The Ireland Depth Project. Pt 2. 2nd Row

[johng]

Always a tough one. Never blessed with players over 6'6".

Currently capped players
edit: I think I will dispense with "left and right" or "tight and lose" or "athletic and enforcer " and just rank them in a line.

O'Connell.....Ryan.....McCarthy.....Toner.....Henderson.....O'Callaghan.....Tuohy.....Stevenson

Leo Cullen could do a job in an injury crisis, but his Ireland career has probably finished at this stage.

Ryan Caldwell? Out of sight in Bath. Billy Holland? Damo Browne's little brother Andrew in Connacht? Aly Muldowney*?

*May or may not have been capped for Scotland. Think he was an unused sub for Scotland A or something.

Sheriff at Gloucester. A few like Mark Flanagan & Damo Browne in France.

Then you have the younger lads

Foley
Nagle
Denton
Marshall
Mick Kearney

Not really sure how to rank them all apart from the first batch.

[Jackie Brown]

Nagle, is he still young?

Henderson could be primarily a second row, especially IF Ferris makes a return at Christmas.

[Peg Leg]

Did anything actually come from -Project 6'6"- ?

[johng]

Nagle, is he still young?

Henderson could be primarily a second row, especially IF Ferris makes a return at Christmas.

Good point on Hendy.

[hugonaut]

Caldwell still out after hip surgery. Bad couple of injuries in the last two seasons - serious knee surgery ended his 2011-12 season and the hip surgery ended his 2012-13 season.

[simonokeeffe]

Henderson is a long term second row all day long

As a matter of interest are there (m)any 6'6 blindsides about international rugby?
Hendo as 6 was a Gert Smal wet dream but he was a standout JRWC lock and cant think of too many guys who started as serious locks but ended up backrowers long term

[Alternative Ulster]

I agree. It would be a travesty to squander him when we have a million back rowers that can play 6.

He could be useful going between the 2 during games occaisonally.

[Morf]

Henderson is a long term second row all day long

As a matter of interest are there (m)any 6'6 blindsides about international rugby?
Hendo as 6 was a Gert Smal wet dream but he was a standout JRWC lock and cant think of too many guys who started as serious locks but ended up backrowers long term

Tom Croft.
Rocky Elsom.
Jarrad Hoeata

Croft being the only one currently near (yet injured) an international squad.

[simonokeeffe]

Henderson is a long term second row all day long

As a matter of interest are there (m)any 6'6 blindsides about international rugby?
Hendo as 6 was a Gert Smal wet dream but he was a standout JRWC lock and cant think of too many guys who started as serious locks but ended up backrowers long term

Tom Croft.
Rocky Elsom.
Jarrad Hoeata

Croft being the only one currently near (yet injured) an international squad.

Croft is also the last one you'd back in a fight also as a show pony is he not measured in hands?
But yeah theres not many i dont think, also a matchday back five of POC, Ryan, Henderson, Ferris, POM, SOB, Heaslip is pretty manimal

[Munsterboy]

I agree. It would be a travesty to squander him when we have a million back rowers that can play 6.

He could be useful going between the 2 during games occaisonally.

Anscombe just made a few comments about this in the paper. They seem to see him as a 6 but are open to the possibility of him playing lock too. Basically a bit of a "wait and see" approach.

Think it would be great to have somebody with his athleticism at lock. We're never short of blindsides and have plenty coming through, including DOC2, who's a similar sort of player.

[hugonaut]

Croft is also the last one you'd back in a fight also as a show pony is he not measured in hands?

That's a classic! An SOK original?

[ronk]

Croft is also the last one you'd back in a fight also as a show pony is he not measured in hands?

That's a classic! An SOK original?

+1

The issue with tight/loose locks at the moment is that the new scrummaging laws haven't played out yet. I'm not sure yet whether they'll be more or less valuable.

If POC doesn't hold up then we'll probably see a lot of Toner and Henderson in a few years.

[simonokeeffe]

Croft is also the last one you'd back in a fight also as a show pony is he not measured in hands?

That's a classic! An SOK original?

+1

The issue with tight/loose locks at the moment is that the new scrummaging laws haven't played out yet. I'm not sure yet whether they'll be more or less valuable.

If POC doesn't hold up then we'll probably see a lot of Toner and Henderson in a few years.

Croft really is a montage player

[jezzer]

also as a show pony is he not measured in hands?

[LeRouxIsPHat]

Caldwell still out after hip surgery. Bad couple of injuries in the last two seasons - serious knee surgery ended his 2011-12 season and the hip surgery ended his 2012-13 season.

Yeah big pity. Was hoping he'd go from strength to strength and be a really good signing for Ulster next summer. Still time I suppose.

Bit of an elephant in the room, what's the story with Ryan? We look very light in the second row without him.

[simonokeeffe]

Caldwell still out after hip surgery. Bad couple of injuries in the last two seasons - serious knee surgery ended his 2011-12 season and the hip surgery ended his 2012-13 season.

Yeah big pity. Was hoping he'd go from strength to strength and be a really good signing for Ulster next summer. Still time I suppose.

Bit of an elephant in the room, what's the story with Ryan? We look very light in the second row without him.

POC, McCarthy, Toner would do for a game or two

[hugonaut]

Caldwell still out after hip surgery. Bad couple of injuries in the last two seasons - serious knee surgery ended his 2011-12 season and the hip surgery ended his 2012-13 season.

Yeah big pity. Was hoping he'd go from strength to strength and be a really good signing for Ulster next summer. Still time I suppose.

Bit of an elephant in the room, what's the story with Ryan? We look very light in the second row without him.

Plenty of time alright. With Muller retiring and Ferris' future still pretty much entirely unknown, you can't rely on Ian Henderson to fill both spots. Caldwell would definitely add to their second row corps and free up Anscombe and Henderson to decide what the best position for the former is. It still might be at lock, but it'd be good to have the option.

Moving back to Ulster would up Caldwell's chances of getting back into the Irish set-up, which with RWC15 on the horizon is a big carrot. He has said previously that this is still a big ambition for him. That might seem far-fetched, but he was Bath's Player of the Year in 2011-12, and a lot of second rows play their best rugby in their 30s. He could still have three or four good years in him.

[Morf]

Henderson is a long term second row all day long

As a matter of interest are there (m)any 6'6 blindsides about international rugby?
Hendo as 6 was a Gert Smal wet dream but he was a standout JRWC lock and cant think of too many guys who started as serious locks but ended up backrowers long term

Tom Croft.
Rocky Elsom.
Jarrad Hoeata

Croft being the only one currently near (yet injured) an international squad.

Add Scott Fardy to that list now!