606v2 picks the Irish RWC squad: BACK 3

First topic message reminder :

Morning all.
Hope everyone had a good weekend.

I have seen the Welsh and English have already started these kinda articles and it did seem like a good idea to try and have them all together.
So the series will determine who will be the Irish RWC squad according to the 606v2 community.

I will try and post up the next part of the series every weekday morning so we all have plenty of time to debate each position. Obviously everyone has their own opinions but try and keep a level head and back up your points with examples or clips or something.

I am going to go for a 16/14 split between the backs and forwards.
4 props
3 hookers
3 locks
6 backrow (1 able to play lock)
3 scrumhalves
2 flyhalves
3 centres (1 able to play flyhalf)
6 back 3

This is Kidney's 43 man squad.
http://www.irishrugby.ie/ireland/23313.php

So far the Squad is:
Healy, Ross, Buckley and Court
Best, Cronin and Flannery
O'Connell, O'Callaghan and Cullen
Heaslip, O'Brien, Ferris, Wallace, Jennings and Ryan
Reddan, Stringer and Murray
Sexton and O'Gara
O'Driscoll, Darcy and Wallace

We are looking to select 6 back 3 players. The 6 with the most votes will be the ones selected as per normal.

Bowe- An astounding finisher and deceptively quick with good acceleration and a swerve more than a step. Excellent at joining the line in midfield and the closest thing we have to Ashton in terms of running support lines. Good defence and an excellent fielder. Not a great kicker however and this hasn't been a great season for Bowe. Can play 13 and 15 at a push.
Earls- Lightening quick (fastest in the squad?) and second only to Bowe in terms of finishing in the Irish squad. Versatile in that he has international experience at wing, centre and fullback. Good kicker of the ball and an average fielder. Excellent at broken field running. Good defence for the most part also.
Trimble- Brings a different element to the back3. Very physical and good in the contact area, he makes yards after contact has been initiated. Deceptively quick and has improved his core skills. Good at cutting lines into the midfield. Not a great kicker or fielder but has improved here in recent times. Defence is generally good.
McFadden- Not much game time this year but when playing has excelled. Can play 11-14 comfortably. Very quick and good at making yards once contact has been taken. Good feet and can kick from hand and floor well. Good defence and good distributing skills. Lack of expereience may stand against him.
Fitzgerald- Out of form for the season just gone. Has ruined many try scoring chances and has made simple errors in contact, passing and support lines. Excellent defender and while not a great sprinter is very quick over 40m and has exceptional agility. Versatile in that he has international experience playing 11-15 although to differing levels of success. Not a good finisher. Ok kicker and poor fielder.
Kearney- No game time since November. Poor form since 2009 in many peoples opinion. A fantastic kicker and fielder and very quick in a straight line. Poor counterattacker and broken field runner. Doesn't pass or offload often enough and tends to run straight into defenders. Not the most adept 15 at joining the attacking line either. Poor defence. Has got big game experience.
Murphy- No game time since November. Had been in good form for the tigers. A leader in the team. Not physically impressive, not overly quick or strong. Has improved his fielding and tackling somewhat over the last couple of seasons. Very creative and excellent at joing the line and a good counterattacker. An average fielder and kicker of the ball for an international 15. Not as much of a loose canon as once was.
Jones- No international or HCup experience. Excellent form for Munster. Excellent defence and quite creative in attack be in counterattacking or joining the line. Very agile and fairly quick too. Not the greatest fielder and an average kicker of the ball. Great hands when joining the line.
Duffy- Steady but not a World Class player. Can play 15 and 13. Good defence and a good fielder and kicker but not as effective with ball in hand. Not exceptionally quick, agile or stong but has a calm head and generally makes the right decisions.

NB: Horgan has not been included because his injury will see him out during the start of the RWC.

This is the last article in this series. Tomorrow I will begin a new series working out who our best starting XV are out of the squad that we on 606v2 have chosen.

Thomond wrote:A few things, I don't think Fitzgerald has been as bad this year as people say he was(mind you, he never really lived up to the hype he had from Leinster Senior Cup glory) He is a solid defender, quite versatile and has plenty of experience. McFadden has only 2 caps and couldn't start for Leinster. If he is really better than either Shaggy or Fitzgerald then why didn't he start? McFadden saw limited game time in the knockout stages of the HC. Fitzgerald also improved somewhat by the end of the season having a good ML semi final and a decent HC final.

I'd agree with all that.

red_stag wrote:

Thomond wrote:A few things, I don't think Fitzgerald has been as bad this year as people say he was(mind you, he never really lived up to the hype he had from Leinster Senior Cup glory) He is a solid defender, quite versatile and has plenty of experience. McFadden has only 2 caps and couldn't start for Leinster. If he is really better than either Shaggy or Fitzgerald then why didn't he start? McFadden saw limited game time in the knockout stages of the HC. Fitzgerald also improved somewhat by the end of the season having a good ML semi final and a decent HC final.

I'd agree with all that.

I would as well.

D24tress wrote:

MMC wrote:

D24tress wrote:

Boyne wrote:When is the squad actually being announced? Do you reckon they are waiting for us to finish? I'd like to think so but its not likely.

Yeah deccie is likely to just wait to see what we pick and any 50/50 calls will go to the munster lads

You could be right though...

On a serious note (this is my serious face ), how much better is the build up to this RWC than it was under Eddie in 2007?

I'd agree with all that.[/quote]

I would as well.[/quote]

Yeah, I occasionally say something smart

Agree Band, Notch and Kev.

Kearney did score a try nothing special but he did score it. Was watching it the other day. Maybe he would have broken free a bit, I hope he does next season but it will take a lot to dispossess Nacewa who right now is the best 15 in our half of the world.

yeah Ouch is right. Yes if Fitz was on form he'd be a definite traveller anyway. Maybe not starter. One thing Fitz has never been good at however for a winger is scoring tries. His try scoring record for a winger really is very very poor.

Looking forward to the idea of having the Leinster artnership (McF/O'Malley) fighting for Irish spots with the Ulster partnership (Marshall/Spence)


Agree that he never lived up to the hype without doubt, he was supposed to be the second coming

You know what this RWC is like so far.

The difference between the 2005 and 2009 Lions tours

pete (buachaill on eirne) wrote:

Fitzgerald- Out of form for the season just gone. Has ruined many try scoring chances and has made simple errors in contact, passing and support lines. Excellent defender and while not a great sprinter is very quick over 40m and has exceptional agility. Versatile in that he has international experience playing 11-15 although to differing levels of success. Not a good finisher. Ok kicker and poor fielder.
Kearney- No game time since November. Poor form since 2009 in many peoples opinion. A fantastic kicker and fielder and very quick in a straight line. Poor counterattacker and broken field runner. Doesn't pass or offload often enough and tends to run straight into defenders. Not the most adept 15 at joining the attacking line either. Poor defence. Has got big game experience.

I picked fitzgerald instead of McFadden because that is who I believe Kidney will pick, and tbh I think there is a good chance both will miss out because I think Kidney may go for a 17/13 split. Fitz's passing has gone to rudey poo and he stuggled to pass the ball on the run in the sixnations, in the wales match he couldnt pass more than five yards of his right hand, he isn't quick enough for a centre not good enough under the high ball for 15. But kidney trusts him and his defence seemed to be back to better against munster. Not a good finisher either. McFadden has impressed on the wing for leinster this season but he has had limited time elsewhere and didn't impress at 12 in the magners final, I don't think he can play 15 and he can't play 10. He is behind trimble earls, bowe and possibly horgan (who would replace bowe if he got injured) at wing. Behind darcy and wallace (despite what some may say) at 12 and I'd say a bod earls partnership would be used before mcfadden in the centre. And behind bod, earls and bowe at 13 so I dont think he will be brought due to the squad contraints.

Earls and Bowe are nailed on, Irelands best outside backs, I'd say earls is a good a finisher as Bowe, both will score if given half a chance.

Trimble will go; he has had a good season, he is a different type of player and he performed well last year in the sh when other were going to pieces.

I think that Kidney will bring two full backs and that he will bring Jones and Kearney. I'm pretty confident that Jones will take to international rugby and provide a solid option there. I disagree with all the bolded part, the longer Kearney is injured the worst his form seems to get. During the Lions tour Kearney played some excellent rugby, in the tests he caught everything that was kicked to him and although he returned some of the ball, he also ran a lot back. Against australia and new zealand on the 2008 summer tour he was one of the stand out performers for Ireland and got praised by the sh media due to his outstanding running and counterattacking. He passes or offloads when its on but he doesn't go for high risk options and prefers to retain possession. His defence is not poor in general, his head on tackling is useless as he usually goes into high, but the rest of his defensive game is sound. I really feel people have got it stuck into their head that kearney was in poor form, based on one or two games from a while ago, and refuse to change their minds. Its the same with people who have it stuck in their heads that earls is a poor passer/unable to pass and can't catch the ball based on one disaster of a first half for the lions. Or that trimble isn't good enough at international level due to performances from few years ago. Its like george hook who still insists on saying that bowe is too slow to be an international level wing.

Are we too obsessed with form? It seems to be the marker laid down to travel to the world cup. In such a long tournament does form really matter? Surely there should be other reasons for a player to travel or not? A good player is a good player. They can still produce that moment of magic.
As they say "form is temporary, class is permanent"

Thomond wrote:Are we too obsessed with form?

Yes yes yes yes YES!!!

I think form you have playing in the Magners League where you wake up in your own bed and have your routine is completely different to the demands of having to replicate those performances thousands of miles from home for nearly 2 months.

Poor form since 2009 in many peoples opinion- well this is many peoples opinions, he hasn't excelled post 09.

A fantastic kicker and fielder and very quick in a straight line- why would you disagree with this? This is all true.

Poor counterattacker and broken field runner- since 09 I feel this is true but is just my opinion.

Doesn't pass or offload often enough and tends to run straight into defenders- he does this all the time since 09 don't know how one could disagree

Not the most adept 15 at joining the attacking line either- maybe harsh

Poor defence- his defence is pretty poor, tackling is a big part of defence realistically.

thebandwagonsociety wrote:

caoimhincentre wrote:One thing i will say about Kearney is he was very unlucky with the timing of his injury.

I think at leinster this year an aweful lot of players have embraced the way the game is going. It would have been very interesting to see how Kearney would have performed over a whole season at full back at leinster.

Despite how well Isa played this year, kearney was still 15 for leinster and was never going to be dropped from there because of the IRFU

I agree. The pre-season and early games, Schmidt had Kearney as 15 and Isa was on the wing. Kearney scored a try against racing at the rds didn't he? Thought he played well in that game and it was the early signs of joe letting the backs take the handbrake off. I think he has fallen into a similar trap as Heaslip where he went out injured, the replacements did very well in his absence and everyone forgot very quickly everything he brought to the table. Everyone in the 6Ns except for England put high balls in to the fullback and put pressure on to gain territory. Earls was in for the England game, but wasn't tested at all in that game defensively (he did excel going forward). I fully expect Kearney to be integral to any possibility of a decent rwc campaign.

As for Fitz, he closed out his season quite well in the final couple of games. He was poor at fullback, but fair dues to the man for putting his hand up and asking to fill a problem position at the time. He isn't being picked in the squad to go as a back up full back. He will be taken to be a winger, and by the time we are through training camp and the warm-up games, he could very well have nailed down not just a seat on the plane, but even the starting spot opposite Bowe!

He never shuts up about wanting to play at full back and how he feels that it is his best position. He was in some mag shortly after the 6 nations saying it again that he want to be a full back because that is his best position and he feels he is best suited there. I really don't think he helps himself with coming out constantly talking about it. He will have to get past trimble and earls for the starting spot, he will have to put in performances he hasn't looked capable of this season to do that. He knows that he has to do something special to get past them and Fitz is at his worst when he is trying to force stuff.

To be honest i think kearneys main problem is that he doesnt link well in comparison to Isa (who lets be honest everyone is comparing him too which might be unfair on kearney considering Isa this year).

Is broken running is actually quite good and he is pretty elusive. look at his try against the ospreys a few years ago.

MMC wrote:

D24tress wrote:

MMC wrote:

D24tress wrote:

Boyne wrote:When is the squad actually being announced? Do you reckon they are waiting for us to finish? I'd like to think so but its not likely.

Yeah deccie is likely to just wait to see what we pick and any 50/50 calls will go to the munster lads

You could be right though...

On a serious note (this is my serious face ), how much better is the build up to this RWC than it was under Eddie in 2007?

well if it stays the way it is

it would be

leinster 12
munster 11
ulster 5
connacht 1
ospreys 1


Buckley and cronin are down as the teams they played with last year

having seen munster in the h cup this year is this a bit of a surprise, or is it a case of they lost because they lacked a solid pack early on and alot of these are in the backs.

pete (buachaill on eirne) wrote:Poor form since 2009 in many peoples opinion- well this is many peoples opinions, he hasn't excelled post 09.

A fantastic kicker and fielder and very quick in a straight line- why would you disagree with this? This is all true.

Poor counterattacker and broken field runner- since 09 I feel this is true but is just my opinion.

Doesn't pass or offload often enough and tends to run straight into defenders- he does this all the time since 09 don't know how one could disagree

Not the most adept 15 at joining the attacking line either- maybe harsh

Poor defence- his defence is pretty poor, tackling is a big part of defence realistically.

Fantastic kicker and fielder is true, sorry didn't mean to have that bolded. When he is given the chance Kearney is capable of counterattacking and broken field play as others, he is unfortunate to have been injured before schimdts gameplan began working for leinster but he will get that opportunity next year. Kearney will run into space if its there and like I said in the other post he doesn't offload if there is a risk of losing possession which I think is fair enough. You are being extremely harsh on him on joining the line, he is good at it and has scored tries from doing it before. His tackling isn't poor, its just his one on one head on tackling that he struggles with as he goes in two high and can be shrugged off. I'm not going to change your mind on this but I wish people stop saying he can't play a counterattacking game when he can.

Kev-
Yeah it is a great try it just seems there is a divide regarding Kearney before Autumn 2009 and after Autumn 2009. A lot of his good stuff was pre Autum 2009. Isa is awesome though.

Val-
Agree with you re Fitz and trying to force things. Why does he still have that column he needs to be doing that once he retires not now. It's very foolish IMO.

D24tress wrote:

MMC wrote:

D24tress wrote:

MMC wrote:

D24tress wrote:

Boyne wrote:When is the squad actually being announced? Do you reckon they are waiting for us to finish? I'd like to think so but its not likely.

Yeah deccie is likely to just wait to see what we pick and any 50/50 calls will go to the munster lads

You could be right though...

On a serious note (this is my serious face ), how much better is the build up to this RWC than it was under Eddie in 2007?

well if it stays the way it is

it would be

leinster 12
munster 11
ulster 5
connacht 1
ospreys 1


Buckley and cronin are down as the teams they played with last year

having seen munster in the h cup this year is this a bit of a surprise, or is it a case of they lost because they lacked a solid pack early on and alot of these are in the backs.

In fairness Munsters two best players were injured or suspended for most of the hec group stages and weren't really fully fit until midway through the 6nations.

Would he doesn't play a counterattacking game be better? I fully believe that Schmidt could make him open up in that sense and if he ends up a better 15 than Isa I will be very happy for it.

pete (buachaill on eirne) wrote:Kev-
Yeah it is a great try it just seems there is a divide regarding Kearney before Autumn 2009 and after Autumn 2009. A lot of his good stuff was pre Autum 2009. Isa is awesome though.

Val-
Agree with you re Fitz and trying to force things. Why does he still have that column he needs to be doing that once he retires not now. It's very foolish IMO.

He is and he will still be awesome on the wing next year and Leinster will be a better team with Kearney at full back. Kearney put in some good performances since 2009 but I think he has been unfortunate with injuries and too be playing under conservative coaches in cheika and kidney. I'll stop arguing with you about Kearney now as I doubt I'll check your mind.

Fitz is a very confident lad and he seems to like talking but I really don't know what you can do with him. He doesn't seem to a 15, not fast enough or clinical enough on the wing, passing not good enough for 12, maybe 13 for his defence but his attacking and speed would be a problem here.

pete (buachaill on eirne) wrote:Would he doesn't play a counterattacking game be better? I fully believe that Schmidt could make him open up in that sense and if he ends up a better 15 than Isa I will be very happy for it.

I think he is a better 15 than nacewa but more importantly nacewa is a better wing than leinsters other options so moving kearney to 15 makes Leinster stronger.

valjester

To be honest i think Isa is the better player and leinster would be best served to leave him play 15.

The thing it is not best for ireland the the Isa starts 15 so you will see kearney starting there for leinster.

Fitz is quite quick over 40m or so it's straight line out and out sprinting where moer a less everyone on this list we are discussing (other than Murphy and Duffy) would be quicker than Fitz.

I just don't see the point as such in moving one of our best players from a position of influence like that.

If Kearney turns out to be a better 15 that Isa I'd happilly accept it and applaud it I just don't see him becoming better than Isa, unless Isa drops off dramatically. For Ireland's sake I hope Kearney proves me wrong.

Apologies if it feels like I'm digging my heels in and just refusing to accept you POV just seems to be to be a very one dimensional player. I do accept that he could change however.

Saying he is currently a better 15 than Isa is not true however, Isa was shortlisted for ERC Player of the HCup and won Leisnter player of the year didn't he?

Why are we talking about Nacewa?

Re: Kearney and whether he will get the Leinster 15 jersey back.

I have to say I thought that Murphy would put up more of a fight in this poll wasn't expecting such a walk over for Kearney and Jones

caoimhincentre wrote:valjester

To be honest i think Isa is the better player and leinster would be best served to leave him play 15.

The thing it is not best for ireland the the Isa starts 15 so you will see kearney starting there for leinster.

Maybe Isa is the better player but moving him to wing won't affect how effective he is, he will still drop back and run ball back its not going to stop him playing his game. Kearney is one of the best fullbacks in the world and I really don't understand why Leinster fans seem so happy to run him down and how many don't rate him. I don't what games people watch but any time I've seen Kearney play he has looked good at worst. He is capable of playing the game whichever his team wants to play.

Sayign Kearney is one of the best fullbacks in the world is just wrong I'm afriad there are many many better fullback.

Moving Isa to the wing would diminish his contribution IMO but not hugely.

pete (buachaill on eirne) wrote:Re: Kearney and whether he will get the Leinster 15 jersey back.

I have to say I thought that Murphy would put up more of a fight in this poll wasn't expecting such a walk over for Kearney and Jones

Murphy is 33, spent the past year injured and wasn't in great form prior to injury. Murphy has failed to deliver on the international stage and anytime he and Kearney have been fit, Kearney has started. Jones is fit and in form so people are going to vote for him.

Moving Nacewa isn't going to affect how effective he is but it will make Leinster a stronger team imo.

pete (buachaill on eirne) wrote:Sayign Kearney is one of the best fullbacks in the world is just wrong I'm afriad there are many many better fullback.

Moving Isa to the wing would diminish his contribution IMO but not hugely.

Whoever Australia play at full back and maybe foden are better. Mils has had a poor year and age is catching up on him.
Byrne is gone to rudey poo, patterson ain't great, france have a number of options who have no consistency.

I'm guessing this is a spell changer or something?

Yikes forgot Murphy was that old!
He hasn't been injured for the whole eyar a little less than Kearney actually. His form was relatively good for Tigers but he seems to be losing his pace, strength and agility now.

Beale
Foden
Medard
Heymans
Muliania
Dagg

there are more

pete (buachaill on eirne) wrote:Yikes forgot Murphy was that old!
He hasn't been injured for the whole eyar a little less than Kearney actually. His form was relatively good for Tigers but he seems to be losing his pace, strength and agility now.

Beale
Foden
Medard
Heymans
Muliania
Dagg

there are more

Murphy had been making lots of mistakes, you are saying kearney is playing poorly but he hasnt been giving away trys like murphy was.

Muliania has been quite poor this year, age is really catching up and he has no kicking game and if you are criticising kearney for not passing/offloading you should see mils.

The two bold have had mixed seasons and heymans has mainly played on the wing, they can be brilliant but the make way too many mistakes to be considered in the best full backs in the world.

Beale is definitely ahead of him, foden is at the moment and dagg has been good this season but kearney has played at the level in the past.

Kearney has always played very well against the SANZAR teams. Home and away. He's proven that he travels well. He's always been very good against Australia. There's a good chance we'll meet South Africa and I don't think he's ever been less than superb against them. He's probably the best in the world at neutralizing their kicking game.

He's recovered from injury and fit now. I'm sure Deccie will be giving him as much game time in the warm ups as possible.

If Murphy travels I will not be happy at all. It will smack of jobs for the lads. As will a Hayes inclusion. Ditto Horan.

Boyne wrote:If Murphy travels I will not be happy at all. It will smack of jobs for the lads. As will a Hayes inclusion. Ditto Horan.

I'd actually go along with that.

Feckless-
He really is the best answer to their kicking game. If were were playing them I'd play kearney.

Who else did you vote for?

Feckless Rogue wrote:Kearney has always played very well against the SANZAR teams. Home and away. He's proven that he travels well. He's always been very good against Australia. There's a good chance we'll meet South Africa and I don't think he's ever been less than superb against them. He's probably the best in the world at neutralizing their kicking game.

He's recovered from injury and fit now. I'm sure Deccie will be giving him as much game time in the warm ups as possible.

And he neutralizes it not just by catching everything and kicking it back, he also runs the ball back. The first thing he did after coming on in the lions test was to catch a high ball and run it 40 metres.

Boyne wrote:If Murphy travels I will not be happy at all. It will smack of jobs for the lads. As will a Hayes inclusion. Ditto Horan.

If including hayes means no buckley, then I'm all for it.

Boyne wrote:If Murphy travels I will not be happy at all. It will smack of jobs for the lads. As will a Hayes inclusion. Ditto Horan.

Considering he is Munsters starting tight heads and the alternative is Tony Buckley he is a good option.

red_stag wrote:

Boyne wrote:If Murphy travels I will not be happy at all. It will smack of jobs for the lads. As will a Hayes inclusion. Ditto Horan.

Considering he is Munsters starting tight heads and the alternative is Tony Buckley he is a good option.

Considering Hayes sent Healy flying backwards in the Magners final (having played 80 mins of rugby), smacks of Declan Kidney wanting to bring a prop who might help win a few games in the world cup.

I went for Bowe, Earls, Trimble, Kearney, Jones, McFadden.

I really would have liked Horgan to go, but he's injured. He was better than Bowe this season.

Sin é wrote:

red_stag wrote:

Boyne wrote:If Murphy travels I will not be happy at all. It will smack of jobs for the lads. As will a Hayes inclusion. Ditto Horan.

Considering he is Munsters starting tight heads and the alternative is Tony Buckley he is a good option.

Considering Hayes sent Healy flying backwards in the Magners final (having played 80 mins of rugby), smacks of Declan Kidney wanting to bring a prop who might help win a few games in the world cup.

not really it was stan wright who got driven back by du preez, hayes was just a passenger along for the ride

anyway healy was still locked from the heino he had been drinking all week

I think Bowe will be far better in an Ireland jersey than he was this season in the Ospreys one. Having spent time in a training camp where the mood is upbeat and positive will do him the world of good.

There was a real malaise around the Ospreys camp that didn't create the right environment for the players to shine in. Expect to see the old Tommy Bowe back for the warm ups and the RWC itself.

D24tress wrote:

Sin é wrote:

red_stag wrote:

Boyne wrote:If Murphy travels I will not be happy at all. It will smack of jobs for the lads. As will a Hayes inclusion. Ditto Horan.

Considering he is Munsters starting tight heads and the alternative is Tony Buckley he is a good option.

Considering Hayes sent Healy flying backwards in the Magners final (having played 80 mins of rugby), smacks of Declan Kidney wanting to bring a prop who might help win a few games in the world cup.

not really it was stan wright who got driven back by du preez, hayes was just a passenger along for the ride

anyway healy was still locked from the heino he had been drinking all week

So, it was all Stan's fault. Was Stan also out on the tear as well with Healy? Shocking unprofessional behavioiur from Healy and he mustn't be much of a drinker if he can't put in a bit of a performance for 10 mins against a 38 year old prop.

Can you explain why all the Munster players were clapping The Bull on the back then, and not clapping Stan (with the fresh legs)

Lads lets not ruin a good debate with stupid leinster munster rubbish

caoimhincentre wrote:Lads lets not ruin a good debate with stupid leinster munster rubbish

Come on kev we havent had a proper one yet on the new site

start it somewhere else so. don't do it on this thread

Iv'e said it before and I will say it again.

If Kearney is selected for Ireland against Australia at fullback then we might as well pack our bags and fly home.
The Aussie centres and wingers will run at him all day long knowing he cannot tackle.
People can come on here and talk up his fantastic kicking game all they like but sadly that's all he has in his locker.

Leave him at home to fight for his Leinster 15 jersey with Isa.

caoimhincentre wrote:start it somewhere else so. don't do it on this thread

So it becomes Munster v Leinster as soon as a Leinster player (Healy) is assessed negatively on his performance, but Hayes & Horan are assessed on their age.

Interesting way of selecting a team.

Sin é wrote:

caoimhincentre wrote:start it somewhere else so. don't do it on this thread

So it becomes Munster v Leinster as soon as a Leinster player (Healy) is assessed negatively on his performance, but Hayes & Horan are assessed on their age.

Interesting way of selecting a team.

Sin,

You know well were the conversation is heading

Lads-

Not going to define where the line is but keep provincial s*** out of this ok?!
Simple as!
This series has been free from all that rubbish, we are selecting the Irish team provinces shouldn't come into it.

Val-
I simply don't see where you can come up with Kearney running back the ball effectively at all this side of the Lions tour.
Who cares if he was good then?!
He has not been a counterattacking fullback since then even in the 09 6n he kicked most of the ball he got or ran at defenders.

Oh well, I think our arguement has run its course tbh.

So people really don't like Murphy then eh?

ps: only 2 votes seperate Kearney, Jones and McF.

McF now 7 ahead of Fitz

[quote="Tayto"]Iv'e said it before and I will say it again.

If Kearney is selected for Ireland against Australia at fullback then we might as well pack our bags and fly home.
The Aussie centres and wingers will run at him all day long knowing he cannot tackle.
People can come on here and talk up his fantastic kicking game all they like but sadly that's all he has in his locker.

Leave him at home to fight for his Leinster 15 jersey with Isa.
[/quote]

Who would you bring instead then?