gets back into rearing form.

wixfjord

antogz1979 wrote: »

POC for me still another 4 years in the man. BOD should be made give up the captaincy now. He is not going to see the next WC. Heaslip will be lucky to hold onto his place, not an option for me.

Wow what a surprise.

Yes I can imagine Deccie telling BOD to "give up his captaincy" indeed.

profitius

Best would be best at the moment. Theres not too many choices when you think of it. Maybe thats part of the reason Ireland are inconsistent? Most successful teams have leaders throughout the team but I don't see it with Ireland.

tolosenc

Gotta be Heaslip.

MungBean

I say Heaslip.

[Jackass]

If Kidney is coach after the lions (contract ends same season as BO'D) then it will be O'Connell, if it's a new coach it will be Heaslip or O'Brien or Ferris, if his injuries are behind him.

MungBean

profitius wrote: »

Best would be best at the moment. Theres not too many choices when you think of it. Maybe thats part of the reason Ireland are inconsistent? Most successful teams have leaders throughout the team but I don't see it with Ireland.

We do though. ROG, POC, BOD, Sexton and Heaslip are all leaders. The latter needing some time to grow into the roles as they are handed over from the older players.

We had BOD, POC and ROG running the show for a long time. Leadership was never an issue I dont think.

.ak

I love SOB as much as the next human being, but I can't see how he has any Skipper qualities....

shootermacg

I like the idea of Best, Ireland's best player in the world cup.

Cill94

defadman wrote: »

well I think its a tough one! I mean yes POC is great but he is getting on now.Personally I feel Heaslip is probably best

Heaslip doesn't really lead by example though. He's one of the best 8s in the world when on form but his form tends to fluctuate a bit too much to be team leader imo.

Ash.J.Williams

healy, sexton, or sean o'brien would be great captains.

myflipflops

Too early to call.

O'Driscoll will probably stick around another season at least and retain the captaincy. In another year, the international scene could be much changed.

As it stands, in a years time, O'Connell and Best will probably be the 2 main contenders with Best maybe favorite as he is more likely to be at the 2015 World Cup. After his form at the World Cup (and Flannerys chronic injury problems) Best is now one of the first names on the teamsheet for the first time in his career.

It would be a shame if O'Connell went through his career without being the full time Ireland captain for at least one 6 Nations campaign though.

jacothelad

Ash.J.Williams wrote: »

healy, sexton, or sean o'brien would be great captains.

On what basis? Leading by example is one thing, being charismatic is quite another.

duckysauce

Best

jacothelad

Ash.J.Williams wrote: »

healy, sexton, or sean o'brien would be great captains.

On what basis do you make your assertion? I'm sure they could lead by example but a true leader, one you would follow through hell, is usually one of a very charismatic nature or one who has great experience and who holds the admiration and respect of a such a disparate bunch from all 4 corners of the country. I don't know enough about these three good players in that regard to say one way or the other that they would indeed by Captains fantastic so I'd like to know why you are certain.

Eoin

As I've said before, the best player on the team isn't always captain material, and the leaders in a squad might not be obvious at all to those outside of the immediate group. I'd say that Rory Best or Simon Easterby weren't thought of as captains by the general public. Yet Easterby was sometimes picked because of his leadership quality, even if he wasn't the best player.

It could end up being someone obvious like Heaslip, or it could be a dark horse (to outsiders).

myflipflops

Ash.J.Williams wrote: »

healy, sexton, or sean o'brien would be great captains.

If i was picking Ireland players I want to be making key decisions (eg kick for corner or posts) with 15 minutes to go in the heat of battle in a tight game, I reckon Cian Healy might be the last player on the list.

He will be a key part of the Ireland pack for the next decade and will lead by example but captain? I really hope not.

monkey90

Paddy Wallace will sooner captain Ireland than Cian Healy

My vote would be for Heaslip or Rory Best

Podge_irl

Would have said Heaslip for definite but he's gone off the boil a little bit. Still think he would be an excellent choice though and regardless of any slight drop off in form is still easily the best 8 available to us. Best must be more clearly into the frame now though. He was excellent during the world cup and with Flannery's injury problems he's a dead cert at 2 now. To be honest, with the way he's playing he should be a dead cert anyway. He is the Ulster captain though isn't he? They don't always look the most organised and consistent of teams - dunno how much of that is down to Best.

anonymous_joe

Having not read any of this thread, I hope we're all fully aware that if it's not Rory Best it'll be an absolute disgrace.

Eoin

anonymous_joe wrote: »

Having not read any of this thread, I hope we're all fully aware that if it's not Rory Best it'll be an absolute disgrace.

I would only agree with that because he is known for his leadership, not just because he had a good campaign.

anonymous_joe

Eoin wrote: »

I would only agree with that because he is known for his leadership, not just because he had a good campaign.

My point exactly. He's a known leader and young enough to be in charge for at least two or three seasons.

corny

As long as DK is in charge i can't see Heaslip having the honour. Best or POC are the obvious alternatives should BOD step aside in the near future but if he doesn't i'll go for Fitzgerald in a couple of years!

anonymous_joe

DOS?

thomond2006

Rory Best

corny

anonymous_joe wrote: »

DOS?

Jesus! GAA forum, Declan O' Sullivan on my mind.:o

DK for the win.

Chucky the tree

Can't believe people are suggesting Healy. He strikes me as a terrible candidate.

duckysauce

anonymous_joe wrote: »

DOS?

Disk Operating System

then there was win 3.11

then


D. K.

anonymous_joe

corny wrote: »

Jesus! GAA forum, Declan O' Sullivan on my mind.:o

DK for the win.

Fair enough so. No idea who he is now either. :pac:

And Ducky, ffs. :P

Cill94

You're all forgetting about O' Callaghan. Apparently he's not all ****s & giggles all the time but is quite an important leader within the squad. He's captained the lions before too. He's 32 though so it's unlikely he'd be able to hold the captaincy through to the next world cup.

pajunior

No need to decide for two years. If POC is still in the team he gets my vote. Otherwise it's Best of Heaslip.

jasper11

heaslip for me . he had a good world cup havin to alter his game and anybody who studied his game will see he took on the no7 role on the floor. poc tho i want having 2yrs or so at it. mite prolong his career to. hate to see him retire soon. it actually fills me with dread tbh.

jacothelad

Podge_irl wrote: »

Would have said Heaslip for definite but he's gone off the boil a little bit. Still think he would be an excellent choice though and regardless of any slight drop off in form is still easily the best 8 available to us. Best must be more clearly into the frame now though. He was excellent during the world cup and with Flannery's injury problems he's a dead cert at 2 now. To be honest, with the way he's playing he should be a dead cert anyway. He is the Ulster captain though isn't he? They don't always look the most organised and consistent of teams - dunno how much of that is down to Best.

There are two factors at play. Poor coaches and indifferent players.
I've moved the rest of the post to the Ulster thread.

Webbs

Assuming it'll be a 18months to 2yrs before a new captain will be chosen it is almost impossible to tell.

If Kidney and his backroom team lose some of their innate conservatism then there could well be a captain in one of the new bunch of players that may come through. Horwill and Warburton for example have been made captains at a relatively young age with not a huge number of caps.

Being a good captain isnt all about gung ho following by example. I would argue that O'Driscoll didnt have a great world cup as Captain, the Welsh game being an example where he should have stood up and forced O'Gara to go for the posts.

[Jackass]

RE credentials, Heaslip is the Leinster captain in waiting and captained Leinster a number of times last season, including during the winning HEC campaign, and Sean O'Brien captained Leinster a number of times under Joe Schmidt also.

Healy would be a terrible candidate, most prolific sin binning player at Leinster.

Sexton is a dark horse, not sure he has the maturity for it just yet, but maybe in a couple of years. He needs to be a more commanding presence in the Irish camp though.

CIARAN_BOYLE

[Jackass] wrote: »

Sexton is a dark horse, not sure he has the maturity for it just yet, but maybe in a couple of years. He needs to be a more commanding presence in the Irish camp though.

I hink the OH has enough to do in terms if leadership and decision making without being captain

totallegend

Webbs wrote: »

Assuming it'll be a 18months to 2yrs before a new captain will be chosen it is almost impossible to tell.

If Kidney and his backroom team lose some of their innate conservatism then there could well be a captain in one of the new bunch of players that may come through. Horwill and Warburton for example have been made captains at a relatively young age with not a huge number of caps.

Agreed, I think it would be a retrograde step appointing POC as captain even now, when he has limited time left. You could argue the same, to a lesser degree, about Best. BOD was 23/24 when made captain (although he had two world cups behind him) so a younger player would be a good call to give us continuity for a few years. Not sure there's any leading candidate though.

Webbs wrote: »

Being a good captain isnt all about gung ho following by example. I would argue that O'Driscoll didnt have a great world cup as Captain, the Welsh game being an example where he should have stood up and forced O'Gara to go for the posts.

BOD has always been the type of captain to lead by example and if players aren't inspired by the way his commitment to the game, then they're dead inside. The decision to go for the corners so early on in the Welsh game was odd alright, but I don't think there's any suggestion that it was O'Gara's decision and that BOD backed down on it, is there? As captain, I assume BOD made the call.

wixfjord

[Jackass] wrote: »

RE credentials, Heaslip is the Leinster captain in waiting and captained Leinster a number of times last season, including during the winning HEC campaign, and Sean O'Brien captained Leinster a number of times under Joe Schmidt also.

Healy would be a terrible candidate, most prolific sin binning player at Leinster.

Sexton is a dark horse, not sure he has the maturity for it just yet, but maybe in a couple of years. He needs to be a more commanding presence in the Irish camp though.

Has he? I don't remember that!
I agree, Healy would be the last person on my list, just putting him forward though. Ross also, but for completely different reasons.