A giggle for you Munster boyosss

The centres are the main area of concern at the moment. We are replacing other positions nicely and with new locks coming through in Munster and Leinster, that was the other area of concern.

O'Mally is a bit green at the moment and if we look at the other possibilities its fair to say he will be fighting for a position in the Green jersey.
Spence and Cave in Ulster look great prospects, Fergus McFadden also and Fergus can kick really well into the bargain.

The truth is that the O'Driscoll/Darcy partnership has been too good for too long, and while we have been replacing other positions we have never wanted to Replace BOD because we know he will leave massive shoes to fill. Un-fillable shoes really.

I like the thinking coming from Conner O'Shea. He has been saying for a number of years that BOD needs to move to inside centre and then we start bringing on the youngsters to play outside him. I mean, if your a talented kid and you have BOD playing inside you its a hell of a schooling your gona be getting.

In that vain the question is also this, How long will DK remain as head coach? He's done a good job. Not Great but good. While we won our Grands Slam we also went through the worst losing streak in Irish Rugby History under DK so maybe its time for some fresh thinking. Top of the List would be Conner O'Shea. Just look at what he has done with Harlequins! Though personally i would be more inclined to go with an outsider, proven at International level.... Nick Mallet would be great i think and might not have the provincial bias or the bias to play people just because they are who they are. Not saying DK did that but he was quite stubborn about Tomas O'Leary (aka i cant pass) and Gordon D'Arcy during the World Cup Warm-ups was shocking and never got dropped while Andrew Trimble was incredible and begging for a start in the WC but got snubbed.

As you can see i have no provincial bias when it comes to the irish team. I just want the inform lads to get their rightful shot dont care what team they come from.

Also i think
BOD at 12 inside Earls at 13 would be a leathal combination.

Earls has the feet and BOD the brain and guile to put Earls in space.

Maybe, BOD just flat out refuses to give up the 13 shirt.

Keith Earls is born to play wing and i don't care what anyone says Fergus McFadden is one of the most talented players coming through at the moment and is definatly the long term replacement for BOD for province and country.

sea-the-stars

Also a perfectly plausible outcome.

I'de actually totally agree about Earls but in the centre with Cave, O'Mally and Spence coming along, not forgetting Fitzgerald, thats more players then there are positions.

But The fact is we dont know yet. The only thing we do know is we cant replace BOD like for like. He is/was a once in a generation player. And non of the above have shown that they will ever be close to the same level.

I can only see Earls on the wing as well, there's an element of headless chicken about him in the center and his defense isn't good enough either.

Charlie

I think your right about that charlie. But it poses a significant problem for me.

I like Andrew Trimble at 11. I dont agree with DK on leaving Trimble out in the cold. I have never seen a player perform so well and still get ignored. Trimble should rightly feel peed off with the Ireland management.

Earls played fantastic against England in the 6 Nations and that was from the FB position. Perhaps by accident it showed that he needs a bit of space to work his magic. maybe it was a fluke. but one thing is for sure. We need to nail him on at a position and leave him in a position. this business of shifting him from one to the other is not good for his development and he has said as much himself.

I guess it comes down to what kind of game you want the national side to play. Safe: i.e. a classical fullback with a big boot and arial skills.
OR
Modern: counter attacking Fullback, running back at the opposition with venom, pace and a step.

DK is perhaps not the man to implement the later.

I think Kearney has been fantastic at fullback recently though, for both club and country. And am much happire with Kearney there than Earls. Its tough, as someone is going to miss out who shouldnt.

Ye Leeds, thats a fact.
Kearney has been performing well. I still want him to look up when he's running back at the opposition. He frustrates me a little as he always seems to look for contact, but more often then not he breaks the tackle and/or off loads which is great.

But its in stark contrast to Necewa who looks to find holes and keep going. In that respect its easier for Kearney to get isolated if the opposition have a good kick chase.

But ye, alot of hands in the air from 11 to 15 in the Green jersey so a bit of a headache for the manager. Its about finding the correct combination now.

The 6 Nations is not going to be easy. Now that O'Driscoll is out DK has to go looking for that new combination and there are no games in between to experiment.

on currant form my back division would be as follows.
15. Kearney
14. Bowe
13. McFadden
12. D'Arcy
11.Trimble

Earls is injured so i would be reluctant to play him until i see him in full flight for munster and in the heineken cup not the Pro 12
Fitzgerald is also looking good but still is not getting tries for Leinster. He was outstanding at the weekend but as u said leeds, it was pretty easy for them with their pack destroying the opposition.

I saw a quote from the Glasgow manager. He was brutally honest and said for leinster "it was like stealing candy from a baby" i like that kind of honesty from a manager.

I agree with the Trimble comments he has actually been probably the most consistent player in the Ireland back line.I would also love to see Boss play more at scrumhalf he adds a completely new dimension to the team.

sea-the-stars
I like boss also but not sure if he's the man for the future. Certainly he's changes a game when he comes on. And so Leinster have put them selves in a great position by having 2 SH's who they can pick on a horses for courses kind of basis.

Much like Sexton and O'Gara for ireland. I don't think its worth arguing who is better but rather who should we use to start a game depending on who we are facing and how they defend.

Now we have Conor Murray coming our of Munster and he's is a red hot prospect for the 9 jersey. He seems to have it all! And most notably he seems to have a big game mentality doing really well in the WC. I like this kid a lot.