JJ Hanrahan

http://www.munsterrugby.ie/news/10110.php

An interview with the young Munster and Ireland U20 centre.

Do people think that he should be getting a go in the Munster team. We need centres and he is doing well.

I've been a big believer in his potential and hoped this seasons would see him get game time.

BTW guys when he says the toughest opposition he has ever played are South Africa U20 he means from the Junior Rugby World Cup. He isn't talking about the Ulster Ravens.

I do.

I think he is being hyped quite a bit (read: a lot), but I have seen him put in performances that make me think it's well worth introducing him to senior rugby. I think there'll be disappointment that he doesn't score six tries, the last by walking on water, but I would certainly trust him to do a good/promising job.

He looks a quality player. Plus, JJ Hanrahan is an excellent name.

Don he certainly is being hyped up a lot. If I had my way he'd have been in the team 18 months ago as an 18 year old (see George North). I am an unashamed fan of his much like Gibbo gets with his army of lovechildren.

luckless_pedestrian wrote:He looks a quality player. Plus, JJ Hanrahan is an excellent name.

It's close to JPR Williams. Initials make people seem more mysterious.

Yours Sincerely

R.S.

My worrynfor him at the top level would be size. I'm not saying he doesn't belong at the top level but is he a 12 at that level? He plays 10 for Bohs I think at times? That said he is exactly the sort of 12 I like and in fairness he has tackled solidly anytime I have seen him. Definitely will make it IMO be it at 10 or 12. With keatley not setting the world on fire maybe 10 is the way to go.

Stand, he does play 10 a lot for UL Bohs.

I mentioned last year that we should have been trying Keatley at 12 and developing Hanrahan as a similar 10/12

So it would have been

ROG - 10
Keatley 10/12
Hanrahan 10/12.

It plays to players we have in our squad - instead of buying two new centres - and evolves Munsters backplay.

Heis exactly the sort of player munster need to bring earls, jones, Zebo etc into the game. Significant pro12 gametime next season hopefully

My thoughts exactly Stand. I am very disappointed by the James Downey signing to be honest.

From what I’ve seen of him (mainly playing for Ireland U20’s) he looks like a very clever player. Think he would go well with Barnes outside of him.
The Munster backline could be very good in a few years:

Murray – Keatley
Earls – Hanrahan – Barnes – Zebo
Jones

Well theremis more than one way to skin a cat stag. It provides some security while hanrahan develops (if munster see him as a 12) . Never hurts to have a big unit at 12 sometimes either. It is only a poor signing if he gets in hanrahans way. I think there are more than enough games to accommodate both.

Standulstermen wrote:Well theremis more than one way to skin a cat stag. It provides some security while hanrahan develops (if munster see him as a 12) . Never hurts to have a big unit at 12 sometimes either. It is only a poor signing if he gets in hanrahans way. I think there are more than enough games to accommodate both.

I agree. Dan Carter started out as a 12 for NZ. I think Hanrahans future could be at 10. I'd agree with you Red_stag about Keatley. He could make a good 12.

Do people think that he should be getting a go in the Munster team. We need centres and he is doing well.

Munster team! Why isn't he in the bench at least for Ireland!

What I like about him (Peter O'Mahoney is similar) is the fight in him. Ireland U20s was being destroyed by the monster English U20s (and George Ford it has to be said!), but he didn't let his head drop (only 18 at the time) and played well and was the standout Irish player on the pitch and a real leader.

I think he will end up at 10 for Munster eventually - if he doesn't he will be running the show from 12 anyway, because as good a player as Keatley is, I don't think he is cocky enough to be a topclass 10.

SinE, a great point about having a bit of cockiness.

You need an element of arrogance at 10. No position gets you as much stick and abuse and the ability to deal with it is vital.

Short interview with him here at the launch of the U20s 6Ns.

Ruddock picks him out (along with Paddy Jackson) as key players for the U20s.

http://www.independent.ie/video/video-rugby/ruddocks-u20s-finely-tuned-for-six-nations-challenge-3002134.html

Edit: No doubt, both will be regarded as useless by the end of the tournament now that Leinster have produced a young decent scrumhalf

red_stag wrote:BTW guys when he says the toughest opposition he has ever played are South Africa U20 he means from the Junior Rugby World Cup. He isn't talking about the Ulster Ravens.

Ah screw you stag..

I laughed

Murray – Keatley
Hanrahan – Barnes
Earls - Jones - Zebo

That looks very good. Though I really want to see Earls play 15 at some point again, even though Jones is a fantastic player. Also I think Hanrahan should stick to 12. He looks brilliant there and in the future we could end up seeing both him and Madigan playing alongside one another, which would be brilliant. Possible future Irish back-line?

9) McGrath
10) Madigan
11) Gilroy
12) Hanrahan
13) Spence
14) Zebo
15) Kearney Jr.

Rory_Gallagher wrote:Murray – Keatley
Hanrahan – Barnes
Earls - Jones - Zebo

That looks very good. Though I really want to see Earls play 15 at some point again, even though Jones is a fantastic player. Also I think Hanrahan should stick to 12. He looks brilliant there and in the future we could end up seeing both him and Madigan playing alongside one another, which would be brilliant. Possible future Irish back-line?

9) McGrath
10) Madigan
11) Gilroy
12) Hanrahan
13) Spence
14) Zebo
15) Kearney Jr.

In about 10 years time maybe.

9) Murray is only 22 so McGrath won't get a clean run of it.
10) Jackson?
11) Couple of candidates - including Earls who is only 2 years older than Gilroy.
12) What has happened to Marshall in Ulster? He was doing well for Ulster last season.
13) Spense, He hasn't passed Cave yet has he? Not to mention Earls who is 24 now.
14) Zebo - there is Conway as well.
15) Kearney senior is still quite young. Then there is Felix Jones & Conway.

Rory I'm pretty sure David Kearney is a winger not a fullback.

Rory_Gallagher wrote:Murray – Keatley
Hanrahan – Barnes
Earls - Jones - Zebo

That looks very good. Though I really want to see Earls play 15 at some point again, even though Jones is a fantastic player. Also I think Hanrahan should stick to 12. He looks brilliant there and in the future we could end up seeing both him and Madigan playing alongside one another, which would be brilliant. Possible future Irish back-line?

9) McGrath
10) Madigan
11) Gilroy
12) Hanrahan
13) Spence
14) Zebo
15) Kearney Jr.

Hes a good player and i like him but theres no chance hes better than his brother.

There ae a load of options coming through all over the backs.

Marshall has been injured for 90% of the season sin. Crying shame.

McGrath, Murray are both young
Jackson, madigan, hanrahan?
Gilroy, earls, O'halloran, Zebo, Kearney Jr
Marshall, hanrahan, Farrell (don't think he has a settled position yet), McFadden
Spence, Griffin, cave, O'Malley, Farrell?
Jones, Conway, Nelson, Leyden

I think McFadden at 26 is the oldest there. Some level of talent. In saying that watching the under 20's the player I am most excited about is iain Henderson. We don't produce a vast amount of top quality locks (at the minute at least) but he has looked a real find.

In fact Rory I would term that backline selection as wanting change for change sake. Being tired of same faces and wanting a few new names.

Why get rid of 22-24 year olds like Keith Earls, Conor Murray, Rob Kearney, Luke Fitzgerald etc.

Even in half a decade they will all still be in their 20s.

red_stag wrote:Rory I'm pretty sure David Kearney is a winger not a fullback.

He plays fullback as well stag.

red_stag wrote:In fact Rory I would term that backline selection as wanting change for change sake. Being tired of same faces and wanting a few new names.

Why get rid of 22-24 year olds like Keith Earls, Conor Murray, Rob Kearney, Luke Fitzgerald etc.

Even in half a decade they will all still be in their 20s.

Stag - that was a backline of potential players, nothing more. That isn't what I expect/want Ireland to look like. It was just to see some of our options/challengers for the shirts.

I think it's hard to think of rob Kearney as that age because he seems to have been around for ages. I do think the rate at which young backs particularly are coming through the provinces the competition will be fierce for the next decade

Rory_Gallagher wrote:

red_stag wrote:Rory I'm pretty sure David Kearney is a winger not a fullback.

He plays fullback as well stag.

He surely does. He’s in great form this year too. I never rated him that highly but I’m pleasantly surprised by him lately. Still only 22 aswell, Rob was only really making his breakthough to the first team at that age too.

Standulstermen wrote:There ae a load of options coming through all over the backs.

Marshall has been injured for 90% of the season sin. Crying shame.

McGrath, Murray are both young
Jackson, madigan, hanrahan?
Gilroy, earls, O'halloran, Zebo, Kearney Jr
Marshall, hanrahan, Farrell (don't think he has a settled position yet), McFadden
Spence, Griffin, cave, O'Malley, Farrell?
Jones, Conway, Nelson, Leyden

I think McFadden at 26 is the oldest there. Some level of talent. In saying that watching the under 20's the player I am most excited about is iain Henderson. We don't produce a vast amount of top quality locks (at the minute at least) but he has looked a real find.

Henderson is brilliant. He will get far I think.

What will be a very very hard line to balance is keeping a core squad and picking form players.

In New Zealand there are all NZ qualified players only. The franchises do good and not good. Some years the Blues or Chiefs or Hurricanes might perform better than the other.

But there isn't mass change to the international team every year.

We are currently too conservative but with increased competition it is easy to give a guy 10-15 caps and ditch him (a bit like England have been doing in recent years)

I think it will be a very hard thing for the fans and mangement to understand that line,

We need to have started the process. It is of course dependent on form and is at the mercy of provincial selections (though I do think we would benefit from being more radical in this regard).

We need to replace our centres because they aren't good enough anymore. I don't think the answer is shifting our existing wingers but similarly we need our back three and half backs to stand up and be leaders in the back line now. They will have to offer the experience that BOD, D'arcy and ROG did when they were breaking through. If they don't we wil find ourselves in bother.

We have O'Malley, McFadden, Cave and Spence already getting significant game time. Farrell, Marshall and harahan will hopefully be options in a 18months/2years time. Now all this is on the assumption that they all make it!

I had a point but lost it. Injury has hampered us a bit but there can be no excuses from the summer onwards. We need to see the youngsters that have been given game time in that touring squad and more importantly integrated into the first 22

Not disagreeing with you Stand, but Earls is the only fit centre starting for his province at the moment. BOD, Cave and Eoin Griffin are all injured.

Hard to replace them in that kind of a situation.

red_stag wrote:What will be a very very hard line to balance is keeping a core squad and picking form players.

In New Zealand there are all NZ qualified players only. The franchises do good and not good. Some years the Blues or Chiefs or Hurricanes might perform better than the other.

But there isn't mass change to the international team every year.

We are currently too conservative but with increased competition it is easy to give a guy 10-15 caps and ditch him (a bit like England have been doing in recent years)

I think it will be a very hard thing for the fans and mangement to understand that line,

Yeah but in some positions we are going to be stuck because we have no adequate back-up. Specifically in the centres. And because we have left it so long, we could have problems there for a long time. I have said before our core backs for now and the future consist of Fitzgerald, Earls, Kearney, Jones, Trimble, Bowe, McFadden, Sexton and Murray. But we obviously need more options than that, especially half-backs/centres. Not all of them will stay in that category either.

Sin é wrote:Not disagreeing with you Stand, but Earls is the only fit centre starting for his province at the moment. BOD, Cave and Eoin Griffin are all injured.

Hard to replace them in that kind of a situation.

I agree his hand has been forced in the 6nations Sin and to be honest I am much more worried about D'arcy than earls. I still think earls, Bowe and Trimble are our best wings and need to fight that out between them whilst we bring through a new pairing. I think fans will be more patient with a new pairing than they are currently.

I think the earls at 13 selection might have had merit had he been persisted with but with Laulala signing I think munster will put him back to wing where he is so effective. He also has a few years on Trimble and Bowe in terms of longevity.

When do players peak? I'd say backs 22, back row 25, front row 30. So why do you need to watch players pass their peak at regional level?

I have to agree, I see him as a future Irish international- even more so than Luke Marshall- but i have to wonder, after the signing of James Downey, whether Munster is the right place for a small, ball-playing centre to learn his trade?

He may need to leave to fulfil his potential. Which is a shame, because he really is a fabulous player.

I'd say backs peak at about 26/27. Halfbacks later.

Chris Farrell, Eoin Griffin, Darren Cave and Luke Marshall would be the best center prospects also. EOM is just a bit too small IMO, Earls is a back 3 player and very good one at that, Spence doesn't have the skill level for international rugby and McFadden is a jack of all trades master of none but a excellent player to have on the bench. Brendan Macken, like Spence, doesn't have the skill level.

Glas a du wrote:When do players peak? I'd say backs 22, back row 25, front row 30. So why do you need to watch players pass their peak at regional level?

Depends. Intelligent and skillful players have longer careers than those who rely on physicality.

You only find this Poopie out after the event, so why take the risk?

Anybody but D'Arcy surely?

It depends entirely on systems employed. I would argue Jon Davies isn't the most skilful of centres. I saw him butcher one try against munster in the HEC by misplacing a simple 5 yard pass to his winger.

that being said, ball in hand and as a running threat there are few better. The system Wales employ uses his strengths. I think spence possibly has a future but he needs work. We shouldn't abandon the currency of sheer brute force. Wales if anything have shown that.

Glas, I know having spoken to some academy coaches in Ireland they have told me that they place a big role on education.

They'd rather see a player break into the teams at 22 with a uni degree and a good set of grades from school than making the step up at 18.

Fantastic, but are they covering someone's back?

I would say very possibly Glas. It is no secret that the Munster U20s are extremely weak.

They are like the opposite of the English U20s who are great as kids but rarely make it. In Munster as teenagers they are getting beaten by Conancht, Leinster, Munster but yet are making step up to senior ok.

Munster are trying a few new things at this age level but for last few years they've been a bit behind.

red_stag wrote:I would say very possibly Glas. It is no secret that the Munster U20s are extremely weak.

They are like the opposite of the English U20s who are great as kids but rarely make it. In Munster as teenagers they are getting beaten by Conancht, Leinster, Munster but yet are making step up to senior ok.

Munster are trying a few new things at this age level but for last few years they've been a bit behind.

Its a sad state if they are being beaten by themselves.

It's interesting reading through this thread how there is a sense that McF is a youngster while Fitz isn't really mentioned much (the old geezer).

Very much so band.

Beating yourself makes you blind.

11) Couple of candidates - including Earls who is only 2 years older than Gilroy.

4 years actually.

I remember seeing Hanrahan play in a schools cup semi final 3 years ago for Rockwell and he stood out a mile. He was playing 10 that day and was excellent but you could see then even that it was 12 where he will be best suited.

red_stag wrote:I would say very possibly Glas. It is no secret that the Munster U20s are extremely weak.

They are like the opposite of the English U20s who are great as kids but rarely make it. In Munster as teenagers they are getting beaten by Conancht, Leinster, Munster but yet are making step up to senior ok.

Munster are trying a few new things at this age level but for last few years they've been a bit behind.

tbh, I don't think its much of a problem. The reason is that they are all playing loads of other sports which helps in the long run. For instance, Donncha Ryan (& the Bull) didn't start playing rugby until they were 18 (and Ryan was still lining out for his hurling club ocassionally at the age of 23).

There is an interview with the Munster Academy coach on the munster website and in the background you can see players practising hurling skills.

profitius wrote:Chris Farrell, Eoin Griffin, Darren Cave and Luke Marshall would be the best center prospects also. EOM is just a bit too small IMO, Earls is a back 3 player and very good one at that, Spence doesn't have the skill level for international rugby and McFadden is a jack of all trades master of none but a excellent player to have on the bench. Brendan Macken, like Spence, doesn't have the skill level.

Glas a du wrote:When do players peak? I'd say backs 22, back row 25, front row 30. So why do you need to watch players pass their peak at regional level?

Depends. Intelligent and skillful players have longer careers than those who rely on physicality.

I don't know how you can say Spence hasn't got the skill level required if you watched him against the dragons. Or last year at 13. I don't think you can base the fact he hasn't the skill level on his performances all of this season at 12, with one at 13, since that isn't his position.