D’arcy was another fine player but the best 12 in the 4N throughout his career? Not sure that’s true, if so then it’s inexplicable that he didn’t cap more for the Lions given that the undisputed 1st choice 13 for 3 of those tours was his centre partner for Ireland. IIRC he was up against the likes of Davies, Davidson, Roberts, Flutey and peak Tuilagi. He certainly belongs in the conversation but it’s hard to argue that he was the standout best over those years.
Doak miles ahead of Casey IMO
I think Murphy has an argument to make too tbh. I hope he gets a run in coming international window.
I have been saying it for a long time that Casey is very overrated. Punters like him because of his stature & his feistiness. But his rugby ability is not international test level.
He has a lovely pass but his decision making is questionable. SH has to be one of the best decision makers on the pitch.
Munster did not want Casey around the fringes of rucks/mauls they were losing, he is sent out to defend beside OC as the opp/Conn are targeting him, he is regularly swatted away if he is near ruck/maul.
He scored tonight but the gap opened like the Red Sea, personally prefer the kid, Donovan, bigger physically.
Casey is very reliant on Crowley to run the show, but for Ireland a lot of the control of the backline comes from 9, which Casey just doesn't have.
I don't know if any of you have watched Connacht the last month or so but Cian Prendergast has gone to another level. He's been fantastic, on the verge of surreal.
In terms of the backrow though last night, look at what he was up against. He was excellent but also need to see more of him against higher quality opposition. Hopefully Connacht make the Champions Cup next season.
He was the same against the Stormers and Lions in South Africa.
Yeah fair enough. Stormers was a statement win. He also started against France in the 6N and didn't look like a standout.
The whole team was crap in Paris and he paid the price. He wasn't bad but Farrell had to weird the axe. He should get plenty of game time in the summer series to play himself back into contention.
That's before this sudden improvement happened. He's gone to a different level in the last six or so weeks. Looks like a completely different player. He's very hard to stop now, making huge runs a lot. His defense is incredible and if he's not scoring a try he's on the back of the lad trying to get over. He's all around the pitch and involved an awful lot. He's putting in a massive effort every game and playing the full 80.
He's been excellent, a menace on the deck and very good as a jumper.
Wales have named an extended squad for their summer games today. I wonder will we see a training squad named soon by Farrell. With Baird on crutches, a rumour going around that Beirnes knee injury is quite bad and he will miss the summer and Edogbo in a sling after the weekend, the make up of 4/5/6/8 will be interesting. There are plenty of options in the backrow with Conan, VDF, Doris, Soroka, Prendergast, Jansen, Izzy, Timoney, B Ward all playing well and will be in with a shout. A lot less at 2nd row. Ryan and Joe McC are guarantees and D Murray I presume will be there. Do they look at maybe Harry Sheridan? Or play Izzy as a 2nd row? Can’t think of too many other legitimate options really.
Apparently Beirne was spotted out in Dublin over weekend and had his knee in a brace
Mangan could be worth a shout too, been impressed with his showings lately. Izzy and Prendergast should definitely see some solid game time. Bryn Ward and Tierney-Martin could be good bets too.
Supporters can tend towards hyperbole when they're team is doing well, but in this case i think it's true that Prendergast has gone through a phase change in his performances.
At the beginning of the season the crowd of pretenders for the 6 jersey looked quite congested: Aherne, Izzy, Baird, Prendergast. Cian has shown the first two a clean pair of heels and Baird has been crocked since a good showing in the Autumn series.
Soroka has looked good and progressed, he'll be a contender after the next RWC.
Probably going to be an Irish squad announced in the next few weeks for the Nations Series games. Tried to have a look at a current best 23 of uncapped players (in my opinion):
Player
Club
15. Harry West
Connacht
14. Josh Kenny
Leinster
13. Dan Kelly
Munster
12. Jude Postlethwaite
Ulster
11. Zac Ward
10. Jack Murphy
9. Matthew Devine
Connacht / Ulster
2. Diarmuid Barron
3. Scott Wilson
4. Charlie Irvine
5. Diarmuid Mangan
6. James McNabney
7. Bryn Ward
8. Sean Jansen
16. Dylan Tierney Martin
17. Alex Usanov
18. Sam Illo
19. Harry Sheridan
20. Brian Gleeson
21. Fintan Gunne
22. Sean Naughton
23. Cathal Forde
We're relatively deep in some positions: both THPs here look like having full international potential, the back row options all look good (and Ward & Jansen could well be capped this summer IMO), and we've got some good young centres coming through.
Other positions are weaker: the two hookers included here are unlikely to ever be capped, but it's a position Ireland are relatively deep in.
Some guys were lucky to make the 23, and I'd say Brian Gleeson & Fintan Gunne are in more for their potential and what they showed as U20s rather than what they've delivered as senior players.
Unlucky to miss out: Alex Soroka, David McCann.
You are obviously a Scott Wilson fan 🙂. Sam Illo?
Check THP again
Sorry, should be Illo on the bench.
Similar, but slightly different, I also picked our best possible 23 of players aged 25 or younger right now, and it's a relatively promising selection too IMO:
Team
15. Jamie Osborne*
11. Shayne Bolton*
10. Sam Prendergast*
9. Nathan Doak*
2. Tom Stewart*
4. Darragh Murray*
5. Joe McCarthy*
8. Brian Gleeson
16. Gus McCarthy*
17. Jack Boyle*
19. Edwin Edogbo*
20. Alex Kendellen*
21. Ben Murphy*
22. Jack Murphy
*already capped at senior level
A pretty strong selection I think, with notable depth at lock (three really good young players), and LHP where Billy Bohan doesn't make this side despite having huge potential. Centre another area with lots of quality young depth IMO, and some really promising players coming through in the back row.
You've named McNabney at 6 in both selections, a player I haven't paid much attention to but will keep an eye on now.
My suspicion is that Billy Bohan is going to leapfrog Jack Boyle who is not predicted to return until early 2027 - that's a long time to be out.
Is McNaby back fit?
Yeah, I think he looked exceptional last season, and probably was capped last summer if he didn't do his ACL in international camp. It's always an if with a player coming back from that type of injury to see if they can maintain their athleticism etc, but that seems less a concern nowadays.
He won't be back till next season from what I know of him, but he brings elite size to the back row (6ft 5ins, c. 118kg), quickness, power, and handling. He played over 1,100 mins for Ulster last season as a 22-year-old. I'd be very high on his potential (and it's a position with lots of talented players - Alex Soroka, Dave McCann, Ruadhan Quinn, James Culhane, Sean Edogbo etc).
I think you could be right on Bohan too - he is only going to get better and better IMO.
Cathal Forde needs to be in any uncapped XV at 12. I know I’ve been banging his drum before but I rate him highly and have no idea how he hasn’t been capped by now.
Yeah, he's excellent, I just rate Jude Postlethwaite a bit higher. You could just as easily pick Postlethwaite at 13 (or Forde at 13) and put Kelly in the 23 shirt.
There are a good few good young options coming through in the centres, including guys I haven't mentioned here like: Hugh Gavin, Hugh Cooney, Harry West (as a 13), Ben Carson, Charlie Tector and then of course Jamie Osborne is still only 24 as well.
Darcy had huge limitations, especially regarding his defence and lack of size.
he was not better than Jamie Roberts 2009- onwards and certainly wasn’t better than Will Greenwood.
Did Greenwood win Six Nations player of the year?
I remember a while back that people disagreed with me when I said that D'Arcy never gets the recognition he deserves. He's close to, if not, the most underrated Irish player ever.
In an uncapped XV I’d have Forde 12, Jude 13. Both have been doing the business consistently for a number of years now. Kelly is decent but he was in the English system for years and they were never really interested in him (1 cap v Canada during a Lions summer). Easy to forget Gavin actually got capped v Portugal last year and scored 2 tries. He probably hasn’t kicked on as we hoped he would since then.
I think Tector is really underrated personally. With Reiko leaving, I think Osborne will be used at 13 more next season, which opens the door for Tector to get more game time at 12. Cooney still has a lot to prove. West has looked good, but very early days for him.
