Oldschool wrote:Billed as an unofficial trial for Ireland.
Ulster v Connacht doesn't count of course????
Who were the winners and losers.
Frank Murphy won't be getting a call up any time soon to the international ref panel.
JOD is in a rich vein of form playing better than POM so he's a shoe in.
Killer killed Porter at scrum time.
Wycherley, while a bit small for a SR showed up prominently, justifying the hype.
In the backs it was good to see Carberry back and pushing Sexton hard, JJ didn't do his Ireland bench chances any harm either.
The conditions didn't really help any of the other backs.
So there you have it.
Jaysus lads, was the irony of Munster only players being mentioned not lost on you.
Christ but there's a serious lack of humour on this board.
Enjoy the rest of the break.
Nothing significant in the scrums between Porter & Killer in the game I watched. Porter certainly made more yards in carrying.
Jack O'Donoghue definitely the Munster leader for MOTM.
Ruddock's tackle stats consistently too low for me to be taken seriously as a Six Nations blindside..... Ruddock's defensive stats don't stack up. - All Blacks Nil, Jan 15th, 2014
England A 8 - 14 Ireland A, 25th Jan 2014 Ruddock(c) 19/2 Tackles
Jimmy O'Brien wriggling free and making an extra 3m when it looked as if he might get caught behind the gainline was pretty crucial to the try being scored. Good play by him.
Xanthippe wrote:
It does - however our best ‘unbeaten’ run is 20 (18 wins and 2 draws) games in the 11/12 season
Also, the 01/02 and 11/12 runs were within one season whereas the current run of 15, if compared to them, is actually only 13 this season
Whats our longest run of wins as opposed to wins and draws?
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In one season it’s the 15 games in 01/02 mentioned by Cormac and which has now been ‘equalled’ through the final two games of last season and the 13 games this season
I commented on 4 different points. You lot only referenced one of them. One eyed posting if ever anyone saw it.
When all of the first match romance is gone Osborne will still be a talented, but too small an athlete and A likely weak link in a Leinster 23. Do you want him on the bench in a final against Sarries? No you don’t but your agenda isn’t reality on this thread.
McCarthy (who isn’t the Messiah but a better prospect than given credit for) no matter where he went to school, is a better #3 scrum-half option for Leinster than any of the 3 pretenders and we didn’t try hard enough to keep him. Patterson, HOS & Osborne are all and will remain hindered by their lack of stature.
My points re MOTM, Porter vs Killer, Fardy playing 80 mins are all still there for comment - but this mob-rule forum will only ever be triggered by comments that relate to former St Michael’s players. Given there are 15 on the books this means I cannot comment on over one quarter of the squad without being accused of bias - I guess that’s the price of success. *sighs
I commented on 4 different points. You lot only referenced one of them. One eyed posting if ever anyone saw it.
When all of the first match romance is gone Osborne will still be a talented, but too small an athlete and A likely weak link in a Leinster 23. Do you want him on the bench in a final against Sarries? No you don’t but your agenda isn’t reality on this thread.
McCarthy (who isn’t the Messiah but a better prospect than given credit for) no matter where he went to school, is a better #3 scrum-half option for Leinster than any of the 3 pretenders and we didn’t try hard enough to keep him. Patterson, HOS & Osborne are all and will remain hindered by their lack of stature.
My points re MOTM, Porter vs Killer, Fardy playing 80 mins are all still there for comment - but this mob-rule forum will only ever be triggered by comments that relate to former St Michael’s players. Given there are 15 on the books this means I cannot comment on over one quarter of the squad without being accused of bias - I guess that’s the price of success. *sighs
Nick McCarthy isn't exactly Mike Phillips though, is he?
It was a first start for Osborne, so there's quite a lot of scope for further improvement.
Nick McCarthy is 3 inches taller and 8 kilos heavier than Osborne. He is taller than all our scrum-half panel - he is not Mile Philips, Terry Holmes or Conor Murray. There is so much debate here about most any player potentially leaving Leinster and especially if they go to Munster. But there was zip about us losing our #3 scrum-half. I was happy for him to make his move for himself, but have never understood why Leinster management didn’t fight to hold him.
I think McCarthy has 30% to 40% upside once he gets a run of games. But he has t had that in either province.
I don’t think Osborne has the upside to become big enough not to be a défensive liability. He is slightly shorter than Stringer and about the same weight. That is not a profile to build cup winning squads from in my opinion.
Size matters. Munster’s lineout was too short last Saturday. Munster & Ireland were hindered by Strings & ROG’s lack of physicality. It’s the same for Osborne. Time will tell. Credit to him for a decent shift, especially second half. But I can’t get past how they targeted his size so effectively on several occasions. I wouldn’t want him as a sub against Sarries.
backrower8 wrote:Nick McCarthy is 3 inches taller and 8 kilos heavier than Osborne. He is taller than all our scrum-half panel - he is not Mile Philips, Terry Holmes or Conor Murray. There is so much debate here about most any player potentially leaving Leinster and especially if they go to Munster. But there was zip about us losing our #3 scrum-half. I was happy for him to make his move for himself, but have never understood why Leinster management didn’t fight to hold him.
I think McCarthy has 30% to 40% upside once he gets a run of games. But he has t had that in either province.
I don’t think Osborne has the upside to become big enough not to be a défensive liability. He is slightly shorter than Stringer and about the same weight. That is not a profile to build cup winning squads from in my opinion.
Size matters. Munster’s lineout was too short last Saturday. Munster & Ireland were hindered by Strings & ROG’s lack of physicality. It’s the same for Osborne. Time will tell. Credit to him for a decent shift, especially second half. But I can’t get past how they targeted his size so effectively on several occasions. I wouldn’t want him as a sub against Sarries.
There was discussion about it at the time, the move was announced over a year ago, people have decided to back the players who are in our squad not the ones who play for Munster. Oh the outrage.
"Horrocks went one way, Taylor the other and I was left holding the bloody hyphen!"
There was discussion about it at the time, the move was announced over a year ago, people have decided to back the players who are in our squad not the ones who play for Munster. Oh the outrage.
Apparently you have to answer absolutely every point he makes, not just the ones of interest. Otherwise your just part of the mob.
You probably have a long history of stealing stationary too.
It must be tough being the last bastion of sense amongst all this group think and mob rule. Particularly when everyone except you has an 'agenda'.
Real rugger goys get it though.
#triggered #swordsmen #crossingswords
I have broad shoulders and opinions validated by years amongst real rugger folk, mainly from fee-paying South Dublin schools.
The agenda I refer to is the uniformity of the responses to my original post.
All of them only addressing 1 point out of 4 I made and all of them critical - which is fine in itself, but stretching credibility to think that nobody here thinks that we would have been better off with McCarthy as our #3 than Osborne. #Groupthink #mobreaction #echochamber
backrower8 wrote:Nick McCarthy is 3 inches taller and 8 kilos heavier than Osborne. He is taller than all our scrum-half panel - he is not Mile Philips, Terry Holmes or Conor Murray. There is so much debate here about most any player potentially leaving Leinster and especially if they go to Munster. But there was zip about us losing our #3 scrum-half. I was happy for him to make his move for himself, but have never understood why Leinster management didn’t fight to hold him.
I think McCarthy has 30% to 40% upside once he gets a run of games. But he has t had that in either province.
I don’t think Osborne has the upside to become big enough not to be a défensive liability. He is slightly shorter than Stringer and about the same weight. That is not a profile to build cup winning squads from in my opinion.
Size matters. Munster’s lineout was too short last Saturday. Munster & Ireland were hindered by Strings & ROG’s lack of physicality. It’s the same for Osborne. Time will tell. Credit to him for a decent shift, especially second half. But I can’t get past how they targeted his size so effectively on several occasions. I wouldn’t want him as a sub against Sarries.
backrower8 wrote:Nick McCarthy is 3 inches taller and 8 kilos heavier than Osborne. He is taller than all our scrum-half panel - he is not Mile Philips, Terry Holmes or Conor Murray. There is so much debate here about most any player potentially leaving Leinster and especially if they go to Munster. But there was zip about us losing our #3 scrum-half. I was happy for him to make his move for himself, but have never understood why Leinster management didn’t fight to hold him.
I think McCarthy has 30% to 40% upside once he gets a run of games. But he has t had that in either province.
I don’t think Osborne has the upside to become big enough not to be a défensive liability. He is slightly shorter than Stringer and about the same weight. That is not a profile to build cup winning squads from in my opinion.
Size matters. Munster’s lineout was too short last Saturday. Munster & Ireland were hindered by Strings & ROG’s lack of physicality. It’s the same for Osborne. Time will tell. Credit to him for a decent shift, especially second half. But I can’t get past how they targeted his size so effectively on several occasions. I wouldn’t want him as a sub against Sarries.
So you’re telling me you don’t think Scott Penny is going to make it because “size matters” . Scott Penny is barely 6ft. Me personally I don’t think size matters especially the height, it’s about the size of the fight in the dog not the size of the dog in the fight
backrower8 wrote:Nick McCarthy is 3 inches taller and 8 kilos heavier than Osborne. He is taller than all our scrum-half panel - he is not Mile Philips, Terry Holmes or Conor Murray. There is so much debate here about most any player potentially leaving Leinster and especially if they go to Munster. But there was zip about us losing our #3 scrum-half. I was happy for him to make his move for himself, but have never understood why Leinster management didn’t fight to hold him.
I think McCarthy has 30% to 40% upside once he gets a run of games. But he has t had that in either province.
I don’t think Osborne has the upside to become big enough not to be a défensive liability. He is slightly shorter than Stringer and about the same weight. That is not a profile to build cup winning squads from in my opinion.
Size matters. Munster’s lineout was too short last Saturday. Munster & Ireland were hindered by Strings & ROG’s lack of physicality. It’s the same for Osborne. Time will tell. Credit to him for a decent shift, especially second half. But I can’t get past how they targeted his size so effectively on several occasions. I wouldn’t want him as a sub against Sarries.
Both of Ireland u20 centers were 5’9/5’8 when we won the Grand Slam and our backrow was the shortest it’s ever been with the number 8 and openside flanker barely being 6ft. Ireland u20s last year won the first Grand Slam with arguably the shortest team we’ve ever had. It’s about the size of the fight in the dog and not the size of the dog in the fight. Having a low centre of gravity is a good thing in rugby
Osborne's size is relevant only in comparison with Patterson and O'Sullivan. So not much difference. He wasn't in the picture when McCarthy left. There was a big fuss over McCarthy. If there wasn't more it was because we were glad it wasn't worse.
Osbourne took up pro rugby at the start of the season and was rushed into a start against Munster. It's a big, big step up in level from anything he's played before. Surviving (metaphorically) is a huge achievement. Being better than McCarthy is also huge. It suggests that he may well develop into a regular at this level, if he becomes good enough.
If he doesn't make it as a pro he still had a day to be proud of.
The Saracens canard is like the Ireland RWC QF and Munster's semi: barriers that are only real if you try to climb over them.
