Summer Tour 2014

[Russ]

Crozier is no longer a viable option in international rugby

He had a swansong this year, but has been dire since 08

Nonsense. He is still the best 12 in Ireland and by a clear margin both at club level and international level.

Then we have no 12s in Ireland

I'd rather Madigan played 12 with his severe lack of defence than thon ballroot

[Shan]

Then we have no 12s in Ireland

No. He was the best 12 in the 6N apart from Fofana and he is the best 12 in the Rabo.

We do have 12's. Marshall, even in a disappointing year, competes easily with the rest of the Rabo.

[Neil F]

Hi Neil- When I said 100% team players I meant 100% committed. Earls shows this in defence as much as anybody in the game and so does Trimble. Both look for work all the time and it is very rare anybody(I am only talking about those who actually know what they are looking at such as your good self) could level a charge against either for not putting everything they've got into a performance.

That Earls falls short sometimes in terms of his offensive play can be put down to a few factors, desperation to drive on his team when they are struggling to make the breakthrough, unacceptably poor coaching, unacceptable support runs from his team mates and sometimes just poor decision making or whiteline fever from Earls himself. He is nowhere near perfect and I have no desire to paint him as near that, which I'm sure you know anyway. However when I see Earls lining up at least I know that while he may make some errors and run up some blind alleys he won't go missing in the game and he won't shirk any required and sometimes mammoth defensive work which unfortuntely cannot always be said of everybody.

I do think what Earls needs more than anything is an extended and injury-free run in his best position and some direction from a good coaching team.

The actual perfect situation for me would be if we could somehow fit all of Bowe, Trimble and Earls on the same team but with all only playing on the wing. They are the three best wingers in Ireland in terms of the full package. Oh and I know we can only play two wingers at a time. What a pity.

Shan, hard to argue with much of that. I suspect with Earls what is needed, more than anything, is a little maturity. Hopefully, he's now at the age to develop that and to realise that he can't always do everything by himself.

Oh and the only logical way to fit Earls in along with Trimble and Bowe is to play him at 15, which I still feel to be Earls' most natural position. Suspect that's just me, though... It's hard to argue with successive Munster coaches, though. I suspect there's a reason why I'm posting on the internet and they're coaching rugby teams. I'm sure, one day, I'll find out why!

[rumncoke]

Neil

Trimble went to CAI where he played centre and due to his size was a successful one but when leaving school and trying to play centre at QUB was relatively successful until like many before him the opposition got to know his game similarly Ireland had a 13 and EOS wanted wings and again he was initially successful until the opposition realised how green he was when playing on the wing but he always had commitment and a good rugby brain just lacked experience as a wing


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[kingofthehill]

Neil

Trimble went to CAI where he played centre and due to his size was a successful one but when leaving school and trying to play centre at QUB was relatively successful until like many before him the opposition got to know his game similarly Ireland had a 13 and EOS wanted wings and again he was initially successful until the opposition realised how green he was when playing on the wing but he always had commitment and a good rugby brain just lacked experience as a wing


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Never played for QUB,he played for ballymena.

[Snipe Watson]

Neil

Trimble went to CAI where he played centre and due to his size was a successful one but when leaving school and trying to play centre at QUB was relatively successful until like many before him the opposition got to know his game similarly Ireland had a 13 and EOS wanted wings and again he was initially successful until the opposition realised how green he was when playing on the wing but he always had commitment and a good rugby brain just lacked experience as a wing


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Never played for QUB,he played for ballymena.

He played his first number of matches for Ulster at centre. He beat Biarritz single handedly playing at 13. Or did I imagine it?

[big mervyn]

Anybody got details of TV coverage for the 2 tests?

[damianmcr]

RTE and Sky

[big mervyn]

RTE and Sky

So RTE will be blocked here if you don't have Sky Sports ...

[damianmcr]

Unless you have a Freeview HD box or Saorview box that will pick up RTE.

It will be blocked on RTE on Sky up here.

[Russ]

Sniper - def beat Toulouse on his own

Anscombe Out

[kingofthehill]

Neil

Trimble went to CAI where he played centre and due to his size was a successful one but when leaving school and trying to play centre at QUB was relatively successful until like many before him the opposition got to know his game similarly Ireland had a 13 and EOS wanted wings and again he was initially successful until the opposition realised how green he was when playing on the wing but he always had commitment and a good rugby brain just lacked experience as a wing


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Never played for QUB,he played for ballymena.

He played his first number of matches for Ulster at centre. He beat Biarritz single handedly playing at 13. Or did I imagine it?

I think he did play 13 in Ulsters blue kit but I don't think they won the game. I vividly remember him cutting through the middle from his own half and getting caught just before the line.He was called up for his 1st test against OZ after that performance (BOD injured).

[Russ]

Then we have no 12s in Ireland

No. He was the best 12 in the 6N apart from Fofana and he is the best 12 in the Rabo.

We do have 12's. Marshall, even in a disappointing year, competes easily with the rest of the Rabo.

He's having some game today

[Russ]

Ruan selected

[Snipe Watson]

Ruan selected

What, his choice from the menu?