Leinster Looseheads

[mildlyinterested]

Leinster's success in developing qualty looseheads this past decade can't be argued with, just look at the other provinces, with Jack McGrath leaving the province rather unexpectedly, mid contract, Leinster do need to start looking at developing another top tier loosehead prop.

Senior Squad
Cian Healy(31/Belvedere/Clontarf) - Leinster legend, seems to be having rather interesting contract negotiations with IRFU. How many seasons does he have left? 3?
Ed Byrne(25/Clongowes/UCD) - emerged as a viable 2nd choice this season in europe.
Peter Dooley(24/Birr RFC/Lansdowne) - will hope to put pressure on Byrne next season after two quiet seasons as 4th choice LH.

Academy
Michael Milne(U20/Roscrea/UCD) - has had a rather disappointing season so far for Ireland u20, filling in as sub prop on both sides of the scrum before injury struck. Started season strongly for Leinster A at loosehead.

Sub-Academy
Giuseppe Coyne(U20/Blackrock/DUFC) - has been a key player for DUFC in AIL, named in Ireland u20 squad but didn't feature, unlikely to make Academy.
Harry Noonan(U19/Greystones RFC/Old Wesley) - has had a somewhat meteoric rise this season, featuring heavily for Old Wesley as a 18 year old in the AIL and becoming 1st choice LH for Ireland u19. Could join academy this summer.

Underage Internationals
Sam Illo(U18/Wesley College) - alternated starting LH Prop for Ireland U18 B team, likely sub-academy entrant next season.
Hugo O'Malley(U18/Blackrock College) - alternated starting LH Prop for Ireland U18 B team, returns to school next season.
Jack Boyle(U17/St. Michaels College) - starting LH Prop for Ireland U18 A team as a U17 and star for St. Michaels in SCT winning campaign, returns to school for final season.

Hopefully Dooley can step up his performances and remind everyone why he was so highly rated at underage level. Below that we will be relying on very young props to be 4th choice LH, unless a player playing TH Prop moves over to cover.

[leinsterforever]

Dooley might be the better pick for an away game against a big pack and Byrne might be a more attacking option for home games - a bit like how Schmidt used to use Boss and Reddan at scrumhalf. I have to say I like them both, and I could see whichever one of them manages to get more gametime getting to a high level.

[leinster23]

Could Eric O'Sullivan enticed back home?

[hugonaut]

Leinster's success in developing qualty looseheads this past decade can't be argued with, just look at the other provinces, with Jack McGrath leaving the province rather unexpectedly, mid contract, Leinster do need to start looking at developing another top tier loosehead prop.

Senior Squad
Cian Healy(31/Belvedere/Clontarf) - Leinster legend, seems to be having rather interesting contract negotiations with IRFU. How many seasons does he have left? 3?
Ed Byrne(25/Clongowes/UCD) - emerged as a viable 2nd choice this season in europe.
Peter Dooley(24/Birr RFC/Lansdowne) - will hope to put pressure on Byrne next season after two quiet seasons as 4th choice LH.

Academy
Michael Milne(U20/Roscrea/UCD) - has had a rather disappointing season so far for Ireland u20, filling in as sub prop on both sides of the scrum before injury struck. Started season strongly for Leinster A at loosehead.

Sub-Academy
Giuseppe Coyne(U20/Blackrock/DUFC) - has been a key player for DUFC in AIL, named in Ireland u20 squad but didn't feature, unlikely to make Academy.
Harry Noonan(U19/Greystones RFC/Old Wesley) - has had a somewhat meteoric rise this season, featuring heavily for Old Wesley as a 18 year old in the AIL and becoming 1st choice LH for Ireland u19. Could join academy this summer.

Underage Internationals
Sam Illo(U18/Wesley College) - alternated starting LH Prop for Ireland U18 B team, likely sub-academy entrant next season.
Hugo O'Malley(U18/Blackrock College) - alternated starting LH Prop for Ireland U18 B team, returns to school next season.
Jack Boyle(U17/St. Michaels College) - starting LH Prop for Ireland U18 A team as a U17 and star for St. Michaels in SCT winning campaign, returns to school for final season.

Hopefully Dooley can step up his performances and remind everyone why he was so highly rated at underage level. Below that we will be relying on very young props to be 4th choice LH, unless a player playing TH Prop moves over to cover.

Another excellent summation of where we're at.

I have absolutely zero worries about Dooley. He's 24 years old and has 60+ Leinster appearances to his name, despite getting on the wrong side of selection for the last two years [unfairly, from my point of view]. Good competitor, very strong chap, and from everything I've heard, a good worker and a humble guy. Would be confident that he will play 20 games for us next year.

Milne has massive physical potential. He has been dicked around by UCD this year and should move club, because like any young prop he needs regular rugby on one side of the scrum and exposure to different types of scrummagers.

[mildlyinterested]

not sure it was UCD who dicking him around, he played LH Prop for Leinster then the plan seemed to be to play TH for the 20's.. But he struggled upon moving there, once he moved back to LH he was playing AIL for UCD.

[Jonny tight lips]

What about moving Porter back to loosehead, short term we have 4 props of Healy, Furlong, Bent and Porter instead of Healy Furlong, Porter and Ed so I’d say better in the short term. Long term Porter and Furlong starting with Ed and Maybe Vlakh or Auigner on the bench which is much better than Ed and Dooley covering loosehead between them and medium term Porter isn't moved on to one of our Pro14 rivals as we could make a case Healy is coming to the end of his career.

Win win win?

Also he hasn’t been having fun in the scrum this year so it might be an easy sell to the lad. Finally in the academy we’re stronger at tighthead.

[Dave Cahill]

Both Byrne and Dooley were and are considerably better looseheads than Porter - he 'wasn't having fun in the scrum' back then either, which is part of the reason why he swapped

[Jonny tight lips]

Both Byrne and Dooley were and are considerably better looseheads than Porter - he 'wasn't having fun in the scrum' back then either, which is part of the reason why he swapped

Well he was very young when he changed sides but my understanding was that he was moved as Healy and McGrath had looshead tied down. I’d say he already has more caps at the age of 23 than the two lads will get in their careers, in fact I’d say even money he will have more lions caps than those two will have Ireland caps.

[Dave Cahill]

Both Byrne and Dooley were and are considerably better looseheads than Porter - he 'wasn't having fun in the scrum' back then either, which is part of the reason why he swapped

Well he was very young when he changed sides but my understanding was that he was moved as Healy and McGrath had looshead tied down. I’d say he already has more caps at the age of 23 than the two lads will get in their careers, in fact I’d say even money he will have more lions caps than those two will have Ireland caps.

And Ian Dowling has more Heineken Cup medals than Denis Hickie and Julien Malzieu combined.

[FLIP]

Both Byrne and Dooley were and are considerably better looseheads than Porter - he 'wasn't having fun in the scrum' back then either, which is part of the reason why he swapped

Well he was very young when he changed sides but my understanding was that he was moved as Healy and McGrath had looshead tied down. I’d say he already has more caps at the age of 23 than the two lads will get in their careers, in fact I’d say even money he will have more lions caps than those two will have Ireland caps.

And Ian Dowling has more Heineken Cup medals than Denis Hickie and Julien Malzieu combined.

You generally don't get caps for being a passenger.

Unless you're POM.

[Jonny tight lips]

Both Byrne and Dooley were and are considerably better looseheads than Porter - he 'wasn't having fun in the scrum' back then either, which is part of the reason why he swapped

Well he was very young when he changed sides but my understanding was that he was moved as Healy and McGrath had looshead tied down. I’d say he already has more caps at the age of 23 than the two lads will get in their careers, in fact I’d say even money he will have more lions caps than those two will have Ireland caps.

And Ian Dowling has more Heineken Cup medals than Denis Hickie and Julien Malzieu combined.

Okay, if you genuinely think the boys are better than him that’s fair enough, I thought you were just taking the piss.

[Dave Cahill]

Nope, I think that Dooley and Byrne are better looseheads than Andrew Porter (and that both are very underrated). Porter may well get a bunch of Lions caps to add to his Irish caps - in fact I'd be surprised if he doesn't make the next tour, but they'll be on the tighthead side

[Jonny tight lips]

Nope, I think that Dooley and Byrne are better looseheads than Andrew Porter (and that both are very underrated). Porter may well get a bunch of Lions caps to add to his Irish caps - in fact I'd be surprised if he doesn't make the next tour, but they'll be on the tighthead side

I think Porter is a class above the two lads and considering how quickly he adapted to tighthead I can’t imagine he would not be able to move back across. Ever since U20 he’s stood out as a special player and I would hate to get to a point where we lose him. Having him and Furling in the front row with Kelleher in a few years would be a front row that could compete with the best of them for years.

That said I don’t imagine they will move him back but was just an idea

[arsebiscuits1]

Could Eric O'Sullivan enticed back home?

That would be a hard sell.

Guaranteed a lot of rugby up North where as at this moment in time it's anyone's guess whether he'd get ahead of either Dooley or Byrne.

[leinsterforever]

There's a fair amount of hand-wringing about losing McGrath. It would be one thing if Leinster were losing peak, 2017 Lions McGrath, but I think to some extent one of Healy and McGrath keep the other one down. If one of them plays really well, he monopolises high-level gametime and it's difficult for the other fellow to get into a groove and perform to his best. That seems to have been the pattern anyway, perhaps caused by injury to a large extent, but the reality is still that it's been rare for them both to be playing really well at the same time.

In that context, I don't think his loss is quite as big a blow as some make out, and I'm enthusiastic to see what Dooley and Byrne can do under Lancaster's coaching with the greater gametime opportunities they'll be afforded. It's two guys with a lot of talent. Byrne's superb around the field with his handling, and Dooley's a very dynamic carrier. His body angle reminds me a bit of David Wallace when he drives into contact.