BOSS/CAMPBELL/STRINGER

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ballpark
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BOSS/CAMPBELL/STRINGER

Post by ballpark »

Probably been debated before but the relative merits of these three are worth it.

BOSS, has moved Provincial clubs twice in New Zealand as rival international 9's have turned up the heat. Has been brought to Ulster where he is likely to find another rival international nine vying with him. The fact he is southern Hemisphere would seem to be major asset and the IRFU are looking belatedly, for someone to put pressure on Stringer.
Must be assumed given he has previously moved when rival nines turned up that he is confident of overtaking Campbell for a starting or bench spot in the Ireland set up. Rumour has it he could be there this Autumn.

CAMPBELL, spent 3 years and a bit at Ravers in the shadow of Doak before the coaches conceded the bleedin' obvious and binned Doak. Fine displays last season in the Ulster shirt made it apparent to Ulster fans at least that he was destined to usurp Easterby from the Irish bench. Inexplicably didn't happen and now Boss's arrival cast's a further shadow over his aspirations. Expected to get decent time as Irish no. 1 in Japan but got a mere 20mins over 2 games with Stringer the fllinger in the driving seat.
Good scrum half IMHO, good hands, excellent break and a box kicking ability other aspiring Irish nines don't have plus committed defensive abilities. Best comparison is Ricky Januarie the bok nine.

STRINGER, startling to think he's been around without a rival in sight for about 5 years. Not developed his game beyond a flat fast pass. Limitations to his game grow ever more obvious as not even his defence is up to standards of other international nines of the same physical size, such as Gregan and Januarie. Not been put under any pressure for his place as 1st choice for Ireland until belatedly, now when the IRFU appeared to have imported a SH scrum half. Local rivals have been ignored whilst the IRFU persisted with a military medium bench warmer whose been rarely used off the bench thus no pressure on Stringer and no development to his game. Started his career with good fast flat pass off back of scrum, finishing his career with good flat.....

Prediction, stringer the flinger to continue as Irish nine, with Boss in the Easterbunny role for now.
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Post by Rooster »

You have summed the whole thing up the way I see it as well.
Don't think Kieran's chances were helped last season by the fact that he often made good breaks only to get turned over due to lack of support from his own forwards :roll: also he was slow getting ball out at times and depending to who you listen to it was poor presentation to him or him not getting stuck in to get the ball out :?
He was widely expected to play at least a full half if not start the second game yet he was left on the pine to play 18 minutes rugby, don't think he is in Eddies plans :evil:
The battle for 9 in Ulster is going to be interesting with 2 potential nines on the same side, I hope KC is not left in the corner once more as he is exciting on the break and deserves better than he has had over the last few years.
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Post by Freddie Benson »

Read Boss earlier this week quoted as saying that he hopes to make the RWC squad. It would seem EO'S already has him in mind long before then.
Which is harsh on KC, who as BP points out was excellent last season when Ulster belatedly made him their first choice, and he hasn't really had a fair crack in the international set-up.

Many Monstermen would have Murphy ahead of Stringer based on what they saw last season.
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Post by ding dong2u »

Agree with you BP. But he's currently the man in posseion of the No 9 shirt and if he plays well it will be hard for Muckall to replace him (I hope). If that's the case then hopefully EOS can't ignore him either although his past track record would indicate otherwise. Boss like everyone else deserves a fair crack of the whip and hopefully the competition will be good for both Ulster and Ireland. You can never enough good players.
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Post by fermain »

What about Brian O'Riordan? If he isn't up to the grade, why wasn't Boss brought in to shoar up another provinces scrum half position? We have KC. he should be in line for the Irish 9. But Boss will surely put O'Riordan's chances of making the Ireland squad back a bit.
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Post by Mid-Terrace »

Oh! Dear, Oh! Dear, Oh! Dear, I remember last season when EOS's and the IRFU's wranglings over the Irish No.9 position totally fecked up the start of our season - I hope this is not a case of Deja vu!!
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Post by cjp »

O'Riordan is simply not good enough has a poor pass. We should be more interested in how Eoin Reddan does at Wasps. Boss has looked impressive anytime I saw him play in the Super 12. IMO though Stringer should have played himself out of the squad after awful performances in Japan. He was never good enough and never will be, KC is definitly worth a shout to see if he is the answer, he may not be but again like the younger players at the provinces and also at International how do you know there good enough unless you give them a chance.
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Post by cjp »

Just a wee note that "The Bossman" scored in Waikato's 30-6 win over Taranaki.
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