A whiff of Cordite

[simonokeeffe]

@Curate I jest, Ringrose and Henshaw is probably our best combo, sounder defence and more pace

[suisse]

When have Ulster players been criticised for not singing Amhran na bhfiann? Nobody expects them to do that.

Regularly. Before and during every 6 Nations.

[suisse]

A lot of worthless musings on the subject of mercenaries. Rules is rules and that’s that.

You could apply the same logic to anything and stiffle debate.

'I don't like Donald Trump but he has been elected. Rules are rules and that's it for another 3 years. I won't stand for any protests, demonstrations or op-ed pieces in the paper.'

[LeRouxIsPHat]

I will never understand why WR didn't just impose a limit on the number of project players in a matchday squad.

[wixfjord]

It's not just you. And Leo Cullen is nearly as bad with this continuous "Yeah, no...." start of the reply to every question. I find myself asking, "which is it, Leo? Yes? Or no?" Funnily enough, said speech idiosyncracy features not all that irregularly in Blues Talk TV (says he, not pointing the finger at anybody...)

Schmidtty does that aswell. Often meshes into 'Yo'.
Or maybe that's just his renowned love of West Coast rap coming into his after match interviews. Big Tupac fan our Joe.

[fourthirtythree]

It's not just you. And Leo Cullen is nearly as bad with this continuous "Yeah, no...." start of the reply to every question. I find myself asking, "which is it, Leo? Yes? Or no?" Funnily enough, said speech idiosyncracy features not all that irregularly in Blues Talk TV (says he, not pointing the finger at anybody...)

Schmidtty does that aswell. Often meshes into 'Yo'.
Or maybe that's just his renowned love of West Coast rap coming into his after match interviews. Big Tupac fan our Joe.

yoa! as in "Yoa Joanne..." when he is answering a question.

[jimbobjoe]

When have Ulster players been criticised for not singing Amhran na bhfiann? Nobody expects them to do that.

Regularly. Before and during every 6 Nations.

Any examples? In mainstream media or just folk on the street?

[simonokeeffe]

I will never understand why WR didn't just impose a limit on the number of project players in a matchday squad.

Would mess up/inhibit tier 2 nations like Japan, Italy, Romania, USA, Scotland would be my guess

[Peg Leg]

Take that Scotland

[simonokeeffe]

[Oldschool]

I also don't get Oldschool's point. 15 is too many but what we have now is okay. Where do you draw the line? Do we need to start a game with Strauss at 2, Roux at 4, Stander and Diack in the backrow, Gibson Park at 9, TB at 10 with Aki, Payne and Lowe out wide. Is that too many?

Of all the points on project players, this is the one I really can't understand, and it's made constantly.

If we ever get to a situation where we have that many project players starting for Ireland then we've bigger problems than just picking project players.

As I said it's all about getting the balance right.
That balance point probably differs from individual to individual.
There is no right or wrong answer.
It's up to the individual to decide what the correct balance for them is.
The right answer for me is that most of the team is "irish" whatever that means to me as an individual.
I'd lose interest in watching Ireland were it otherwise.
EOS and Kidney did enough damage in that regard in their bias towards Munster players as I perceived it, not as you or anyone else perceived it.

[Oldschool]

I've made my point on PP before. I don't blame the player for doing what's best for him. Short career and all that. I hate the process that brings those players here. The Union effectively bribing prospects to move to Ireland with the offer of an international cap. I don't care if the player is white or black. South African or Samoan. With tattoos or no tattoos. Christian or Muslim. There's something very wrong about scouting guys on the periphery of a Currie Cup team and asking them if they want to play for a country 12,000km away. A country they've never visited before, have absolutely no connection to. You wanna play international rugby? Here, sign this contract with Leinster.

I also don't get Oldschool's point. 15 is too many but what we have now is okay. Where do you draw the line? Do we need to start a game with Strauss at 2, Roux at 4, Stander and Diack in the backrow, Gibson Park at 9, TB at 10 with Aki, Payne and Lowe out wide. Is that too many?

Then there's the guff about the anthem. "Stander is singing it sure he's as Irish as the rest of us." Is that how cheap you view being Irish? Just get some bloke up there to learn the words. That makes him Irish? Meanwhile Ulster players are continually derided for not singing. They may have grown up clutching on to a real sense of Irishness and Britishness, played school's cup rugby in Ireland, stood on the terraces of Ravenhill and Lansdowne Road. Represented Ireland through the youth levels and dreamed of following in the footsteps of Willie John McBride, Trevor Ringland, Keith Wood and Brian O'Driscoll. But it is all questioned cos they won't sing a song which they feel doesn't represent them. They're less Irish than the guy who came chasing an international cap because his own country thought he wasn't good enough.

I wanna see Irish players playing for Ireland. A guy who moves early and goes to school here and learns his rugby here is great. But not some dude who packed his bags at 22 cos he knew he'd never play for NZ. Or SA. Or Aus. I don't care about the anthem either. You shouldn't be won over by a player based on that nor should you question a player's worth if they choose not to sing.

You did get my point.
I talked about balance or getting the balance right.
You asked the same question basically when you asked where do you draw the line. When is it too many.
Only you can answer that question for yourself.

[Oldschool]

I will never understand why WR didn't just impose a limit on the number of project players in a matchday squad.

Would mess up/inhibit tier 2 nations like Japan, Italy, Romania, USA, Scotland would be my guess

Adjust the number based on 'ranking' as of WC seeding.
So a team holds that ranking for for years.

[simonokeeffe]

I will never understand why WR didn't just impose a limit on the number of project players in a matchday squad.

Would mess up/inhibit tier 2 nations like Japan, Italy, Romania, USA, Scotland would be my guess

Adjust the number based on 'ranking' as of WC seeding.
So a team holds that ranking for for years.

Might be hard to get the votes for that, plus with 5 year rule coming in thats probably all the change we will get. Thered also be the issue of legal challenges (if it wasnt uniform)

Im still surprised it hasnt caused more fuss in France

[Raydollard]

Many not only worthless but bloody long winded too.

[Peg Leg]

Many not only worthless but bloody long winded too.

But sure at least your pointless commentary is short.

[curates_egg]

Off the Ball just said Joey Carbery isn't Irish.
I get why you all hate it

[desperado]

OTB is very poor these days, ill informed, poorly researched, lazy journalism laced with a liberal amount of sensationalist cr@p.

[simonokeeffe]

Off the Ball just said Joey Carbery isn't Irish.
I get why you all hate it

FFS

Therell be a deluge of falsely including Herring in the project player list too

[artaneboy]

A lot of worthless musings on the subject of mercenaries. Rules is rules and that’s that.

Ye know, I think that’s the most concise and coherent point made in about six pages. As the rule is changing to five years to qualify, can we all not just move along on to the May to win this match?


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