606v2 picks the best Irish match day 22: STARTING FRONT ROW

First topic message reminder :

Hey guys,

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.

FRONT ROWS:
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.

HEALY: Destructive in the loose be it in offence or defence. A real live wire with ball in hand due to his pace and strength he frequently breaks tackles. An improving player in the scrum, note he has come up against the likes of Clermont, Toulouse, Leicester and Northhampton this season and Greg Feek has been with him all season. Discipline can be an issue however.
ROSS: Best scrummager in Ireland. Is doing a good job at keeping the no.3 shirt. Is an improving player in the loose and has lost a good bit of weight. He is one of the ones who does a lot of the donkey work in the pack and hits a surprising amount of rucks when we have the ball, less so when we don't.
BUCKLEY: Very inconsitent but can be devestating due to his size, strength and soft hands. Excellent counter rucker and ball carrier where he can suck in multiple defenders and then offload with skill and precision. Not a great scrummaging force. Could be an excellent option off the bench.
COURT: Versatile prop who can and has played either side of the scrum at International level. Not the most destructive in the loose or in the scrum but is solid, doesn't give away silly penalties or make silly handling or defensive mistakes. Not much of an impact player but solid and reliable.
BEST: One of the team leaders, excellent work on the floor hitting rucks and slowing down opposition ball. Clever footballer with good skills and when needed runs good support lines. Not the greatest lineout technician but working with the Irish team for an extend period of time will help this and he is a good scrummager.
CRONIN: Exceptionally quick for a front row. Good footballing skills and good defender also. Not great in the lineout but like Best maybe time with the international setup will help with this. Better in the loose than in the tight and is still on a learning curve. Not the greatest scrummager but by no means the worst either.
FLANNERY: Out of rugby for a long time but brings manic aggression and exceptional lineout throwing. Not as good in the scrum or in the tight as Best but still a tough athlete. Due to being a ball carrier we would need another work horse in the pack if he was included. Excellent tackler and has good ball skills but can be indisciplined at times.

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

MMC wrote:Are we going to get to choose the 2nd rows today pete? This one seems to be pretty unanimous.

Its already up.

red_stag wrote:

MMC wrote:Are we going to get to choose the 2nd rows today pete? This one seems to be pretty unanimous.

Its already up.

Thanks Stag

MMC wrote:I'd be inclined to agree with you there Stag. I can't see Kidney starting O'Leary ahead of Reddan against Australia though. I think there are strong arguments for and against each player and everyone has their own views on it so I won't get into it now.

Yea we wait until we get to Scrumhalf discussion.

red_stag wrote:

MMC wrote:I'd be inclined to agree with you there Stag. I can't see Kidney starting O'Leary ahead of Reddan against Australia though. I think there are strong arguments for and against each player and everyone has their own views on it so I won't get into it now.

Yea we wait until we get to Scrumhalf discussion.

I have to say, I'm looking forward to that one.

MMC wrote:

red_stag wrote:

MMC wrote:I'd be inclined to agree with you there Stag. I can't see Kidney starting O'Leary ahead of Reddan against Australia though. I think there are strong arguments for and against each player and everyone has their own views on it so I won't get into it now.

Yea we wait until we get to Scrumhalf discussion.

I have to say, I'm looking forward to that one.

Yeah me too

Understand the appeal of TOL off those set piece moves but we will not be able to keep the ball for long periods of the game with him at 9. We will get turned over very quickly.

Like you said lets wait for that one though.

yeah locks one is up but quiet, not many people have seen this new subsection plus it's pretty unaminous too, wait for tomrrow gentlemen then you shall get your war!

Gibson wrote:

Howya Notch. Slowin up there man. Just pointing out realistic options open to Kidney.

Alright Taaytoo? Still dreaming I see, mo chara?

So, tell the class. What did Chilli Con Kearney do to ya huh?

He's too purdy roysh?

Was it anything to do with what he said about Munster players not giving their all for Ireland back in 2009? Then we won a SLAM on the back of it? Thought so. He can't help being a born leader and rugby superstar.

Give im a break.

Gibbo,

Kearney is the equivelant to Irish rugby as Jedward are to Irish pop music.
Lacking talent but somehow blagging their way to get noticed.

I would gladly give him a break.

That's good Tayto... in fairness.

Sorry man, had a few vinos last night and got a wee bit bolshi. Repect.

BTW, let it be known I have massive respect for Jones, the way he came back from serious injury and fought his way into Kidneys reckoning. So admire him for that. That's what internationals are made of. A burning inner-desire to be the best against the odds. He has the full skilset, has been schooled in the Leinster Way and is getting better at his craft, game on game. Munster was the best move he could have made, imo. And I see him challenging Kearney in the not too distant future. But not in this RWC.