the spoofer wrote:mildlyinterested wrote:leinsterforever wrote:Tomane's a good player who appears to wear his heart on his sleeve. I wouldn't mind seeing him come in as long as it would be coupled with a strategy to get Conor O'Brien up to speed eventually - like getting him off playing 7s for a season or two to hone his handling and decision making.
Failing that, the coaches should just give COB enough of a run in the side to bed in properly and find his feet. Maybe he could start off on the wing even (except there's loads of competition for those spots). I remember reading UAFC a while back after Stockdale had only played a few games for them, and, if I recall correctly, one poster was saying he didn't really see him getting to Rory Scholes's level, so players need a bit of time to really get going. I think O'Brien could be really good if he's brought through right
How Leinster develop centres leaves.. some to be desired IMO.
COB is 22 not, and he really isn't athletic enough to be playing wing at pro level and his time to play 7's has passed IMO. Comparing COB to Stockdale is eh, interesting. They were the same age group but Stockdale has always been the better prospect/athlete. COB hasn't really taken his chances when presented to him, big summer/preseason ahead for him. If they sign Tomane, it would really lay down a marker for him.
This is your latest hobby horse after you fell off the "academy can't produce backs " one when Ringrose, Larmour, Carbery, R Byrne, Daly, and ROL all arrived on the scene.
Upto that point I was correct, I had stated the academy had failed to produce top quality backs for several years, which is true.
Just look at the leinster backs aged 24-28.
I said Ringrose could be the first of a special group but we had to wait and see. Thankfully it looks like he is, fingers crossed.
The academy does a brilliant job, but it doesn't do a perfect job. And developing inside centres has certainly been a problem, I note none of the above are inside centres. I hope the above Daly is Barry, who didn't come through the academy by the way, because Tom is not an example of the academy developing a top quality centre.
I have high hopes that one of the many players capable of playing inside centre who are in the academy, will develop into a top quality inside centre for Leinster. Frawley looks the best bet at the moment for me. Unless Tommy O'Brien moves to 12 full time.