Rugby world cup post mortem
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Leaving Sexton, Earls and Healy out, here are the age profiles (in 2027) of the remaining 31 players from the squad:
Starting with the areas we look the strongest. We should be fine at fullback and at hooker.
Funny how time moves on too; we were always worried about producing locks. But I think this is an area of relative comfort for us. Ryan and McCarthy will still be around. Baird might also develop to be an option there. Munster have very high hopes for Edogbo and Ahern. Leinster also have Deeny coming through. One of Henderson and/or Beirne might also be around, though I'd be more skeptical about the latter, given how much punishment he takes in games. Four years to get the lineout sorted too.
Again, funny about time. Not so long ago it seemed as though Irish rugby had so many backrow forwards we didn't know what to do with them. But you can imagine POM, vdF and Conan will each struggle to make 2027. That's a heck of a lot of leadership and workrate that will need replacing. That said, Munster have very high hopes for Quinn and Gleeson. Kendellen, Hodnett and Coombes will also be looking to step up to international level. Less sure about what Leinster have coming through here? Connors, Deegan, Penny and Soroka all have the right age profile. Connors was certainly in the conversation once upon a time. You can imagine Cian Prendergast will also be a key player for us going forward. We should be OKish here?
Wings will look completely different in 2027, as I'd say Lowe will almost certainly be gone. But we could see JOB being deployed more there, and you'd hope that someone out of Daly, Nash or Baloucoune can step up. Shay McCarthly looks electric. One or two newbies together with Hansen and I think we should be fine. Would be great if someone develops into a legit kicking option (outside of JOB).
Between Crowley, the Byrnes and Prendergast, we should have decent competition at outhalf. The key here will be to resist temptations to compare players to Sexton, though I fear this might be inevitable.
Loosehead might be OK, if Paddy McCarthy comes along in time. Loughman will also be peaking as a prop in the coming four years. If Porter is still near his current level it's more likely that we'll be OK here. But there is risk.
Tighthead seems more of a lottery. We could theoretically still have both Furlong and Bealham, but just as likely have neither. Furlong's declining form is a worry in any case.
Midfield is become an area of greater concern. I think we'll be lucky if we still have two of those four centres playing at the highest level in 2027. In all likelihood only Ringrose will still be around and we'll see a good bit of overhaul here. Leinster seem high on Osbourne and Frawley might also be someone who can step up. Frisch will hopefully get some international minutes soon. Much is made about replacing Sexton, but if both Henshaw and Aki need replacing, they are comparably sized shoes to fill.
Scrum-half is also a worry. Murray will almost certainly be retired and JGP's game is so reliant on his pace that at 35 he may not be around either. Blade will be 33, possibly an option. Otherwise... all eyes on PFP?
tl:dr
Grand: Fullback, hooker, locks, backrow (probably)
Meeeh: Outhalf, loosehead, tighthead, wings
AAARRGH: Midfield, scrumhalf
(Usual caveats about it being hard to predict things four years out, there are always bolters out of the blue, etc. etc.)
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