mildlyinterested wrote:ChurchtownRFC wrote:JOB is 6ft and 90 kg that is grand for a centre. Jonathan Joesph is the same size and has 40 caps for England.
based on his two performances to date at 15, he should be focusing on playing there.
I think his focus will be massively determined by the coaching staff in this instance. If they want him to concentrate on fullback, that's what he'll do.
Ferg was able to go to Joe Schmidt with a request only to be considered at one position, because he had earned a level of trust with his coach. JOB isn't in that position at all – he has progressed through the academy at the expected rate and has performed reasonably well in a limited number of games. He hasn't massively outperformed expectations, nor has he underperformed. He doesn't have the same level of credit in the bank to be looking for favours from coaches or trying to force their hands in selection.
Running him at fullback has increased his value to the squad, which to me seemed initially quite low. Where would he have fitted into a midfield depth chart with Henshaw, Ringrose, Conor O'Brien, O'Loughlin and Tomane? There's not an immediate opening for him there. There's more flux at fullback: an established 33 year old whose contract is undecided, and a 21/22 year old who is as much a winger as he is a fullback.
By the way, I think your reasoning for pushing O'Brien as a No15 - that he could provide a second distributor in broken play – is coherent and sound. He could be a similar model of fullback as Carbery or the very poised Alex Goode.