Which has been acknowledged plenty of times.
However, that same player has completely stalled in his development since and, for two years in a row, has managed to completely drop his from in the important months leading to the Six Nations.
Same conversations over and over and over again.
Eh easy tiger...i never said he wasnt good enough to play.
I said he's not a test level 13 or 15 (stop gap at best) for me.
He's more likely a 12 & i'd guess he'd make a very good one.
His versatility is ultimately his downfall re nailing down a position
Its clear Farrell doesnt see him as a 13...i put zero stock in a game v Georgia & a 5 nations pacifically xv on the Lions tour
That attitude is exactly why we end up with an old out of form player continuing to play…
He’s clearly shown he’s good enough, but like with most players we give them little opertunity to steak a claim.
He played there for the Lions and Ireland against Georgia.
He's not good enough to play either at test level imo.
When did he play centre more than once?
Osborne is well capable of playing either centre position, I think. He was nominated for European Player of the year as a 21 year old off the back of playing inside centre in the absence of Henshaw. But he also fills in well at 13 when Ringrose is unavailable. Thought he was excellent in the URC QF and SF last season playing outside centre.
His biggest problem is his versatility. He's well capable of playing anywhere from 11-15. His kicking and fielding also make him a decent fullback. I'd love to see him nail a starting spot at centre though. He's a big lad who can carry powerfully into contact, but also get his hands free to offload. His similar to McCloskey in that regard, although the latter definitely gets more metres in contact. Osborne has a good passing and kicking game and could be the happy medium between that front up basher and pivot that Leinster/Ireland desperately require.
When he’s played under Farrell he’s mostly played 15 or 13.
Osbourne is a 12
Really? You should have mentioned this at some point.
The year after Sexton retired Ireland won the 6Ns. The outhalf that played then is still available.
The only reason we are goosed at 13 is because we won’t back someone like Osborne at 13 like we should be doing.
Needs to be made clear, any issue we have in this department is of our own making before we try make excuses.
That's a fair comment. Henderson was terrific in his pomp and unfortunately disappeared, or so it seemed, with little fanfare.
Unfortunately for him he was still being picked at international level when he was well past his standards. Kind of what Farrell can do, past form = trust. Like Ringrose, Aki and Henshaw.
Mind you, we're goosed for a natural 13 and on recent evidence he was right to continue with Johnny Sexton as long as he did.
We're missing Mike Catt aren't we?
I can see a day in the not so distant future where Mark Sexton is in the coaching set up. He has been totally transformative for Ulster's attack play this season.
notably, it took 2+ years for the seeds to bear fruit. You know, right about at this stage of the WC cycle. Farrell seems to have failed to reboot the squad and I don't see any evidence of a system that's going to suddenly click.
Think we're looking at another poor end to a coaching regime.
injures was always his biggest obstacle. Still got 85 caps.
was basically in the 1st team since Autumn 2012 until autumn 2025.
No-one is getting crucified. Ireland got schooled by France in a game where the set piece performed pretty well. Skills, execution, game plan and ability to adjust dynamically are absent. So leadership and coaching problems get discussed.
2019 was a transition phase and look what came after, keep the faith , trust the system, the stars of the future are the same guys getting crucified today on Boards
TOB and Stockdale in our b3 is plenty of pace, if we are losing collisions then it doesn’t matter how much pace we have as we won’t create the space needed to utilise that pace, Leinster have the exact same issue atm.
Any issues we have in personal totally pale in comparison to the issues surrounding attitude and tactics. This is fast approaching 2019 level of bad, where we just look like we are going through the motions every game.
If we get no response from these players after the that performance then that will tell us all we need to know about the attitude of the players…the words Andy Farrell used to describe the players attitude, if the players are worth their salt they should be doing their best to prove Farrell wrong.
I dunno what they're doing in training tbh. The passing skills are lacking. The defense is ****, the attack ****. If there's a plan, it's not evident.
I think in Ireland we are so unused to having pace in our back three - that we search for "football talent" in lieu of athletic ability. That focus has gone in the main by our rivals and we need to fast-track (not intended) the quicker players and accept they wont all be distributors or kickers…
..
A player I always thought could hit 100 caps, but sadly that doesn’t look likely now.
It’s one poster to be fair. I was certainly in the camp of wanting more experimentation, but I’m definitely not calling for Farrell’s head, and don’t expect any change this side of the RWC.
There is quality in the squad and there is significant issues with the attitude and tactics.
However, we also have a dearth of talent in the back 3, at halfback and midfield has been a bit of a desert beyond the frontline guys for years.
Why would they not be doing skills training?
There’s plenty of quality in the squad. When the players are walking into contact and look like such a rabble in defence then that’s on the coaches…
If the team isn't doing skills training regularly, that's absolutely on the coaches.
I have never heard before in my life a coach at a province, not even a head coach, is getting the blame for the performance of a country
It's absolutely nonsense
Goodman has serious questions to answer, more than a defence coach.
He’s a good pundit - I like having him in commentary, always feel you learn a bit.
