606v2 picks the best Irish RWC 22: STARTING BACK 3

First topic message reminder :

First of all wanted to say thanks to everyone who has contributed over the past few days the debates have been pretty good for the most part. We have had nearly 1000 votes and nearly 600 comments and a lot of people have contributed to what has been a really good couple of days debating. It's been great to hear so many opinions (even ones I have disagreed with) and to get a feel for what everyone thinks of certain players. There were a number of very tight calls between Hayes and Buckley, O'Leary and Murray and McFadden and Fitzgerald so it's been interesting to see people's opinions being tested against those of others.

In this series gets the same great reaction and that we hear some more great debates that were started or were not touched on in the previous series. Calls like; should Jennings be on the bench, the backrow selections, the fullback selection, should Stringer be selected on the bench are all going to be very interesting and am looking forward to hearing everyones opinions.


The idea of this series is to establish the first choice front row, second row, backrow, halfbacks, centres, back3, forwards subs and backs subs. These debates I may leave a little longer than the previous series as more can be said about them. The idea is to chose the best 22 that we have be it on form, experience, partnerships, balance, fitness whatever.

Perhaps think of this as the team you want to line out against Australia

IN THE SERIES PLEASE LOOK AT THE PLAYERS WHO HAVE BEEN/YOU THINK WILL BE PICKED LATER IN THE SERIES, AS TO CREATE BALANCE IN THE TEAM
eg: Playing Flannery would mean needing a work horse somewhere else in the pack as Best does a lot of the donkey work.

IF A PLAYER IS IN OUR SQUAD PLEASE TAKE FOR GRANTED THAT THEY CAME THROUGH THE WARM UPS AND THUS HAVE SOME FORM (IF NOT A LOT) AND ARE SOMEWHAT FIT. THIS IS OBVIOUSLY A HYPOTHETICAL SITUATION.

We are going to use the squad that we (the 606v2 community) have chosen.

Healy, Ross, Buckley, Court
Best, Cronin, Flannery
O'Connell, O'Callaghan, Cullen, Ryan
Ferris, O'Brien, Wallace, Jennings, Heaslip
Reddan, Stringer, O'Leary*
Sexton, O'Gara
O'Driscoll, Darcy, Wallace
Bowe, Earls, Trimble, Kearney, Jones, McFadden

*O'Leary just beat Murray yesterday evening in the poll by one vote.

So far the team is

Healy-Best-Ross
O'Connell-O'Callaghan
Ferris-Heaslip-Wallace
Reddan-Sexton
Darcy-O'Driscoll

This will be a toughie...brace yourselves......

EARLS: One of the quickest members in the squad if not the quickest. Excellent ballance, acceleration and agility, and thus a fantastic broken field runner. Primarily a winger due to his pace and exceptional finishing skills, he has a great strike rate. Good tackler and also a good kicker of the ball. Can play 15 but hasn't really been tested in this position for Ireland under the high ball, can be a worry in this area but hopefully that facet of his game has improved.
BOWE: One of the best finishers in Europe. Deceptively quick and strong can ride a tackle for a few metres or put his foot on the gas. Fairly good defence and also a very good fielder of the ball. runs great lines off the halfbacks in the lineout and off the centres in general play. Is also good at running support lines and is an adept offloader himself. One weakness would be his kicking game is not of a very high standard.
TRIMBLE: The most physical back 3 player we have. Is excellent in contact and can pump the legs well in the tackle area, also has a good fend off. His skills are much improved from passing, to fielding, to kicking although they may not be as good as those of other back3 players, his offloading is the most improved IMO. he runs good lines off his wing and could be a go to man due to his strength and power.
MCFADDEN: Another very quick player who can also play in the centres. has good leg drive in the tackle and breaks more than you would think he should. Good kicker and fielder. Inexperienced and hasn't had that much game time for either Leinster or Ireland. Strong in defence and appears to have big game tempermeant (Clermont game for example) but a lot of question marks about how much of his potential he will live up to.
JONES: Has been a star player this season at Munster and has showed incredible mental strength in overcoming injuries. Fast, reliable, strong in defence, on form, has vision, good skills are all things you would say about him. Seems safe enough (not Kearney) under the high ball but much more elusive going forward with the ball. And has joined the line well over the past number of months showing good hands. Untried at HCup level as well as International level however.
KEARNEY: Has been out for over 9 months and wasn't in great form pre that injury. Is probably the best player under the highball in the world over the last 3 years or so. Is very fast in a straight line and can kick the ball further than any other Irish player (Sexton and ROG possibly excluded). His attacking play however is not great and too often he runs straight into contact from deep, doesn't pass or offload often enough and when joining the line can be selfish. His defence can be questionable at times too.

Enjoy

Remember...

a) think of balance of the whole team
b) assume if they are in the squad they have some form and some fitness (not necessarily full fitness or good form)
c) play nice and no provincial stuff, attack the arguement not the person making it
d) to place your votes
e) back up your points with examples, clips etc if possible

roddersm wrote:

Sin é wrote:Yes - Earls was considered to be better at outside centre than both JDV & Mafi!

No JDV & Earls was considered a better combination than either Mafi & Earls or Mafi & Tipoki, which is not the same.

The combination was always likely to be JDV & A.N. other and Earls and he combined better than he and Mafi did.

By your logic Barnes is a better outside centre than Earls, would you agree?

But JDV was on the bench at one stage. The only player who was starting every game was Earls (either at wing or centre). Earls & Mafi were a good enough combination to get Munster to a Heineken Cup semi in '09 (Tipoki picked up his injury against the ABs in Nov). In fairness to Mafi, he had an operation that summer and wasn't the same since.

My logic says that Barnes was being tested at the end of last season since Barry Murphy was retiring and Sammy was being let go to Sale, not to mention Warwick leaving (he plays 12 as well). And Declan Kidney probably wanted Earls playing a few games on the wing in prep for the world cup.

pete (buachaill on eirne) wrote:I think he meant relegated him to 12.

I don't think relegate is the right word. Jdv is one of the best 12s in the world and I could never understand why munster were trying him at 13. For mafi/jdv to work mafi had to be at 13. When earls played at 13 against perpignan in perpignan he was comfortably the best centre at the time and outshone mermoz and marty who were highly thought of in france at the time. Unfortunately marty has had injury problems and mermoz is a bit brittle mentally. Jdv/earls parternship had a lot of potential but unfortunately we only saw glimpses of what it could deliver for various reasons.

Relegate is the wrong word (I'd have JDV back in a flash) but for two very good players who are supposedly being played out of their best positions, Earls made the best fist of outside centre.

Sin é wrote:Relegate is the wrong word (I'd have JDV back in a flash) but for two very good players who are supposedly being played out of their best positions, Earls made the best fist of outside centre.

..and subsequently Barnes has made an even better fist of it so he must be better than JDV......

roddersm wrote:

Sin é wrote:Relegate is the wrong word (I'd have JDV back in a flash) but for two very good players who are supposedly being played out of their best positions, Earls made the best fist of outside centre.

..and subsequently Barnes has made an even better fist of it so he must be better than JDV......

Nope. Earls was always a starter*. JDV wasn't.

Edit: *even though he was carrying an injury.

I thought JDV was pretty poor for Munster I didn't think many people would want him back????

Went for Trimble, Bowe and Kearney- and earls on the bench.

The no. 15 is a very open position at the moment, I agree totally with what stag said earlier- Kearney and Jones to travel as the two full backs.
Warm ups will tell a lot about who gets what jersey and to be honest Earls could indeed end up playing 15......
We are blessed with the back three options we have.

pete (buachaill on eirne) wrote:I thought JDV was pretty poor for Munster I didn't think many people would want him back????

He was Munster's top try scorer the bit of a season he was here.

There is a poll on Munsterfans on what new centre signing you would like to see and JDV was well ahead of everyone else including Nonu.

http://www.munsterfans.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=28963&TPN=44

Re JDV, I thought his form was fairly bad at munster - possibly down to a few factors and changing position and centre partner a lot being the main one. Sure, he is a great player but never saw him deliver really for Munster (perhaps some Munster lads can correct me- just surprised to hear you would take him back, I mean he wasnt cheap).

Id take Nonu!! You are a sentimental bunch Sin!

pete (buachaill on eirne) wrote:I thought JDV was pretty poor for Munster I didn't think many people would want him back????

From the outside looking in, I thought he was very good after an initial bad start. The partnership between him looked to be coming good and then earls got injured after the six nations and played 3 games for munster after it. He was also one of the few munster players who played well against biarritz in the hec semi final.

Feagh McHugh wrote:Id take Nonu!! You are a sentimental bunch Sin!

Nonu earls would be a very good centre pairing but nonu has signed for the blue i think.

Feagh McHugh wrote:Re JDV, I thought his form was fairly bad at munster - possibly down to a few factors and changing position and centre partner a lot being the main one. Sure, he is a great player but never saw him deliver really for Munster (perhaps some Munster lads can correct me- just surprised to hear you would take him back, I mean he wasnt cheap).

I agree I wouldn't want him back anyway, wasn't there some controversy too that PDV said JDV didn't want to go to Munster in a press conference or something like that too?

What a great debate, pished im only seeing it now.

Can I stir the pot a little? If Kearney was a Connacht player would people still be so sure of his entitlement to a place on the team?

Just wondering? (I know Stag is arguing in his favour)

For what its worth, my opinion is that I have none. It is the toughest question Deccie is currently dealing with. I really would hate to have to make that call. If he left Kearney at home and Jones bombed, egg on face. If he leaves Jones at home and Kearney bombs, same outcome.

So answer is bring them both, and leave Fitz/mcFadden at home?? Not sure I want that either.

pete (buachaill on eirne) wrote:

Feagh McHugh wrote:Re JDV, I thought his form was fairly bad at munster - possibly down to a few factors and changing position and centre partner a lot being the main one. Sure, he is a great player but never saw him deliver really for Munster (perhaps some Munster lads can correct me- just surprised to hear you would take him back, I mean he wasnt cheap).

I agree I wouldn't want him back anyway, wasn't there some controversy too that PDV said JDV didn't want to go to Munster in a press conference or something like that too?

PDV is an idiot and shouldn't be talking about stuff, told to him in private, at press conferences. JDV was unhappy at first due to being on the bench but he enjoyed his time in Limerick.
Not that it matters because im pretty sure he's signed a new contract at the stormers.

Oh the internet...so full of misinformation.

The controversy you're referring to pete, was that JDV had said that he thought it was a mistake to move to Munster. This was just after he'd been dropped for lack of performance (at 13, so out of position). He then decided that rather than blame Munster and those around him that he look at himself and his performances and make an effort to win his place back. He improved his performances no end, won his place back and became our best player for the 2nd half of the season, as well as being our top try scorer.

The reasons that he didn't start well were primarily psychological. Moving to a new country, with awful weather, being shoe-horned into a position you're not used to, then dropped by the management. The fact that he responded so well is a testament to him. I'd have him back in a flash provided the contract was for a minimum of 2 years.

Ona-
Personally I think Kearney should go to Connacht where he is guarenteed some game time more a less. I also think Williams should go and one from Ruddock/Ryan and McLaughlin.

MMC wrote:Oh the internet...so full of misinformation.

The controversy you're referring to pete, was that JDV had said that he thought it was a mistake to move to Munster. This was just after he'd been dropped for lack of performance (at 13, so out of position). He then decided that rather than blame Munster and those around him that he look at himself and his performances and make an effort to win his place back. He improved his performances no end, won his place back and became our best player for the 2nd half of the season, as well as being our top try scorer.

The reasons that he didn't start well were primarily psychological. Moving to a new country, with awful weather, being shoe-horned into a position you're not used to, then dropped by the management. The fact that he responded so well is a testament to him. I'd have him back in a flash provided the contract was for a minimum of 2 years.

That was absolute madness, you buy one of the best 12s in the world and then play him at 13 before dropping him because he's not as good as he would be at 12.

Pete,
Who are the Leinster full backs? Isa Kearney.....??

Feagh McHugh wrote:Re JDV, I thought his form was fairly bad at munster - possibly down to a few factors and changing position and centre partner a lot being the main one. Sure, he is a great player but never saw him deliver really for Munster (perhaps some Munster lads can correct me- just surprised to hear you would take him back, I mean he wasnt cheap).

He took a bit of time to settle in, but when he did he was excellent. Scored 8 tries, even with his bad start. To put in context, Dougie scored 4 that season (14 tries this season before Dougie is given a reputation for being a bad signing for Munster)! JDV & Earls were beginning to motor even if Earls was having hamstring problems.

He scored a brilliant try against Glasgow - JDV try starts about 4 mins in

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3tjKxK9qIUw

pete (buachaill on eirne) wrote:Ona-
Personally I think Kearney should go to Connacht where he is guarenteed some game time more a less. I also think Williams should go and one from Ruddock/Ryan and McLaughlin.

That's madness, even if he doesn't get the jersey back from isa(he will be starting 15 imo), he will still get a load of gametime. Leinster won't let him go to connacht, he wouldn't want to go to connacht and the irfu wouldn't let him go.

valjester wrote:

MMC wrote:Oh the internet...so full of misinformation.

The controversy you're referring to pete, was that JDV had said that he thought it was a mistake to move to Munster. This was just after he'd been dropped for lack of performance (at 13, so out of position). He then decided that rather than blame Munster and those around him that he look at himself and his performances and make an effort to win his place back. He improved his performances no end, won his place back and became our best player for the 2nd half of the season, as well as being our top try scorer.

The reasons that he didn't start well were primarily psychological. Moving to a new country, with awful weather, being shoe-horned into a position you're not used to, then dropped by the management. The fact that he responded so well is a testament to him. I'd have him back in a flash provided the contract was for a minimum of 2 years.

That was absolute madness, you buy one of the best 12s in the world and then play him at 13 before dropping him because he's not as good as he would be at 12.

I agree completely. You wonder was the biggest mistake of all buying a 12 in the first place instead of a 13. Munster are very weak at centre. It's worrying. And our backrow is poor too. Anyway, this is for another thread.

I can't wait for the first of warm up games... I got up at 5am last weekend to tune into Australia v Samoa. I needed my fix...

Sin é wrote:

Feagh McHugh wrote:Re JDV, I thought his form was fairly bad at munster - possibly down to a few factors and changing position and centre partner a lot being the main one. Sure, he is a great player but never saw him deliver really for Munster (perhaps some Munster lads can correct me- just surprised to hear you would take him back, I mean he wasnt cheap).

He took a bit of time to settle in, but when he did he was excellent. Scored 8 tries, even with his bad start. To put in context, Dougie scored 4 that season (14 tries this season before Dougie is given a reputation for being a bad signing for Munster)! JDV & Earls were beginning to motor even if Earls was having hamstring problems.

He scored a brilliant try against Glasgow - JDV try starts about 4 mins in

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3tjKxK9qIUw

It was a groin injury, was it not?

valjester wrote:

MMC wrote:Oh the internet...so full of misinformation.

The controversy you're referring to pete, was that JDV had said that he thought it was a mistake to move to Munster. This was just after he'd been dropped for lack of performance (at 13, so out of position). He then decided that rather than blame Munster and those around him that he look at himself and his performances and make an effort to win his place back. He improved his performances no end, won his place back and became our best player for the 2nd half of the season, as well as being our top try scorer.

The reasons that he didn't start well were primarily psychological. Moving to a new country, with awful weather, being shoe-horned into a position you're not used to, then dropped by the management. The fact that he responded so well is a testament to him. I'd have him back in a flash provided the contract was for a minimum of 2 years.

That was absolute madness, you buy one of the best 12s in the world and then play him at 13 before dropping him because he's not as good as he would be at 12.

He actually started the first few games at 12 for Munster with Mafi at 13 (including the 30-0 result against Leinster!). Maybe that is why Leinster fans have such a poor opinion of him.

valjester wrote:

Sin é wrote:

Feagh McHugh wrote:Re JDV, I thought his form was fairly bad at munster - possibly down to a few factors and changing position and centre partner a lot being the main one. Sure, he is a great player but never saw him deliver really for Munster (perhaps some Munster lads can correct me- just surprised to hear you would take him back, I mean he wasnt cheap).

He took a bit of time to settle in, but when he did he was excellent. Scored 8 tries, even with his bad start. To put in context, Dougie scored 4 that season (14 tries this season before Dougie is given a reputation for being a bad signing for Munster)! JDV & Earls were beginning to motor even if Earls was having hamstring problems.

He scored a brilliant try against Glasgow - JDV try starts about 4 mins in

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3tjKxK9qIUw

It was a groin injury, was it not?

I thought it was a hamstring injury - you could be right though. Anyway, he wasn't fully fit and probably should not have been played.

MMC wrote:

valjester wrote:

MMC wrote:Oh the internet...so full of misinformation.

The controversy you're referring to pete, was that JDV had said that he thought it was a mistake to move to Munster. This was just after he'd been dropped for lack of performance (at 13, so out of position). He then decided that rather than blame Munster and those around him that he look at himself and his performances and make an effort to win his place back. He improved his performances no end, won his place back and became our best player for the 2nd half of the season, as well as being our top try scorer.

The reasons that he didn't start well were primarily psychological. Moving to a new country, with awful weather, being shoe-horned into a position you're not used to, then dropped by the management. The fact that he responded so well is a testament to him. I'd have him back in a flash provided the contract was for a minimum of 2 years.

That was absolute madness, you buy one of the best 12s in the world and then play him at 13 before dropping him because he's not as good as he would be at 12.

I agree completely. You wonder was the biggest mistake of all buying a 12 in the first place instead of a 13. Munster are very weak at centre. It's worrying. And our backrow is poor too. Anyway, this is for another thread.

I can't wait for the first of warm up games... I got up at 5am last weekend to tune into Australia v Samoa. I needed my fix...

I think you needed a 12 and that you still do but you also need either a ball carrying backrow or to trust pom and play a smarter game. Earls is a good 13 and with the right 12 he could be brilliant.

South africa v australia at 11.05 tomorrow. Australia have a fairly strong team even if south africa are resting their first 23 players or something ridiculous.

Ya I'm looking forward to that game val. Did ye see that Bekker is out of the RWC now? Rotten luck the Saffas are having...

Sin é wrote:

valjester wrote:

Sin é wrote:

Feagh McHugh wrote:Re JDV, I thought his form was fairly bad at munster - possibly down to a few factors and changing position and centre partner a lot being the main one. Sure, he is a great player but never saw him deliver really for Munster (perhaps some Munster lads can correct me- just surprised to hear you would take him back, I mean he wasnt cheap).

He took a bit of time to settle in, but when he did he was excellent. Scored 8 tries, even with his bad start. To put in context, Dougie scored 4 that season (14 tries this season before Dougie is given a reputation for being a bad signing for Munster)! JDV & Earls were beginning to motor even if Earls was having hamstring problems.

He scored a brilliant try against Glasgow - JDV try starts about 4 mins in

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3tjKxK9qIUw

It was a groin injury, was it not?

I thought it was a hamstring injury - you could be right though. Anyway, he wasn't fully fit and probably should not have been played.

I'm nearly certain it was a groin injury.

edit found a link http://www.joe.ie/rugby/rugby-news/keith-earls-to-undergo-scan-on-ankle-004793-1

It was a groin injury Val. The ankle injury came after, during preseason. He had pretty awful luck they way they came one after another.

MMC wrote:Ya I'm looking forward to that game val. Did ye see that Bekker is out of the RWC now? Rotten luck the Saffas are having...

Yeah saw that, not good for them, especially considering that matfield has had a poor season and botha loves his yellow cards. They're not really looking good at the minute a lot of their most important player are either off form or have been injured for the whole season, even though I read that juan smith should be fit for the world cup which is good for them.

Wouldnt have a bad opinion of him Sin but not a great one either (well of his time at Munster- he is obviously a class act).

MMC wrote:It was a groin injury Val. The ankle injury came after, during preseason. He had pretty awful luck they way they came one after another.

That was what I was saying, just using that as it had the line "Earls has only recently recovered from a groin injury."
He looked like he was close to being fully fit near the end of the season so hopefully with a proper preseason he will
be tearing it up in new zealand.

valjester wrote:They're not really looking good at the minute a lot of their most important player are either off form or have been injured for the whole season, even though I read that juan smith should be fit for the world cup which is good for them.

Now there's a player I wouldn't mind seeing Munster signing. Exceptional player in my view. Possibly the best blindside in the world when fit and on form IMO.

Looks like this poll will end up the same as who lined out against England. I'll be very interested to see how close we've actually gotten when a) the 30 man squad is announced and b) the team for Australia is named. I reckon we'll have gotten it spot on apart from the inevitable (hopefully not!) unforeseen injury.

Feagh McHugh wrote:Wouldnt have a bad opinion of him Sin but not a great one either (well of his time at Munster- he is obviously a class act).

I think he is a very classy player. Issue was really that he wasn't around for a bit longer. The only players I've seen who have really slotted in straight away were Tipoki & Howlett (and obviously Rocky at Leinster - even Nacewa took a while to find his feet). I think everyone would have forgotten about JDV's bad start if we had him for a bit longer.

MMC wrote:

valjester wrote:They're not really looking good at the minute a lot of their most important player are either off form or have been injured for the whole season, even though I read that juan smith should be fit for the world cup which is good for them.

Now there's a player I wouldn't mind seeing Munster signing. Exceptional player in my view. Possibly the best blindside in the world when fit and on form IMO.

Looks like this poll will end up the same as who lined out against England. I'll be very interested to see how close we've actually gotten when a) the 30 man squad is announced and b) the team for Australia is named. I reckon we'll have gotten it spot on apart from the inevitable (hopefully not!) unforeseen injury.

Yep smith is a class act, doubt you'll get him though, he is very loyal to the cheetahs and unlikely to move. The bulls and other south africans teams have offered him a lot to move but he's captain of the cheetahs and happy there.

Very true Sin.

I have to say it's something I admire. We're blessed here in Ireland given that for the most part the players want to stay with their province. Particularly the top guys. The Cheetahs are ever improving too so hopefully he'll have a good season with them next year.

MMC wrote:

valjester wrote:They're not really looking good at the minute a lot of their most important player are either off form or have been injured for the whole season, even though I read that juan smith should be fit for the world cup which is good for them.

Now there's a player I wouldn't mind seeing Munster signing. Exceptional player in my view. Possibly the best blindside in the world when fit and on form IMO.

I might be shot down but I'd rate him in the top 5 players in the world.

MMC wrote:I have to say it's something I admire. We're blessed here in Ireland given that for the most part the players want to stay with their province. Particularly the top guys. The Cheetahs are ever improving too so hopefully he'll have a good season with them next year.

I think the fact that he would have won stuff with the bulls whereas it is very unlikely the cheetahs will win the super15 is very admirable. He'd walk into any side in the world, absolute class player and south africa will be much better if he is fit.

MBTGOG wrote:

MMC wrote:

valjester wrote:They're not really looking good at the minute a lot of their most important player are either off form or have been injured for the whole season, even though I read that juan smith should be fit for the world cup which is good for them.

Now there's a player I wouldn't mind seeing Munster signing. Exceptional player in my view. Possibly the best blindside in the world when fit and on form IMO.

I might be shot down but I'd rate him in the top 5 players in the world.

I'd be inclined to agree. Other than McCaw and Carter I can't think of any others who I'd say are definitely better than him.

Imagine what a backrow of Smith, McCaw and Read could do...I wouldn't like to have to come up against them!

MMC wrote:Imagine what a backrow of Smith, McCaw and Read could do...I wouldn't like to have to come up against them!

Going on this season I'd have pocock ahead of mccaw. Either way it would be scary. If south africa play a proper 8, along with burger and smith, they will have a very impressive backrow. Australia probably have the weakest backrow of the trinations teams especially considering that elsom has been injured/in poor form and their 8s aren't as good as other nations.

I'm surprised Earls at fullback has so many votes. I think he's our best winger. And fullback is not his best position. He's not great under the high ball. He played there against England because of injuries to other fullbacks. I think ye have gotten that one wrong.

Opinion can't be wrong

My choice for Earls is that I can't see Australia kicking to us too much and I want the best attacking option there then and he is that. I like the balance in the back three with him, Trimble and Bowe and think it will do us best out of the options we have against Australia.

[quote="valjester"][quote="MMC"]Imagine what a backrow of Smith, McCaw and Read could do...I wouldn't like to have to come up against them![/quote]

Going on this season I'd have pocock ahead of mccaw. Either way it would be scary. If south africa play a proper 8, along with burger and smith, they will have a very impressive backrow. Australia probably have the weakest backrow of the trinations teams especially considering that elsom has been injured/in poor form and their 8s aren't as good as other nations.
[/quote]

Strange how our best area is also a major strength for S.A. and the All Blacks

[quote="MBTGOG"]Opinion can't be wrong

My choice for Earls is that I can't see Australia kicking to us too much and I want the best attacking option there then and he is that. I like the balance in the back three with him, Trimble and Bowe and think it will do us best out of the options we have against Australia.

[/quote]

If Oz don't kick to him he wont get as much of the ball as he would on the wing just a thought

Irish,

Ever think he might be able to come into the line from full back instead where there are more options than from the wing?

Or maybe they could kick it to him a lot and he won't be able to handle it as well as a player who's first position is fullback, and it will put us under all sorts of pressure. The Aussie's will identify a potential weakness and they'll at least test him at the start to see if they get any change out of it.

I don't know if the Aussies will Feckless. Like Charlie Sheen, they got one speed and that's "Go!"

Feckless Rogue wrote:Or maybe they could kick it to him a lot and he won't be able to handle it as well as a player who's first position is fullback, and it will put us under all sorts of pressure. The Aussie's will identify a potential weakness and they'll at least test him at the start to see if they get any change out of it.

Went well for him here - not too sure Australia will be kicking too many balls to him after this: (from about 1.50 min in).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JYCk0KrEn6Y&feature=related