Michael Bent- Irish Q'd

[Mackman15]

Sindo today- replacing Nathan White

[elfan]

http://www.independent.ie/sport/rugby/R ... 67715.html

[mhow]

http://www.hurricanes.co.nz/team/players/michael-bent

plays loose head and tight head was replacement yesterday in hurricanes loss at home to cheetahs

[Blåränderna]

I think thats quite a wiley signing on behlaf of Joe and the staff. On another note, Brendan Fanning doesn't mention Strauss in his article, are we to presume he's Irish qualified come next season?

[wixfjord]

Seems a good signing that.
Another young IQ prop that can play both sides sounds good.
Seems to be benching for Hurricanes, has 5 caps.
Round about the level that White was iirc, and if he's 3/4 as good as White at that age he'll be good.

A little worried about Hagan at this point though tbh, but the age profile of our propping dept is now very good indeed.

Also, this must been Henk the Tank is staying?

[ceemec]

Not sure if I'd say he's at White's level. White was a regular Super Rugby player and an experienced ITM captain. This guy strikes me as being a little more of an unknown quantity with the IQ tag giving him the nod. He hasn't started a match for the Hurricanes this year. Hopefully he's a solid player. If he can make his tackles and hold his own at a scrum, he's more than adequate for me.

[simonokeeffe]

he has very little Super Rugby experience (5 appearances last year) and played no age grade for NZ, possibly though he could be a new Stan Wright ie after a year of playing high level rugby full time he could come good

[LeRouxIsPHat]

A 25 year old prop who can cover both sides yet has such little gametime worries me tbh. Like ceemec, I'd pretty much be happy if he can lock out a scrum but I'd be sceptical. In fairness, our recruiting has been really impressive for the most part recently but this just reminds me of Borlase.

[Danthefan]

NZers on PR reckon he's worse than Borlase. The only reason he's signed is because he's IQ.

[LeRouxIsPHat]

NZers on PR reckon he's worse than Borlase. The only reason he's signed is because he's IQ.

Not so much of an issue if Hagan comes good but given how poor he's been lately we could be in serious trouble.

[desperado]

A 25 year old prop who can cover both sides yet has such little gametime worries me tbh. Like ceemec, I'd pretty much be happy if he can lock out a scrum but I'd be sceptical. In fairness, our recruiting has been really impressive for the most part recently but this just reminds me of Borlase.

Or Clint Rhyland

[[Jackass]]

Could be a very smart signing. Definitely an unknown qauntity, but if it works out it'll be seen as incredibly good signing, and you've got to take a punt sometimes and cant argue with Joe and Johnnos judgement...

[cwebber82]

He has the words "powerful scrummager" and "hard worker" attached to his name on the Hurricanes website. Hopefully he has something about him. Schmidt and Feek have been very good with recruiting foreign props ie Hank and White. Clint Newland (Tony Buckley in disguise!) was a panic recruitment. IQ to boot. Hope it works out.

Anybody aware how he is irish qualified? Presuming one of his parents or grandparents. Perhaps he got hitched to an irish cailin forcrd to flee her homeland due to the economic violence inflicted on her!!

[Eristic]

Michael Bent sounds an awful lot like Peter Borlaise to me.
That said, I haven't seen him play.

[LeRouxIsPHat]

Anybody aware how he is irish qualified?

Can't scrummage?

[johng]

Anyone noticed what date it is? I'd wait a week before believing this one.

[leinster270]

Michael Bent is the best prop the hurricanes has this year, saves their scrums every time. Dominated Tony Woodcock and Owen Franks this season in the scrum, All Blacks starting props. He's well deserving of starting but has been getting 40 mins + on the field each game, it appears to be more the fact that the stamina in the hurricanes is lacking and they bring him on in the second half to pick it up a little. Played a total of 9 Super games to date he's a real game changer on the field. If Leinster have signed him he'll be the next ireland tight or loose head prop, no doubt. Hammett will be feeling the pain letting him go, stuck with an aging front row and an up and comer whos not quite there yet with the scrumming. Bent earned his team a tighthead in the scrum right on the opponents line with seconds to spare, turned the ball over and cleared to win them this pretty wee thing http://www.espnscrum.com/itm-cup-2011/r ... 46963.html Often likened to Olo Brown, legendary all blacks prop, for his ability to get in, do the job well and never complain. http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/rugby/supe ... Hurricanes Good luck to him!!

[Lar]

Anybody aware how he is irish qualified?

Can't scrummage?

[BlueBlue]

From the indo below, not a good source for hard facts but there you go.
Props

The big issue. Marcus Horan's impact in the previous week's action put him back into the international mix, but he had a rough night at Thomond Park on Saturday.

While it is hard to know exactly what was going on at scrum time, it seemed as though Mike Ross had the edge on Horan; both men ended up in the dirt before the contest was allowed to develop, and then both ended up in the bin.

Leinster coach Joe Schmidt's take was pretty clear afterwards: "One of the clear edicts about scrummaging is that you keep your shoulders above your hips -- as soon as you hinge down from the hips it is impossible to stay up. It is pretty clear to see that when Wian du Preez came on, I don't think any scrums went down, so you can work that out."

Jamie Hagan did okay on his introduction to the game and has something to build upon, while there was good news for Leinster and Kidney on Saturday with the possibility of Irish-qualified tight-head Michael Bent arriving from New Zealand to replace the Connacht-bound Nathan White.

[sheepshagger]

Anyone noticed what date it is? I'd wait a week before believing this one.

Indeed, its funny that no NZ websites have picked up on it. . .

If he does come he'll have a bit in common with Sean O'Brien. . .both coming from a dairy farm background