Only 1 prop in entire Munster Academy

by red_stag Wed 27 Jun 2012, 4:09 pm

First topic message reminder :

I have to say I find this really really worrying.

Academy Year 1: Ryan Murphy (flanker), Jack O'Donoghue (flanker), Jonathan Holland (flyhalf), Darren Moroney (fullback), James Rael (hooker), Brian Haugh (scrumhalf(

Academy Year 2: Shane Buckley (backrow), Duncan Casey (hooker), James Cronin (prop), Cian Bohane (centre), Phillip Donnellan (second row), Niall Scannell (hooker), Cathal O'Flaherty (flanker)

Academy Year 3: Brian Hayes (second row), Corey Hircock (centre), Ronan O'Mahony (winger)

I am really worried that in the entire Munster Academy we have just 1 prop. By contrast there are three hookers.

We have some Irish props being developed in the senior team - Cotter, Kilcoyne, Archer, Condon. But these guys are 24/25 years old. In fact Condon is 31 years old - way too late to start developing him.

I hope in time we see some of the backrows or hookers trying to start moving to prop.

by LeinsterFan4life Tue 03 Jul 2012, 6:35 pm

It was also strange that we let murphy go to the brumbies instead of getting him to go to munster or connacht. Maybe he didn't want to stay in ireland for some reason. Lets hope he comes back though

by asoreleftshoulder Tue 03 Jul 2012, 6:37 pm

red_stag wrote:I would argue that was down to poor development Asoreleftshoulder.

Donnacha Ryan did not see gametime due to Paul O'Connell, Mick O'Driscoll and Donnacha O'Callaghan.

Leinster had Stan Wright, CJ van der Linde, Ollie le Roux, Will Green and Van der Merwe. Their prop development was apalling. Munster clutched to Horan and Hayes for too long and Ulster have gone from one foreign tighthead (Botha) to another (Afoa) meaning like Leinster it will be about 7 years before they have an Irish tight head.

I maintain that that is a crutch we as a country have hidden behind for far too long. Tight five forwards are not natural late bloomers. They issue is that we are developing them badly.

We can almost make an entire pack of South Africa forwards plying their trade in Ireland.

Van der Merwe, Wian du Preez, BJ Botha, Richardt Strauss, Johann Muller, Quinn Roux, Robbie Diack, CJ Stander, Ethienne Reynecke, Robb Herring.

I can't really disagree with you,we can say that they weren't ready for that level but Healy wasn't really ready when he was thrown in.Like you say he had some bad days and some good ones,he is still prone to the odd off day but the ratio has gone way up in favour of good days and that only came about through experience.

It was painful watching the HC semi against Toulouse in 2010 but that was probably the most important game of Healys career,he had been doing pretty well and was a fixture in the Leinster and Irish team but the hammering he took that day showed him he still had a long way to go.He has shown the right attitude and really improved since then.

by Don Alfonso Tue 03 Jul 2012, 6:47 pm

drsambo1928 wrote:
LeinsterFan4life wrote:
drsambo1928 wrote:Ulster appear to be having all the up and comers so props will be got from there.
Leinster are also producing props. Leinster have 5 props in their academy includind martin moore and tadhg furlong who are very promising TH's.We also have jack mcgrath and jamie hagan who are already proven at pro 12 level.

Is Jamie Hagan from Leinster? I thought Tadhg Furlong was from Connacht. I'm probably wrong though. When I say Ulster I mean that Ulster will have the better props in a few years time. They have Macklin at the moment who seems alright, mind you i'm not sure of his age.

Mackiln's 22. He only converted from number eight to prop after school, so I think he's going pretty well. Thought his cameo against Edinburgh in the HEC semi was promising. McAllister didn't kick on last season the way I hoped he might, though. McCall looked good on both sides in the junior SN, as well.

by robbo277 Tue 03 Jul 2012, 6:56 pm

red_stag wrote:DrSambo,

They are two brilliant points. It ties in very nicely with the title of the thread.

Healy was exposed to Heineken Cup level early on as you say and the world didnt end. He did as well as any young player would do and had ups and had downs. He turned out to be a very good player and was winning a Heineken Cup at age 21. He is 24 now and has 33 caps to his name.

I'd like to see more of that rather than just having Wian du Preez and van der Merwe and Nathan White blocking the way.

You could probably say the same about Dan Cole. Cole got his chance with a mixture of injuries and international call-ups for Castro and White and grabbed his chance. Being exposed that early was probably a big factor in him becoming so well-developed at his age now (I think he's 24 as well).

Munster won't have that trialing props in the AIL, it will be up step-up to move into the Rabo and then another step-up to make an impact at HC and International level. Prop is probably one of Munster's weakest areas and that doesn't look set to change without signing players from other clubs.

by Rory_Gallagher Tue 03 Jul 2012, 7:36 pm

Don Alfonso wrote:
drsambo1928 wrote:
LeinsterFan4life wrote:
drsambo1928 wrote:Ulster appear to be having all the up and comers so props will be got from there.
Leinster are also producing props. Leinster have 5 props in their academy includind martin moore and tadhg furlong who are very promising TH's.We also have jack mcgrath and jamie hagan who are already proven at pro 12 level.

Is Jamie Hagan from Leinster? I thought Tadhg Furlong was from Connacht. I'm probably wrong though. When I say Ulster I mean that Ulster will have the better props in a few years time. They have Macklin at the moment who seems alright, mind you i'm not sure of his age.

Mackiln's 22. He only converted from number eight to prop after school, so I think he's going pretty well. Thought his cameo against Edinburgh in the HEC semi was promising. McAllister didn't kick on last season the way I hoped he might, though. McCall looked good on both sides in the junior SN, as well.

I don't think that is true, he played prop at school as well as 8. I think he was training with the Ireland schools' teams at prop too during his school years at Methody. The only reason he played 8 in the final was due to injury if I remember correctly.

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Only 1 prop in entire Munster Academy

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