Talking about Boyle in an irish context is way too soon. Its his first start in a pro game ffs. His technipue is grand but not superb.
I dont think Furlong is spent at all. more he badly needs a rest/break which is very different.
How much more of a rest could he get? He's had his minutes managed like everyone else, not like he's playing a rake of URC games.
Just my opinion, LO. I have hopes for this lad. I know he'll struggle, he'll probably be minced this week. He's got time to learn and this week's environment will be a testing one. I hope he does really well.
He's been 'needing a break' since 2021. He's simply past it. We'll plough on with him because we have nothing else in the pipeline but moving Porter back to LH has been a disaster. He 'just needs time to adjust' since 2021 as well.
The last 2 years with Porter at LH has been a disaster? In what sense?
I'm the sense that he still hasn't learn to scrummage and gets penalised all the time.
It is true because Leinster did lose, and were dominated by LAR apart from the opening 15 minutes when Leinster scored off set pieces.
Anyway, We can play counter factual all day but the reality is Leinster have a new head coach who will almost certainly bring some changes to the Leinster playstyle with him. This will have knock on effects for Ireland.
Not sure I would say Furlong is spent. He was playing well in the World Cup and even in the NZ game when he clearly had a niggle. Bealham has done well but is older than Furlong which was a surprise to me, Furlong could well play into the next WC but he won't be dancing around Scottish players. Age catch's up with everyone.
Penalised all the time is hyperbolic. I’d agree it’s not the strongest part of his game, but there’s a degree of recency bias going on as our scrums didn’t go well against NZ. The Irish scrum has generally held up well. If he was penalised all the time at scrums, Leinster and Ireland wouldn’t have won many of the games he started in over the last 2 years as usually no scrum means no win.
Scrums are often at the mercy of the referee’s interpretation. Who remembers Genge destroying Furlong according to Raynal in 2022? In reality, on another day Genge would have been blown off the pitch for driving across. I can’t think of too many other days over the last 2 years where our scrum was a liability?
The rebirth of this Irish team since 2021 coincided with Porter’s switch to LH. The man is regularly going 70mins+ into games due to the lack of cover. His move has not been a disaster unless you think we should have been starting Healy, Kilcoyne or Loughman over the last 2 years? Or can you name an alternative option who could have packed down at LH to win a GS, NZ tour and contribute to a 17 match unbeaten run?
Just saw some stats that we were 2nd last in Scrum win % in the competition with 76.9% with only Georgia behind us at 76%. I don't think the scrum was that bad in the tournament or 6 nations, but I definitely think it's a weakness and I don't think we have many props in the pipeline who will help that unfortunately.
How the hell does a team famous for its scrum and producing props in Georgia have the worst scrum win percentage in the competition 😂
13 penalties in the 6N is pretty much all the time, as far as I'm concerned.
I think you’ll find they weren’t all scrum penalties. His discipline issues in open play were talked about around the time which in general he seems to have tightened up on although he did give away the first penalty against NZ in open play. That’s not a positional issue.
He has terrible technique, which means he's always vulnerable to a ref blowing him up like Barnes.
The Indo is reporting that Mike Catt could be leaving his role as attack coach. Would be a big blow. We've one of the best attacks in rugby.
Ah shame
Would be a big loss, does open up the opportunity to hire ROG!
ROG has a contract with La Rochelle until 2027 and isn't leaving for anything other than a Head Coach role.
Well he isnt getting the Irish HC role unless comes through the Irish system wether it be the provinces or the Irish NT as an assistant.
Then he isn't getting a role so.
Well if his aspiration is to coach the Irish NT like he said it is then he's going to have to bite the bullet.
That'd be a big loss.
Noel McNamara to replace him? Or would they want someone higher profile?
Presume it’s far too early but I’d expect to see at least one journalist drop sextons name in the mix as a replacement.
Already happened, O'connor in the Indo I think.
Ruaidhri O'Connor has already done it!
I hope it's a non-runner of an idea. Sexton has a wealth of experience and knowledge of how to structure an attack. We should be trying to tap into that. But if he decides he wants to be a coach he absolutely should not be parachuted into a test level position.
A Leinster gig is even too much for him right now. SOB is is already learning on the job.
I can't imagine there would be the slightest bit of interest from either side for that.
I'm pretty sure I've seen a quote somewhere in the last few weeks where going into coaching was put to him and he specifically said he didn't want to coach guys he'd spent years playing with.
That's good logic alright. In terms of going from player to coach there's a lot to be said for ROG's path.
Fair enough his first job was working with Sexton, but aside from that he's stayed away from Ireland and gotten exposure to two of the best rugby cultures there are.
Also, there's always the risk that a player becoming a coach will be crap :L John Muldoon said as much when he was going to bristol. "But it's a win-win for Connacht; if I'm a crap coach they'll have spent no money on me to find out!"
I've watched him say in interviews that he doesn't want to go into coaching at a professional level full stop. He wants to transition into a normal career with a 9-5 so he can enjoy his family life. Perhaps he'd consider some type of a role in years to come, but not every player goes into coaching. May as well start talking about Brian O'Driscoll becoming a coach.
Catt is relocating his family back to England apparently - has he secured a position there I wonder. Surely it's either a club head coach or assistant with Borthwick..
