The UAFC

StandUp wrote: ↑Tue Sep 27, 2022 11:51 am A proper interpro would indeed be most welcome if both team had full squads to pick from. We have been unnecessarily weakened by a ridiculous excuse of a tour.

allezlesverres wrote: ↑Tue Sep 27, 2022 12:12 pm

StandUp wrote: ↑Tue Sep 27, 2022 11:51 am A proper interpro would indeed be most welcome if both team had full squads to pick from. We have been unnecessarily weakened by a ridiculous excuse of a tour.

I think we all take your point and agree to some extent but the reality is this tour is only costing us Baloucoune out of the starting XV and two probable subs. Yes it weakens us but wing is a position of relative SID for us so we have decent options to cover BB. At 9, yes Doak would have benched ahead of Shanners but lets not pretend Doak is the finished article - he isn't going to win us a game that we weren't going to win with Shanahan. Likewise, we have cover at Centre/Utility Back so not having Moore on the bench isn't the end of the world.

To put it another way, if we lose, we will struggle to blame emerging Ireland. We are more likely to feel the loss of Hendy, DV, and Hume (nothing to do with Emerging Ireland) than Baloucoune and Doak.

This will be the closest to a full strength contest we have seen in years and I am hugely looking forward to it. My prediction is we will make a real game of it. I don't think Leinster will be travelling with undue optimism, they will be expecting a tight game that could go either way, which is saying a lot considering they will be bringing much of the Ireland team who just beat the ABs in a test series.

SparkyClarky wrote: ↑Tue Sep 27, 2022 4:18 pm Izuchukwu On the tour so No benching me thinks unfortunately.

allezlesverres wrote:

SparkyClarky wrote: ↑Tue Sep 27, 2022 4:18 pm Izuchukwu On the tour so No benching me thinks unfortunately.

That's the point Standup is making Sparky. He's saying he would add Izzy to the list of Baloucoune, Doak and Moore as someone who would have made the 23 but for the emerging Ireland tour. It's a fair point too. Still, not likely to be game defining. For all that the Leinster team will be strong, I very much doubt Sexton will be planning to do 80 and they'll be much weaker when he goes off.

Hans Indaruck wrote:According to Dan DV will be back for the Ospreys match - he is having a week at home first.

rumncoke wrote: ↑Mon Sep 26, 2022 3:24 pm The tour is not just about the games to be played --its about the how well you blend into a group of strangers over a prolonged period of time , how you apply yourself to training both individually and in a group situation when placed in a group of players you don't know , how quickly you adapt -- how quickly you adapt to a number of roles and plays over a number of phases with players you don't know.

Basically an International squad has only about 2 weeks to gel in a team -- and that fact is the reason why groups of players from a single province tend to get picked at international level . Not all the best players in their position but they get picked because they have a group understanding . eg centre pairings Henshaw and Ringrose The Leinster back 3 , Leinster Half backs the sum of parts is greater than the parts individually.

If you can't then your potential to advance into an international squad could be limited.

The games are there to test how well you have absorbed the lessons of training and apply them.

As stated elsewhere very few of those selected have a chance to be included in the world cup squad for 2023 but many in that squad and many of the players in the provincial match day 23s will be selected for the next world cup. the fact is an emerging tour should have been organised for both summer 20 and summer 22 and weren't.

Neill_M wrote: ↑Wed Sep 28, 2022 10:44 am Not specifically related to this game, but saw a post on the Munster forum that in theory John Cooney could turn out for Scotland in 2023 6N under the new 3 year stand down rule and via his dad from Glasgow.