Babbling 'brook

With Marsh's injury, if Carbery isn't released by Ireland I guess it'll be Ross Byrne to start, with Reid covering outhalf, and no specialist cover on the bench. A chance for Tom Daly to get into the 23 maybe?

If you exclude everyone who'd get called up by Ireland then we're probably looking at something like: 1 Dooley, 2 Tracy, 3 Bent, 4 Nagle, 5 Triggs, 6 Ryan, 7 Leavy(?), 8 Conan, 9 Gibson-Park, 10 Marsh, 11 Nacewa, 12 Reid, 13 O'Loughlin, 14 B. Daly, 15 Kirchner; 16 Strauss/Byrne, 17 Porter, 18 Loughm...

I suppose the people who think there shouldn't be an Italian team in the Champions Cup also think the 2015 World Cup would have been better with NZ Maori, England Saxons and Ireland Wolfhounds competing in place of Namibia, USA and Uruguay?

Stuart Lancaster had four losses and a draw against South Africa as England coach

This point has probably been thrashed to death now. I will say this though, the idea that a SH has only three simple decisions, kick, pass or break, is nonsense. Right. He also has to decide which side of the ruck to attack, and whether to pass straight from the base or take a few steps before givi...

Whatever about the 2013 Challenge Cup win, if we were in the competition from the start now I think it would be better to save the Internationals' minutes for the Pro12.

Is Boland the guy who was getting completely lifted off the ground in the scrum for Ireland U20s against Australia a few years ago?

Dave Cahill wrote:Leinster did end up in the Challenge Cup and we didn't use to develop nathin'!

I mean if we were in it from the start. It's a bit different if it's just knock-out games

If Leinster ever ended up in the Challenge Cup I'd like to see it used for development of the likes of Tom Daly, Rory O'Loughlin, Andrew Porter and Jeremy Loughman, so I wouldn't hold it against Grenoble that they played a weakened side. They have the ridiculous slog of the Top 14 to contend with too

Kelleher wasn't any run of the mill Academy prospect. he was earmarked early as one of the stars coming through the schools system. So to lose him, especially when our depth and quality in that area is so poor, can only be a disappointment. But if I'm Kelleher, would I want to learn 3/4 play under ...

I think the loss of Kelleher will be felt in Leinster. We saw last year against Zebra the potential that he has and, as much as I don't like it, FairPlay to him for having the courage to go to Connacht. The Connacht back-three were by far the most impressive in the Pro 12 last season and he obvious...

If you look at Connacht team sheets of the last couple of seasons the clear pecking order for wing spots was Healy Poolman Leader Adeoloken. Im just looking for fair and balanced reporting :) Its great when academy guys get promoted early on back of performances for the senior side like Ringrose, M...

We gave Conway a full deal straight out of school and look where that got us. That said, we do look to have made a mistake re. Kelleher. In hindsight yes, hindsight But: 1: we did try to keep him 2: Healy, Poolman, and Leader stayed fit hes nobody C. If we gave him a full deal on the back of having...

I think the problem lies more with the structure of the competition. Having only one representative from each of Wales, Scotland and Italy while there are 7 French teams and 6 English teams makes a bit of a joke of a "European" Cup. I think I'd be in favour of a sort of amalgamation of the...

I wouldn't want to lose Dom Ryan because I don't think Jordi Murphy is suited to blindside and I think and hope Leavy's future lies at openside. I think O'Brien can pretty much be counted out as an option, so having JvdF and Leavy competing for the 7 jersey, and Connors coming through would be good ...

Surely, instead of playing Bent, it would be better to use the game to aid Loughman's or Heffernan's development?

Meh, if he wants to throw his toys out of his pram let him. You can't compare Pienaar and Nacewa at all. Pienaar has led to Ulster having no 9s in the Irish set-up since Boss left in 2010 (?). And he left because of Pienaar. Boss leaving had absolutely nothing to do with Pienaar, indeed it had noth...

Based on the Cardiff match, it seems to me that Bent struggles with anything other than the opposition driving completely square. It must be hard for him, cos he doesn't usually get much of a run of games to get into a groove.

Dave K definitely won't be back for this weekend, will he not?

I think there's still a place for the small guys. Larmour will just have to be elusive like Jason Robinson in attack, and technically sound like Stringer in in the tackle