Squad for next year

[The FRU]

Wilson was twice the Front Row Union Ulster player of the year before he went to Northampton and was always a good player at Ulster without grabbing the headlines (well at least on the pitch). He's also desperately unlucky only to get one Irish cap and really he should be considered as back row/second row cover for Ireland for the world cup.

Diack is the next best thing we have seen and has the potential to be as good if not better than Wilson if only he was played at eight more often.

[backawaygoonahead]

Frankly I don't care if none of our players are selected by Deccie, Robinson, Henry or de Villiers for the RWC. In relation to Irish rugby its about as relevant as Sevens. A waste of time, much as I will watch most of it.

I could not agree more. I sort of support Ireland when the Six nations/test matches are on but I don't really care if they lose if that makes any sense. Ulster is the most important!

You are not agreeing with me in that case, I am a fervent Ireland supporter but don't think that centring our international world is worth the effort because we are not in my lifetime going to win it. If you are content with a quarter final appearance or some time maybe a wee semi, then fine.

For me an Ireland coach building towards a RWC is rubbish. He should be playing the best man for the position in every meaningful international. Ulster is equally important in my affections and I get more joy out of an Ulster win but pre-match they are equally important.

[backawaygoonahead]

Diack is the next best thing we have seen and has the potential to be as good if not better than Wilson if only he was played at eight more often.

I hope to be proved wrong but I suspect Robbie lacks the bit of "dog" in him that would make him sensational at any level.

[DHK]

I don't think Diack's quick or explosive enough to be sensational

[Cornerfleg]

Diack is the next best thing we have seen and has the potential to be as good if not better than Wilson if only he was played at eight more often.

I hope to be proved wrong but I suspect Robbie lacks the bit of "dog" in him that would make him sensational at any level.

Yip ... but I've been wiating to be proved wrong for a but too long now for my liking.

[darkside lightside]

Is it just me, or is anyone else getting a little concerned by how thin our squad is looking next year??

- I don't think 6 props is enough (7 including Macklin, who is still very young for a TH), when TC will be with Ireland for a reasonable amount of time, Deccy Fitz seems to be quite injury prone and Black is a bit of an unknown quantity.
- Even if Ferris is going to return at some stage, it's a fair assumption that he won't play in that many games next year, with Ireland duty and the inevitable injuries, and flogging the same 4/5 guys for the rest of the season, with not much apparently in the academy would concern me
- at half-back we are just 2 injuries away from having to try to compete next season with say Marshall & Paddy Jackson/Wallace. Not an awful situation, but no disrespect to any of those players, would we be confident going away in France or England to get a result with that pairing?
- we have 4 fully-contracted back 3 players, plus Gaston, Gilroy & Cochrane in the academy. With Trimble's international duty & Danielli's plunging form, we again are only a couple of injuries away from having to rely on a raw/unfamiliar back 3. Again not disastrous because our academy boys in this case look pretty promising.

Just get the feeling that overall we started with a small squad, and this has net reduced (8 senior players leaving, 5 coming in plus 2 bumped from development to full contracts) leaving us uncomfortably thin on the ground in a few key positions..

[lovesthehardground]

Surely we will have the same number of contracted players as we did this season? Is there room for anymore signings?

[Ardglass2]

We need a 3 and a 10 and if Ferris isn't looking good a backrower.

If Humph or Fitzpatrick got injured during the World Cup who would play 3 and 10 ?

Jackson at 10 by default but the cover on the bench would be ??
TH would be ??

[Bring Humph On!!]

It appears to me that during RWC and recuperation time our squad is going to be very inexperienced. Unlike Munster and Leinster who are going to be have guys with international experience not selected for Ireland we are going to be starting our campaign with a very inexperienced bunch. These guys will benefit from the exposure but I hope this doesn't leave us too exposed and possibly dropping unnecessary points early doors. I suppose ally will depend on our luck of the draw fixture wise. If we get Italian or Scottish opponents the likelyhood will be that they will be in a similar situation.

[Harold7]

I don't think the WC will hurt us that much.

At best we'll have 5 players in the Irish squad in Court, Best, Ferris, Wallace and Trimble, Pienaar I expect will be with SA and obviously Afoa won't be joining us until after the WC anyway. Oh and Danielli may be with Scotland.

We could still put out this side:

15 Payne (assume he gets here in time for the new season?)
14 Gilroy
13 Cave
12 Spence
11 D'Arcy
10 Humphreys
9 Marshall
1 McAlistair
2 Brady
3 Fitzpatrick
4 Muller
5 Tuohy
6 Wannenberg/Henry
7 Faloon/Henry
8 Diack/Henry/Wannenberg

Bench
Kyriacu, Black, Cronin, Barker/Stevenson, whichever back row misses out, Porter, Marshall, Gaston

That's not too shabby at all.

[Bring Humph On!!]

No but it's not the 15 that we could put out that concerns me. It's the team we put after the injuries kick in. Someone posted elsewhere that at any one time something like 20% of players are injured. It's the depth of our squad that may be an issue.

[ColinM]

One wonders if Paddy will make the RWC squad. If he does its only to justify Deccy's messing over the last 2 or 3 years.

[porterbelly]

One wonders if Paddy will make the RWC squad. If he does its only to justify Deccy's messing over the last 2 or 3 years.

Was he in the 50 man squad in Carton House ? Brett Wilkinson was so that may mean he isn't

[Ardglass2]

As posted above Harold7 who backs up Jackson at 10 if Humph isd injured and who starts ar TH if Fitzpatrick is injured ?

[ColinM]

One wonders if Paddy will make the RWC squad. If he does its only to justify Deccy's messing over the last 2 or 3 years.

Was he in the 50 man squad in Carton House ? Brett Wilkinson was so that may mean he isn't

Paddy Wallace I mean.... if he wasnt there it may have been due to his thumb surgery. Its a common view that our Paddy is no longer the 3rd choice fly half or even second choice 12 so he may just miss out to McFadden or perhaps Spence.