mildlyinterested wrote:to those people saying to win a european cup we need a better hooker, I guess you figure we don't have a chance this year then?
A lot of truth in both statements but while luck etc is always needed to have a chance of winning trophies I think we will be very competitive this year, hopefully qualify from pool & get home qf but ultimately I don't believe we are strong enough to win European Cup.Oldschool wrote:To win a European cup we need three things.
A good pack, which we have.
A modicum of luck, so far so good.
Most of our first choice backs available.
The availability of our backs will determine our 'seeding' in the playoffs and thus in all probility how far we go.
1) Have no worries about both first choice and depth at nos 1, 17, 6,7,8, 20
2) We are very strong at 3,18, 10,12, 13 but if got injuries it could be an issue
3) 11 & 15 are looking promising but still a lot to prove
4) Backup 16, 21, 22, 23 have options and reasonably happy with
So that's 17 positions we are reasonably strong in injury permitting and leaves 2, 4, 5,19, 9, 14 as particular areas to work on.
Have some confidence in Toner/Fardy/Ryan/Molony to cover 4, 5, 19 but realise it might be tough say against Kruis,Itoje & Skelton. Think Luke at 9 is a leader and strong in most areas with the capacity to cut out mistakes, Enough choice at 14 with BD/ROL/AB/FMcF/DK/JL etc to believe we will do ok here.
Brings us back to no 2. Happy with options at 16 especially as SC's pace means he has most impact as a finisher and JT is strong in most areas except lineout but think a standout no 2 would radically improve our prospects in line out & elsewhere.