Ruckedtobits wrote: ↑January 25th, 2022, 8:14 am
So, Lancaster has announced almost half the team for Saturday and given that there are 17 players in Irish Camp, the remainder almost pick themselves. Based on these assumptions, it looks like we will field a team like this: (those in bold as indicated by Lancaster
15. Jimmy O'Brien;
14. Adam Byrne; 13. James Osborne;
12. Ciaran Frawley; 11. Dave Kearney; 10. Harry Byrne;
9. Luke McGrath;
1. Peter Dooley;
2. James Treacy
3. Mike A'lo'atowa; 4. Ross Moloney; 5. Josh Murphy or Dunne; 6. Rhys Ruddock
7. Will Connors 8. Max Deegan
Bench
Cronin, Ed Byrne, Vahk, Murphy or Dunne, Scott Penny, McCarthy, Ross Byrne, Tommy O'Brien.
All in all, a potentially strong team, albeit with probably little work together. Looking forward to seeing something like this on Saturday.
Great investigative journalism, Ruckedtobits!
I like the look of that team, can’t wait for the match.
The blues have had a few players released to them from team wales (carre and lewis the props) Lane is in good form for them and will be one to watch in their back 3
Evans at 10 is a very good footballer and will give you problems ball in hand as will leeloo and if he plays Thomas in the centre but all 3 are weak in defence , they have loaned out robinson at 7 and botham has been injured so they maybe short in the back row, although turnbull and lewis hughes are good players.
The 4 g pitch should suit your game, hopefully you will be too strong for them and give them a hiding
I'm mahoosively excited to see Tommy O'Brien get lots of game time over next few weeks. Pre injury last year he was flying. Hopefully he gets to play ini a good 4-5 games in a row, and a chance to perform in some of the interpro games too.
wixfjord wrote: ↑January 26th, 2022, 8:52 pm
I'm mahoosively excited to see Tommy O'Brien get lots of game time over next few weeks. Pre injury last year he was flying. Hopefully he gets to play ini a good 4-5 games in a row, and a chance to perform in some of the interpro games too.
Agree, he’s massively versatile but would probably benefit from a run in a given position - I suspect 13 is his best position. Interesting that Osborne is being played in midfield but his underage matches have been at full back where he covers ground well, has a strong left boot and hits the line really well
Ruddock's tackle stats consistently too low for me to be taken seriously as a Six Nations blindside..... Ruddock's defensive stats don't stack up. - All Blacks Nil, Jan 15th, 2014
England A 8 - 14 Ireland A, 25th Jan 2014 Ruddock(c) 19/2 Tackles
blockhead wrote: ↑January 28th, 2022, 12:36 pm
James Botham is the grandson of Ian "Beefcake" Botham. Christ I'm getting old.
He's also a very fine player. Real hard grafter. Son of Liam who got capped I think? Nope, got called up for a tour, played some games but wasn't capped.
blockhead wrote: ↑January 28th, 2022, 12:36 pm
James Botham is the grandson of Ian "Beefcake" Botham. Christ I'm getting old.
He's also a very fine player. Real hard grafter. Son of Liam who got capped I think? Nope, got called up for a tour, played some games but wasn't capped.
No, Liam came close. He toured with England but only played provincial games, didn't get a full cap. Good player though! He was also a handy cricketer but nowhere near his father's level. Beefy also played professional football. Pretty decent sporting effort from the family. And yeah, I also feel old!
blockhead wrote: ↑January 28th, 2022, 12:36 pm
James Botham is the grandson of Ian "Beefcake" Botham. Christ I'm getting old.
He's also a very fine player. Real hard grafter. Son of Liam who got capped I think? Nope, got called up for a tour, played some games but wasn't capped.
No, Liam came close. He toured with England but only played provincial games, didn't get a full cap. Good player though! He was also a handy cricketer but nowhere near his father's level. Beefy also played professional football. Pretty decent sporting effort from the family. And yeah, I also feel old!
Liam got an England a cap, played county cricket and rugby league for leeds , quite the cv!
That pack doesn’t look as good to me as it would have done a year or two ago. Cronin, Dev, and Rhys are all fading IMO. Hope they prove me wrong and have a good spell during the 6N. Interesting that Penny starts at 8 and Deegan is on the bench. Excited to see Penny again, he really is good enough to have played more than he has done.
Backline is exciting but hard to know how sharp some of them will be.
of Ian "Beefcake" Botham. Christ I'm getting old.
