Porter to TH?

[R-Dog]

Surprised it hasn't been mentioned else where, but on Mondays against the head they showed a few clips of the weekends UCD match and Porter was wearing the No.3 jersey. (Didnt see any scrum clips to confirm he scrummed at tight head though). Anyone at the game?

Leo was also in attendance.

Hopefully it works out especially given our current dept at LH

[goreyguy]

Surprised it hasn't been mentioned else where, but on Mondays against the head they showed a few clips of the weekends UCD match and Porter was wearing the No.3 jersey. (Didnt see any scrum clips to confirm he scrummed at tight head though). Anyone at the game?

Leo was also in attendance.

Hopefully it works out especially given our current dept at LH

It's been talked about in the academy thread, he scrummed at 3.

[scentofgunpowder]

Would leave room in the squad for Ed Byrne too, thought he would have been a target for Connacht and Ulster

[neiliog93]

Good development, and with Ross likely leaving we might be a bit short at tight-head. The kid is 125 kg at 6'0" in height, easily big enough for the position.

[leinsterforever]

With the depth at loosehead, it makes sense for Leinster to try him at tighthead. Wouldn't be so sure about it being in the best interests of the player himself though

[johng]

Why not? Bumps up his potential wage packet whether he stays with Leinster or not. Do you mean downsides physically? Or do you mean it might hurt his game?

[LeRouxIsPHat]

With the depth at loosehead, it makes sense for Leinster to try him at tighthead. Wouldn't be so sure about it being in the best interests of the player himself though

I'd be of a similar opinion. He could potentially be a world class LH and I'd hate to see that scuppered for the sake of giving us better options elsewhere. I can't see how it makes sense for him to change position to go up against Furlong who's only 24.

I argued the same thing about Jack McGrath when he tried moving across years ago. It was slightly different because of there being only one prop on the bench at the time but the principle is the same. He could spend ages trying to get up to speed at TH, miss out on crucial time as a LH, and end up not being great at either.

I'm not against it per se and can see how it makes sense in a lot of ways but I wouldn't have made the call myself. It's a good sign that he's staying here next season and willing to give this a go, but ideally I'd have left it another year to see how he's going at LH and what the pecking order is like.

[Xanthippe]

I argued the same thing about Jack McGrath when he tried moving across years ago.

I'm surprised and disappointed that you seem to have forgotten the 11th Commandment:

Thou shalt not mention Saint Joe's one and only mistake while coach of Leinster

[jezzer]

With the depth at loosehead, it makes sense for Leinster to try him at tighthead. Wouldn't be so sure about it being in the best interests of the player himself though

I'd be of a similar opinion. He could potentially be a world class LH and I'd hate to see that scuppered for the sake of giving us better options elsewhere. I can't see how it makes sense for him to change position to go up against Furlong who's only 24.

I argued the same thing about Jack McGrath when he tried moving across years ago. It was slightly different because of there being only one prop on the bench at the time but the principle is the same. He could spend ages trying to get up to speed at TH, miss out on crucial time as a LH, and end up not being great at either.

I'm not against it per se and can see how it makes sense in a lot of ways but I wouldn't have made the call myself. It's a good sign that he's staying here next season and willing to give this a go, but ideally I'd have left it another year to see how he's going at LH and what the pecking order is like.

Peter Dooley was close to motm against Scarlets and Byrne had a great cameo when he came on. Jack and Cian we don't need to discuss. I'm not sure what their respective contract situations are, but there doesn't look to be much room for gametime for Porter at LH. Even if he leapfrogs Byrne and Dooley, he's third place at best for the next few years. Jack has 5 or 6 more years of top level rugby, Cian at least 3 or 4.

That's not to say Porter can't be better than any or all of them, but to get better you need games. Realistically, Leinster face Nucifora trying to move a LH out of the province to make room for Porter (or try to move Porter himself). This i sLeinster's way of making sure that doesn't happen. Porter is on a much faster development curve if he makes the switch - even with the teething period.

[Ruckedtobits]

With the depth at loosehead, it makes sense for Leinster to try him at tighthead. Wouldn't be so sure about it being in the best interests of the player himself though

I'd be of a similar opinion. He could potentially be a world class LH and I'd hate to see that scuppered for the sake of giving us better options elsewhere. I can't see how it makes sense for him to change position to go up against Furlong who's only 24.

I argued the same thing about Jack McGrath when he tried moving across years ago. It was slightly different because of there being only one prop on the bench at the time but the principle is the same. He could spend ages trying to get up to speed at TH, miss out on crucial time as a LH, and end up not being great at either.

I'm not against it per se and can see how it makes sense in a lot of ways but I wouldn't have made the call myself. It's a good sign that he's staying here next season and willing to give this a go, but ideally I'd have left it another year to see how he's going at LH and what the pecking order is like.

Peter Dooley was close to motm against Scarlets and Byrne had a great cameo when he came on. Jack and Cian we don't need to discuss. I'm not sure what their respective contract situations are, but there doesn't look to be much room for gametime for Porter at LH. Even if he leapfrogs Byrne and Dooley, he's third place at best for the next few years. Jack has 5 or 6 more years of top level rugby, Cian at least 3 or 4.

That's not to say Porter can't be better than any or all of them, but to get better you need games. Realistically, Leinster face Nucifora trying to move a LH out of the province to make room for Porter (or try to move Porter himself). This i sLeinster's way of making sure that doesn't happen. Porter is on a much faster development curve if he makes the switch - even with the teething period.

Moving Porter to tight-head is logical and has been the subject of considerable discussion on this forum in the past.

Some of the logical parts run as follow:

• Tight-head prop remains the most difficult position in the scrum;
  Tight-head Prop requires very unusual strength;
  Tight-head Props benefit from having significant weight;
  Porter will have difficulty getting appropriate game time behind McGrath & Healy;
  Leinster do not want to lose Porter within Ireland;
  There are two THP positions in every international Panel;
  Mike Ross & Greg Feek believe Porter can succeed at THP;
  Andrew Porter would prefer to remain in Leinster, if he can get opportunities.

There have been other points made but this are the core elements

[CiaranIrl]

With the depth at loosehead, it makes sense for Leinster to try him at tighthead. Wouldn't be so sure about it being in the best interests of the player himself though

I'd be of a similar opinion. He could potentially be a world class LH and I'd hate to see that scuppered for the sake of giving us better options elsewhere. I can't see how it makes sense for him to change position to go up against Furlong who's only 24.

I argued the same thing about Jack McGrath when he tried moving across years ago. It was slightly different because of there being only one prop on the bench at the time but the principle is the same. He could spend ages trying to get up to speed at TH, miss out on crucial time as a LH, and end up not being great at either.

I'm not against it per se and can see how it makes sense in a lot of ways but I wouldn't have made the call myself. It's a good sign that he's staying here next season and willing to give this a go, but ideally I'd have left it another year to see how he's going at LH and what the pecking order is like.

Jordon Coghlan comes to mind. Argument there went something like: We have lots of backrows coming through, and we really could use another center. Totally failed experiment. Now he's playing somewhere in the championship. I remember the 2012 under 20s world cup opening fixture vs South Africa. Coghlan was unreal that day - pick of the pack. A pack that had Henderson, Furlong, Conan & Scannell in it.

[wixfjord]

Whoever convinced Porter to do this should be given a raise. It's definitely in the interest of Leinster, but he's a serious LH prospect, in demand elsewhere and I'm not sure it's in his interests to switch. Maybe it was sold to him that there's a long queue of class LHs in Leinster and Ireland, and a much shorter, much lower quality TH line behind Tadhg.

Hope it works out though, having another TH option would be great.

[dropkick]

Furlong is unusual in that he is a top class scrummager AND he can carry. Theres very few tightheads in world rugby who can do both to such a level but there are a lot of good ball carrying looseheads. Porter has the potential to be one of those rare tightheads who can scrummage and be a good ball carrier. So its probably worth a shot. If it doesn't work out he can easily slot back into loosehead.