Leinster's 2nd Row options

[curates_egg]

What Leinster need is a Damien Browne. We'd probably find one in South Africa as there don't appear to be any available in Ireland.

My unsungest of heroes. He's back from his round-the-world rowing.

Do we really have to mimic Munster though? It would be much sweeter to nick Dave Foley from Pau.

[arsebiscuits1]

What Leinster need is a Damien Browne. We'd probably find one in South Africa as there don't appear to be any available in Ireland.

My unsungest of heroes. He's back from his round-the-world rowing.

Do we really have to mimic Munster though? It would be much sweeter to nick Dave Foley from Pau.

Is he better than Kearney or Nagle? He got his solitary cap against Georgia and that was at the peak of any form I have seen him in.

I think he was subject the the Munster Hype Train and that added to his rep. I don't think his best is any better than the other 2 lads

EDIT: I realise he came on in the win against Australia also.

[mildlyinterested]

He is certainly better than Nagle yes.

[Peg Leg]

I think it is harsh to say that Kearney isn't "up to standard". He has seriously struggled with injuries since joining us. Seems to get his lights turned out in every second game, which might explain his handling.
He seemed to be up to standard with Connacht and occasionally in his first season with us. I don't see any suggestion that Molony has surpassed that standard.
Now, unfortunately, his body seems to be not up to the task.
Nagle has also been injured a lot in his career and doesn't look to have the mental strength.

Before we talk about boiling them up for glue though, I'd want to be sure that the alternative 5/6 choice locks we bring in are at least of the standard those two guys have shown they can hit.
I mean, we had Tom Denton starting in a European game a few seasons back if I am not mistaken. I would have his standard as behind Nagle and Kearney.
We don't need to go back through all the names of the flop second row signings we have made, but even Douglas (who on paper was a good signing) wasn't up to standard.

Denton never started a european match for Leinster.

What Leinster need is a Damien Browne. We'd probably find one in South Africa as there don't appear to be any available in Ireland.

As per Dropkick, we had one. Just needed a few more dinners.

[mildlyinterested]

Roux was poor for us more often than not.

[Raydollard]

He appears to be somewhat underpowered. Definitely needs some more opportunities I think but how can he ever get the run of games that he needs to improve/prove himself. It is probably more likely that his career may just fizzle out eventually.

[neiliog93]

Jerry Sexton really isn't worth a look IMO, John Madigan might be.

[leinsterforever]

Would Sean McCarthy (6'6'', 118kg) be worth a punt? He's supposed to be a useful player, right? Just bedevilled by injury. Sometimes the run of injuries dries up with a switch of club. It would be hilarious if we could pull a Tadhg Beirne on a Munster reject

[mildlyinterested]

Would Sean McCarthy (6'6'', 118kg) be worth a punt? He's supposed to be a useful player, right? Just bedevilled by injury. Sometimes the run of injuries dries up with a switch of club. It would be hilarious if we could pull a Tadhg Beirne on a Munster reject

he has been healthy for ages, just not very good.

and nowhere near as athletic as beirne

[hugonaut]

Jerry Sexton really isn't worth a look IMO, John Madigan might be.

Madigan has done well with Massy in terms of his gametime - 21 starts for 1569 mins [source: http://www.itsrugby.co.uk/player_32167.html ]. That was a big issue for him at Munster. He had lots of issues with injury and sickness.

To be honest though I've never seen Madigan play live, and I've never seen him play anything more than a single half of rugby on the box, so I've nothing to judge his ability on.

He had a quite a good reputation as a prospect coming through the Munster academy, but there's a lot of overestimating players' abilities down Munster way. That's not to say that the players aren't talented in their own right, but people get talked about as potential long-term internationals [and Lions!] when they haven't made any impact at league level.

[mildlyinterested]

at this stage both are worth having a look at over nagle and kearney

[arsebiscuits1]

Anything to be said for giving Donncha O'Callaghan a one year?

[A16]

I’d rather not have a 40 year old playing for us in the second row next season, but that’s just me.

[arsebiscuits1]

I’d rather not have a 40 year old playing for us in the second row next season, but that’s just me.

I'd rather have a sarcasm font. But we can't all get what we want

[A16]

I’d rather not have a 40 year old playing for us in the second row next season, but that’s just me.

I'd rather have a sarcasm font. But we can't all get what we want

Well it went right past my head there, I could do with a sarcasm font at times myself to be honest! [SMILING FACE WITH OPEN MOUTH AND COLD SWEAT]

[LeRouxIsPHat]

I’d rather not have a 40 year old playing for us in the second row next season, but that’s just me.

Brad Thorn is 43 and I'd have him back in a heartbeat.

[Ruckedtobits]

Jerry Sexton really isn't worth a look IMO, John Madigan might be.

Madigan has done well with Massy in terms of his gametime - 21 starts for 1569 mins [source: http://www.itsrugby.co.uk/player_32167.html ]. That was a big issue for him at Munster. He had lots of issues with injury and sickness.

To be honest though I've never seen Madigan play live, and I've never seen him play anything more than a single half of rugby on the box, so I've nothing to judge his ability on.

He had a quite a good reputation as a prospect coming through the Munster academy, but there's a lot of overestimating players' abilities down Munster way. That's not to say that the players aren't talented in their own right, but people get talked about as potential long-term internationals [and Lions!] when they haven't made any impact at league level.

If we were going to pick up a 'workhorse' second-row we should look seriously at Mark Flanagan (6'7" and 117kg) who is a former Academy player and Dev's cousin.
Since leaving us in 2013 he has played two seasons with Stade Montois in the Pro D2, one season with Bedford in the Championship and was signed last May by Saracens where he is behind three top-class international players, including Itoje and Kruis. Mark McCall doesn't sign anybody out of sentiment and Flanagan has been a Squad member this season on 11 occasions, although he has rarely started. He also went to Munster on loan and Saracens asked for him back.

He has two of the necessary requirements, decent height and good hands. He scrums on both sides and he has had more than 70 games in the last 5 years. That's good experience and an indication that his coaches have considered he can 'do a job'. He's 28 and may be worth a shout.

[hugonaut]

at this stage both are worth having a look at over nagle and kearney

I'd be interested in reviewing [John] Madigan, not so much in [Jerry] Sexton.

To be frank, Nagle has been a disappointment. I thought that there might be a bit of untapped ability there, but if there was, it hasn't manifested itself. Sounds harsh, but he's just unable to give us the parts of play that we would like from the player in his position with enough frequency – just the basic parts, not the Fardy extras. Contact wins at the breakdown, gainlines with carries, big hits at the tackle, lineout steals. He just doesn't do enough, often enough.

It's hard to be pessimistic though – we're massively loaded with talent at the U19-U20 age group in Cormac Daly [U20], Jack Dunne [U20], Ryan Baird [U19] and Charlie Ryan [U19]. It's a real glut of teenagers who are legitimately 198-201cm and 110kg+, and who can play.

If you look a little way down the line things will open up - determine Nagle's contract at the end of this season, and that opens up a spot. Give Mick Kearney another season [as a tighthead lock, he offers more of what we need than Nagle] and if he doesn't make good progress by the end of next season, determine that contract too - you get either an in-form Kearney or another opening. Give Fardy another one-year deal after his current contract ends at the conclusion of the 2018-19 season [bringing him up to June 2020, when he'll be about to turn 36] and then another spot opens up ...

After a pretty long dry spell – Dev [b. 1986] to Molony [b.1994] – we appear to have all of a sudden hit a motherlode of locks. It's going to be really interesting to see how it pans out.

[bertlim]

4 starts, 9 substitute appearances for Kearney this season.
4 starts, 3 substitute appearances for Nagle this season.

Not too hard to imagine Dunne/Daly/Dowling replacing one of them next season, presumably Nagle.

[bertlim]

4 starts, 3 sub appearances for Nagle this season. Not too hard to imagine Dunne/Daly/Dowling replacing him next season.