What I'll miss most about the Heineken Cup

From harpinonrugby

Before you start, this isn't another article about the blame game that is ongoing in European rugby circles. There will be no mention of splits in revenues, qualifying by merits, governance or power grabbing.

When the competition gets going, in it's current format it's close to perfect. Close to, because really with all the outside fuss about it, it can't really be called perfect can it? I believe that reducing the number of teams from 24 to 20 will compromise the excitement of the pool stages.

What other sporting competition creates the excitement that the Heineken Cup raises with each gameday? What other sporting competition in the world keeps every fan of every team on the lookout for every result, while attempting to calculate every permutation?

Two things give the Heineken Cup as it is this selling point. Firstly, the fact that not every 2nd place team qualifies for the quarter finals. This gives every team the emphasis to keep pushing and ensure they secure first place in their pool, while at the same time giving second place teams the incentive to try and get as many points as possible to be one of the lucky two. In no other competition are bonus points as treasured as in the Heineken Cup, and it really works.

Even for first placed teams, the quarter final draws gives further incentives to collect as many points as possible to ensure a home draw, and an "easy" as possible draw. I say "easy" because with all 6 countries participating, there are no "easy" games in Europe anymore.

There is no resting of players like in soccer's equivalent the Champions League once you are qualified after Round 4. Every fan looks at every game, in every round, and every bonus point.

Already in round 4, I'm mentally ruing bonus points that got away, or delighted that bonus points for other teams never arrived. I know that this mental calculations will be ongoing until the final whistle of the last game in Round 6. It's only then that everything is known.

Why lose this excitement?

The case for sticking with Jack McGrath

The overwhelming expectation is that Joe Schmidt will name his strongest side available when the team is announced on Thursday and the big guns in Cian Healy, Paul O'Connell, Sean O'Brien and Johnny Sexton will come straight back into the XV.

While O'Brien will come straight back in for the injured Henry, and neither Toner, McCarthy or Jackson pulled up trees demanding selection to prevent the totems of O'Connell and Sexton coming back; a man of the match display from Jack McGrath should have Joe Schmidt pausing before he thrusts Cian Healy straight into the no.1 jersey.

Jack McGrath is enjoying his time in the Ireland camp.
Credit: ©INPHO/Dan Sheridan

At 24 years of age, McGrath is showing enough promise to suggest that loosehead prop is becoming a position of quality depth. Anything that can be done to develop McGrath as best as possible would be a huge benefit to Ireland.

Take for example, this weekend. The Australians aren't renowned as strong scrummagers, but they still have that star attraction that makes it exciting for any new internationals to play against. The confidence that McGrath would get from playing against them would be massive. Add to that the faith shown in him by Schmidt to make the call to select him ahead of Healy would be a real boost to him, and in the long term, Ireland too.

And if ever there was a time to do it; against a vulnerable giant of the game who happen to be weak in his position, the week after showing that he is able for this standard with a man of the match performance.

If this was the world cup final and you needed to select your best team, go with Healy all day long. But since it isn't, you don't lose much by selecting McGrath, and the benefits, especially long term, would be massive.

Sink or Swim?

Let me tell you a story of two scrumhalves. They were born not 40 miles from each other, a year apart. Both started on their Junior World Cup teams. Both starred as their teams created huge shocks in beating the mighty baby Boks; and this season, both are first choice for their team, and started and starred in both Heineken Cup games. The only difference between them is that one was included in his country's squad for the November internationals, while the other wasn't.

Why am I telling you this? Well, it all started over a month ago, when Joe Schmidt originally announced his 41 man squad for a training camp. These series of tweets from Nigel Pearson (@SplottBoy) got me thinking about how young players are given more of a chance in Wales than in Ireland. This week's announcements of squads for the end of year tests emphasised this point with the two scrumhalves.

@BHHooker As a Welsh fan I'm pleased that Ireland are overlooking JJ Hanrahan & Luke McGrath.
— Nigel Pearson (@SplottBoy) September 17, 2013

@BHHooker Cheers - I think Wales/Gats wld have fast tracked players as talented as JJ & McGrath. 'Different strokes for different folks'.
— Nigel Pearson (@SplottBoy) September 17, 2013

And if you haven't guessed already, the scrumhalves are Rhodri Williams and Kieran Marmion.

Should players be thrown in the deep end?

Well, Ireland don't seem to expose young players to the international arena, a point highlighted by the fact that one of the uncapped players in the Irish squad named this week is 32 year old spring chicken, James Coughlan.

But it does seem to be how they do it in Wales, and a look at two current British and Irish Lions in their squad, George North and Leigh Halfpenny suggest this. Both capped at just 19 years of age, George North made a huge impact from the beginning, scoring two tries on his debut against South Africa, prompting Bryan Habana to say that Wales had found a real gem; "George looks good enough and mature enough to become one of the greats," said Habana. "You don't say that lightly, but he's laid a great foundation and played a lot better than any 18-year-old I've seen."

Tom Prydie is one of the examples of harming a players career by exposing them too soon. Photo Getty Images

While North and Halfpenny are clear success stories of throwing youngsters into the deep end, it hasn't always worked for the Welsh. Remember Tom Prydie? It's nothing to be embarrassed about if you don't. Having just turned 18, Tom Prydie made his senior Welsh debut against Italy in Wales's final game of the 2010 6 Nations. To give you a hint at how his career has gone since then, he made his debut for Wales Under 20s a full two years later. In total, he has 3 Wales senior caps, but at the grand old age of 21, he still has time (and lots of it).

Another approach is the new scheme that New Zealand are incorporating. In naming their squad for their Northern tour, Ardie Savea, and uncapped 20 year old with enormous potential, was named as a "non-playing apprentice". The idea is that Savea will get used to how things are done in the New Zealand camp, learn from their coaches and senior players, so that he feels comfortable in that environment before he's pushed too soon.

New Zealand are also very good at telling under-performing players to work on their game in specific ways. In 2010, 21 year old Aaron Cruden made his debut for New Zealand. Despite showcasing his incredible offloading skills and attacking flair, the New Zealand management decided that he didn't have enough game management and that he needed to work on his kicking. Sent to work on this in the ITM Cup, Cruden spent a season away from the national setup improving himself and came back a better player, and has established himself as arguably the second best outhalf in world rugby.

The same thing has happened with Piri Weepu, who needed to work on his speed and fitness, with Liam Messam, who needed to work on his work ethic and work in the tight, and that is why Victor Vito is in the form of his career with Wellington in the ITM Cup, because he's been told to work on his game. In New Zealand, they have the trust to know that when they are told to improve, they have time to work on their game and be able to come back and be selected for their national side.

A look at other nations will see that Italy dropped Andrea Masi in the deep end in 1999 as a 19 year old, but it was only 2008 when he really started to show what he was capable of. France are currently picking 19 year old Gael Fickou, but neglecting to choose the other 19 year old Christopher Tolofua, Scotland have recently selected exciting 20 year old Mark Bennett and 19 year old lock Jonny Gray.

England have had a mixed bag of it too, from Matthew Tait's mediocre career, to Owen Farrell being nominated for the IRB Player of the Year in 2012, aged just 21. The biggest case of where exposure of young players to worldwide fame is bad is Danny Cipriani. Tempted by all the vices that come with being famous, one too many bar fights, boozy nights and the glamour of a model girlfriend has proved to much for Cipriani, who has faded into obscurity, at just 25.

Another player on the verge of wasting huge talent is James O'Connor. Part of the trio of outrageous talented by troubled Australian stars of Quade Cooper and Kurtley Beale, O'Connor was only 18 when he made his Australia debut. 44 caps later, he's shown too many his obvious talent, and to others he's been involved in missed team meetings, bust ups and recently being too drunk to board a flight at an airport. At just 23, James O'Connor still has time to resurrect his career.

Gordon D'Arcy would never have become an Irish legend were it not his friends setting him straight. Photo: Inpho

Just ask Gordon D'Arcy. In May 1998, D'Arcy was a talented full-back just finished with the Senior Cup for the last time with Clongowes, and preparing for his Leaving Cert that June. Then, the then coach Warren Gatland surprised many by calling him up for the summer tour to South Africa. D'Arcy declined so he could do his Leaving Cert, and did get his first cap later that year against Romania. The world was at D'Arcy's feet, and he looked set for a full and long career as Ireland's saviour. He was even touted as a bigger prospect than Jonny Wilkinson and Brian O'Driscoll.

And then he nearly blew it. Just two years after declining the call up that would have meant he missed his Leaving Cert, the Irish centre was a mess. Twice he turned up at Leinster training sessions with enough evidence of the night before for club officials to want him sent packing. He had made the Ireland 1999 World Cup squad, but was nothing more than a spectator. From there, things only got worse. So much worse in fact, that he didn't make the 2003 World Cup squad. Worse, it wasn't a story. He had pretty much slipped off the monitor. Matt Williams was his coach at Leinster at the time "There were people who wanted to throw him out. I had to fight hard to get him a contract."

After he vanished off the international radar, it took until friends took him aside and gave him "the best advice I have ever had . . . sending me down the right path for a change".

The change was that he was named the 2004 6 Nations Player of the Tournament, became a British and Irish Lion, and the rest is history. He may have made his debut a few months before O'Driscoll, but that's why he's 50 caps behind him. In fact, when O'Driscoll was getting his 50th cap, D'Arcy earned his 10th in the same game.

So complete was the turnaround in D'Arcy's fortunes after being thrust into stardom overnight, that it was suggested in media circles that he could help another troubled star when the an early dramatic announcement on the international stage threatened to blow his career.

This troubled star debuted for his country at an early age. A game winning performance in a Six Nations game catapulted him to wider recognition, but his relationship with his high profile girlfriend started to raise questions about his attitude. Further drunken antics and fights with teammates were the beginning of his fall from grace. Since then, he's jumped from team to team, while his antics have continued, dashing any hopes of him fulfilling his promise.

I could have been talking about many players there, and if you had said Danny Cipriani, you would have been wrong.

In 2005, Gavin Henson had the world at his feet. Just like D'Arcy he wasn't in Wales's next World Cup squad, but managed to fight his way back for a Grand Slam. From there, his career effectively ended. If only he had D'Arcy's friends to have set him on the right path. Henson was the 2001 IRB Junior Player of The Year, and never got to fulfil his talent after being released into fame at too young an age. 

The Junior World Cup is a fantastic tournament for breeding young players, from Henson back in 2001, to more current superstars like Eben Etzebeth. Etzebeth was only 20 when he made his debut last year, but already he's become a world class second row. South Africa aren't afraid of letting their youngsters have a chance, as 2012 Junior Player of the Year Jan Serfontein can prove. Exactly one year after winning that award he had made is full debut for South Africa.

And what of one of the players Serfontein beat to win the award? JJ Hanrahan did what no Irish player has done before or since, and that was be nominated for the Young Player of the Year award when Serfontein won it. Nine Springboks caps later for Serfontein, and Hanrahan is only just breaking into the Munster squad, and an Ireland cap seems a few years away yet.

Ireland haven't always been this slow bringing players through, which D'Arcy and O'Driscoll can attest too. More recently, Luke Fitzgerald and Keith Earls have been fast tracked into the national set up, to varying degrees of success.

So which is better? Should you expose young talent to the harsh world of international rugby and let their talent speak for themselves and blossom like George North, or will the spotlight be too much, and lead to off field problems and a downward spiral?

Ultimately, it's all down to the mental strength of the player in question. But I think there are things that a coach can do. The current New Zealand model of easing a player into the setup, before allowing them a small number of substitute appearances in meaningless games, before gradually trusting them with starts and important games. If at any stage the player doesn't fulfil expectations, time spent with their province working on specific aspects of their game while knowing that another call up isn't far away seems to get the best out of each player. This also develops trust while building a squad, which is what Ireland needs for any competition that they hope to win.

Time will tell if the scrumhalves mentioned earlier will go fulfil their potential or go by the wayside.

The Return of Super Rugby

As seen here

Super Rugby returns this weekend, with the New Zealand and South Africans teams making up for the extra rounds that the Australians have had to accommodate some Northern Hemisphere visitors.

Super Rugby is a hugely entertaining competition, where pace and skill is emphasized. So far we've seen massive hits, scorching tries and baffling interviews. The season highlights so far is in the video below.

In New Zealand, the Blues have massively improved on last season's dismal outing, but the Highlanders are faring even worse. The Cheetahs are entertaining anyone who watches them in South Africa, and with Willie le Roux and co on form, they are winning games in the process. The Kings are winning admirers for their brand of rugby in their first season, while the Brumbies are quietly going about their business at the top of the Australian conference.

Willie le Roux finally made his Springbok debut this month

With 3 rounds left before the playoffs, there is still a few things left to sort out. In Super Rugby, each of the top teams in each country qualifies for the playoffs, with the next 3 teams receiving wildcard entries based on match points. The top two teams in the tournament get a bye, with the 3rd champion of the 3rd country entering into quarter finals with the other wildcard teams.

Given that Australian teams only have one game left, I'll start there.

Australian Conference

Team (Overall)                                                                    Pts

1. Brumbies (1)                                                              59
2. Reds (4)                                                                     54
3. Waratahs (7)                                                              44
4. Rebels (12)                                                                32
5. Force (13)                                                                  27   

 The Brumbies have been by far the best team in Australia consistently this season. Led by new Wallaby caps Christian Leali'ifano and Ben Mowen, they play a smart game, while still playing an entertaining brand of rugby. Jake White is getting the most out of his players, as can be seen in their recent win over the aforementioned Northern visitors.

Christian Leali'ifano has kept up where he left off last season, when his injury derailed the Brumbies and cost them a playoff spot on the last day

The only way they can be denied top spot in the Australia conference is if the Reds win with a bonus point at the Waratahs in 3 weeks, and they fail to get a losing bonus point at the Force. Neither of those scenarios appears likely.

Both the Force and the Rebels have improved this season, and both are losing admirably. At this stage of the season, neither are threatening the playoffs. The Reds in 4th have the best chance to qualify, with only 3 other teams outside of the playoffs able to climb ahead of their tally of 54 points already. More of this later.

Likely scenario:
Brumbies beat Force with no bonus point thus finishing first in Australia with 63 points.

South African Conference

Team (Overall)                                                                    Pts

1. Bulls (3)                                                                     54
2. Cheetahs (5)                                                               46
3. Sharks (10)                                                                 38
4. Stormers (11)                                                             38
5. Kings (14)                                                                  24 

The South Africa conference is a little unusual, as we have the prospect of the first ever relegation.

With the new entry of the Southern Kings, the last-placed South African team in this year's Super Rugby competition will play a two-legged tie against the Lions to determine who participates in next year's event.

The Kings have done fantastically well in their first competition, winning 3 more games than most people thought they would, and apart from 2 games, were a lot more competitive, than I, and anyone else, thought they would. Their remaining games are all in South Africa, which helps, but the most points they can get is 39, while both the Sharks and the Stormers have to have no match points from here on in three games.

Up at the top, the Cheetahs can still technically catch the Bulls, but the recent defeat to them before the break probably stopped that from happening. The Bulls have a favourable draw, having to play the 3 other South African teams, while the Cheetahs face the Stormers and the fellow playoff chasing Blues.

Likely scenario:

Bulls take 13 of 15 possible points from the next games to finish 1st in South Africa on 67 points.

Kings get at most 3 losing bonus points, and face the Lions in the relegation match.

New Zealand Conference

Team (Overall)                                                                    Pts

1. Chiefs (3)                                                                   56
2. Crusaders (5)                                                             46
3. Blues (10)                                                                  43
4. Hurricanes (11)                                                           39
5. Highlanders (14)                                                         22 

At this stage, only the Highlanders, who have had a terrible season, have no chance of the playoff.

The Chiefs have a commanding ten point lead, and while both the Blues and the Crusaders can catch them, it's still unlikely. The Chiefs have the hardest run in out of the conference leaders, but have the biggest lead. They play both the Blues and the Crusaders and the Hurricanes who have still have an outside mathematical chance of qualification.

Charles Piutau has been awesome this year and was rewarded by making his debut for New Zealand last week. Photo via  theblues.co.nz

The Blues have been much improved, and with young guns Charles Piutau, Francis Saili and Steven Luatua making a big name for themselves.

Likely scenario:

I think the Chiefs will take 10 points from a possible 15 of their remaining games, finishing first in New Zealand with 66 points.

This leaves the conference leaders as; 1. Bulls (67), 2. Chiefs (66), 3. Brumbies (63), with the Brumbies facing one of the wildcards.

Wildcards:

Those still in contention (mathematically) are:

4. Reds (54)

5. Cheetahs (46)

6. Crusaders (46)

7. Waratahs (44)

8. Blues (43)

9. Hurricanes (39)

10. Sharks (38)

11. Stormers (38)

First, it shows a lot about the strength of the competition that with 3 rounds left, 11 teams are still mathematically in with a chance of qualifying, and that in 10th and 11th place are two of last year's semi-finalists.

Secondly, while the Hurricanes, the Stormers and the Sharks can still qualify, they need a lot of things to go their way, with the most either of them can achieve is 54 points, and I don't think that tally will be enough to qualify.

For this reason, I am also discounting the Waratahs, as the max they can finish with is 49.

This leaves 4 teams battling for 3 places, with the Reds, the Cheetahs, the Crusaders and the Blues. The Cheetahs are the only team in the competition that have a bye left, which means that they will finish with 50 points at least.

The way I see the season panning out is, the Crusaders, the Blues and the Cheetahs all win this weekend against the Highlanders, the Sharks and the Stormers respectively.

The following weekend is set for a titanic battle as the Blues face the Cheetahs in what initially appears to be a huge game, while the Crusaders face the Chiefs. I think the Crusaders will beat the Chiefs, who should be safe as 1st by this stage, while the Blues put more pressure on the Cheetahs with a narrow win. This leaves the Cheetahs with 55 points (after the bye), the Crusaders with 55, the Reds still with 54 and the Blues with 52. All to play for.

At this point, if the Reds lose to the Waratahs with a losing bonus point, the Cheetahs and the Crusaders would finish ahead of them based on the higher number of wins they have.

The final weekend sees the Blues play the Chiefs in a huge game, knowing that a win would guarantee them a place in the playoffs. This would be a huge achievement for a team that was all at seas last year, recording only 4 wins. Unfortunately I don't think they will have enough, and the teams will finish like this;

4. Crusaders (60)

5. Reds (58)

6. Cheetahs (55)

7. Blues (53)

This leaves:

(1) Bulls vs ((3) Brumbies vs Cheetahs (6))

(2) Chiefs vs ((4) Crusaders vs Reds (5))

My tip is for the Chiefs to retain their crown against a tough Brumbies side in a fantastic final.

The Chiefs perform the haka after winning the final last year

This week’s fixtures:

June 28 

Chiefs v Hurricanes;Waikato Stadium, Hamilton; 08:35 

June 29 

Highlanders v Crusaders;  Forsyth Barr Stadium, Dunedin; 08:35 

Sharks v Blues; Growthpoint KINGS PARK, Durban; 13:50 

Bulls v Southern Kings; Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria; 16:05 

Stormers v Cheetahs; DHL Newlands, Cape Town; 18:15 

How to develop the game in Ireland

As seen here

Irish rugby is in rude health at the moment. The academies for each province seems to flourishing almost to the point where there are too many players and not enough space for them to get the necessary game time to develop.

Some solutions:

1. 7's team

It's about time Ireland had a Seven's team. It's a great way to develop young players, something that New Zealand and Australia have been doing for years. It's something that the IRFU needs to look at.

It's no coincidence that the best teams in the world have their players come through the 7's circuit before going on to further levels. This gives them some attributes and abilities that other nations never have the chance to develop.

Benefits

7's promotes fitness, speed and running abilities. Players who have played 7's have a better understanding of space, how to create line breaks, and are able to withstand huge periods of continuous play.

Tries like these in the Super Rugby competition this year wouldn't have been scored without a 7's input.

Tim Nanai-Williams touching down after an incredible 3 minutes of play

Fantastic individual solo effort from Bernard Foley

7's rewards players who can spot a gap, accelerate into it, and those who can offload and run support lines. Backs and back rowers could benefit from the speed of the game, and the added skills needed to thrive in the environment.

If you still don't believe that 7's produces results, look at New Zealand 7's record.

Twenty five of 70 New Zealand 7's representatives ever have either gone on to be All Blacks, with a number of future All Blacks included

Players

1. Charles Piutau (caps 0)
2. Joe Rokocoko (68)
3. Jerome Kaino (49)
4. Tanerau Latimer (0) - Maoris (5) Super Rugby winner with the Chiefs
5. Jonah Lomu (63)
6. Tim Nanai-Williams (0) - Super Rugby winner with the Chiefs
7. Fritz Lee (0) - Super Rugby winner with the Chiefs
8. Zac Guildford (10)
9. Israel Dagg (25)
10. Kurt Baker (0) - Maoris (3)
11. Rico Gear (20)
12. Anthony Tuitavake (6)
13. Rene Ranger (3)
14. Ben Smith (12)
15. Adam Thomson (29)
16. Beauden Barrett (5)
17. Frank Halai (0)
18. Liam Messam (20)
19. Christian Cullen (58)
20. Hosea Gear (14)
21. Cory Jane (43)
22. Tamati Ellison (4)
23. Buxton Popoali'i (0)
24. Victor Vito (20)
25. Julian Savea (9)
26. Rodney So'oialo (62)
27. Dallas Seymour (3)
28. Eric Rush (9)
29. Scott Waldrom (0) - played in uncapped game vs Munster 2008
30. Bruce Reihana (2)
31. Sosene Anesi (1)
32. Mils Muliaina (100)
33. Roger Randle (2)

It's not just New Zealand, in the last few years Ed Quirk, Liam Gill, James Stannard, Robbie Coleman, Ed Stubbs, Dom Shipperley, Matt Lucas, Luke Morahan, Nick Phipps, Tevita Kuridrani and Jono Lance who have all featured in Super Rugby this year have played for Australia 7's. 

Some of those including Phipps, Gill and Shipperley have caps for the Wallabies, and the others are all under 24.

If you still think that this is only a Southern Hemisphere thing, then have a read of Murray Kinsella's piece on 7's a year ago.

Olympics

With 7's coming into the Olympics in Rio in 3 years time, it will give a chance for the youngsters involved to develop some big game experience which would be vital in future years.

Added to that is the chance to play in the Olympics, which no athlete would ever want to turn down.

As supporters, It would be great to cheer on another Irish team in the Olympics, and the IRFU are missing a huge opportunity to capitalise on a huge opportunity to continue to grow the supporter base of Rugby in the country.

Ireland already have a Women's team, which has already made dividends with the team winning the Plate in China this year. Coupled with the Women's remarkable Grand Slam this year, the Seven's team has served to increase interest in Women's rugby in Ireland.

Men's Seven's need this.

2. Draft System: New Zealand model

If you haven't read it already, Ireland's Answer makes a good case for introducing a draft system to better distributed amongst Ireland's provinces.

He says that it would be best to leave those on development contracts alone. However, I think these are the players that would benefit most from the system. Academy players, unless moving into a 25 man squad, should be exempt as this is an important part of their development.

However, I wouldn't dismiss the draft idea. I would try to incorporate the Super Rugby model or something similar. This would be where each province nominated a 25 man squad, with remaining players available to move between provinces that year. This would give some of the fringe players a better chance of getting more game time in another province and continuing their development.

3. Wolfhounds

Ireland definitely needs to make better use of it's second team. While their isn't a second team competition to help this yet, more than one game a year would be of benefit to those who aren't quite good enough for the National team yet, like Tiernan O'Halloran or Rhys Ruddock.

The team could play against some Tier 2 or 3 nations during IRB windows to promote the game in these countries.

The "Emerging Irish" team to play in a competition in Georgia this summer is a great idea, and needs to be continued. A step in the right direction.

4. Use the AIL more

The AIL isn't being used effectively by the Provinces since the start of professionalism. The standard in the AIL is significantly better than most people realise, and this should be a feeding ground for some of the academy players to get some real game time against physically more mature opponents. 

Props would develop faster and better if up against older props every week in AIL.

The restrictions that are put on contracted players in each match day squad need to be removed to allow for this development. This allows the players currently in the system to benefit from exposure to this players in the hope of receiving call ups themselves.

A bigger debate on the subject is available from Murray Kinsella.

5. Move abroad

This is an option that more and more players seem to be doing recently. Ulster especially seem to be loaning players out only for them to return as better players after a year, as has happened with Michael Heaney and Ian McKinney.

Shane Monahan, Robin Copeland, Gareth Steenson are among many "Exiles" plying their trade in England and Wales and impressing, while the recent departures of Brian Hayes and Nigel Brady to France are further options for other fringe players that need game time, but have international stars ahead of them.

Annoyingly Inconsistent

If you were to sum up Declan Kidney's reign as Ireland coach in two words, they are the two I would choose. I started to write this piece directly after the Scotland game. One question kept coming into my mind. Are Ireland as good as I think they are? Their winning percentage under Kidney would suggest not. Neither does their World Ranking.

So what's going wrong? Here are a number of points that Ireland need to become competitive again.

1. Inconsistency

Specifically, backing up a good performance, with another good performance.

Every series of matches include a terrible performance, a game against a higher ranked team where we perform but don't win, and a morale-boosting and usually backs to the wall comprehensive victory. There might be a scrape through victory against a poorer team thrown in for good measure.

Is this good enough for one of the most talented group of players ever to play for Ireland at once? We have had the remains of the "Golden Generation" in Brian O'Driscoll, Ronan O'Gara and Paul O'Connell, the next almost equally golden generation in Jonathan Sexton, Tommy Bowe and Rob Kearney, play for us in the last 4 years, and the results haven't changed.

As a nation we have come to expect more. Too often we go from joyous elation to end of the world despair in the space of a week with this team. Only 2009 wasn't like that in Kidney's reign;

See more about this here.

2. Efficiency

For too long I have watched Irish teams work extremely hard to put points on the board, only for a mistake to let the opposition level with ease.

The Scotland game was the perfect example of this. All of the possession and all of the territory could not be transformed into points. We had line-break after line-break, but for whatever reason, we kept making vital mistakes and the points went a begging.

The turning point in this match is also an example of how easy it is to score points against us. Paddy Jackson misses a kick to touch in the second half; and with one kick and chase later from Scotland and they have a shot at goal, and 3 points in the bag. This is without the territory, possession and exertion that Ireland used to garner their points.

Ireland need to become harder to beat, which means not only hard to score tries against, which they've done successfully but fix their growing discipline problem, which means that teams can keep in touch with them easily by knocking over simple 3 pointers. They need to learn how to punish mistakes, and take their try scoring opportunities when they come, and to keep the scoreboard ticking over when they don't.

3.. Playing for the full 80 minutes

This is becoming more and more of a problem. As a direct response to not being able to start games well, Ireland have gone out recently and left everything on the pitch. In the first half.

Which leaves them open to running out of steam and the opposition pulling away from them in the second half.

Does this mean that the players aren't fit enough? The common thought was that Italy couldn't play for 80 minutes when they first arrived into the 6 Nations as they weren't used to the demands and not fit enough. But they lasted the pace significantly better than we did in the finale.


4. Have Plan B and use it when necessary

Or Plan C. Because it seems that when things are going wrong Ireland's plan becomes "Revert to Plan A".

Ireland need to be adaptable and have numerous game plans for different situations. Sense needs to be used, and heads up rugby played, so that tactics can be changed mid game to exploit weaknesses that appear mid game, or to avoid repeating things that clearly aren't working.

For example, Ireland created 3 midfield line breaks in the first 15 minutes against Scotland. After these linebreaks, not one player was sent down the middle to exploit an obvious weakness in the Scottish defense.


5.. Injuries

Ireland saw an unprecedented amount of injuries this 6 Nations, with the unavailable XV arguably better than  any that played towards the end of the 6 Nations;

Fitzgerald, Bowe, Earls, D'Arcy. Zebo, Sexton, Reddan, Court, Strauss, Fitzpatrick, O'Connell, Tuohy, Henderson, Henry, Ferris.

Is it any coincidence that all of these injuries happened at once, when the English, Welsh and Scottish seemed relatively unscathed?

Is the player welfare policy not working? I've seen a lot of theories banded around since, mostly concerning the natural size of Irish people in comparison to the rest of the world. We have a small team therefore we need to overdo it in the gym to gain parity. The prime example of this is Stephen Ferris, who seems to be made of glass.

6. Using the bench

There are two problems here, first selection of the bench, second using the bench.

A bench is there for two reasons; 1. covering injuries and 2. to make an impact. Ireland have the players in reserve to make impacts and change the game, but don't choose them, preferring instead to choose a bench to solely cover injuries. Which leads to Kidney not using his bench

Kidney has never been as bad as he was this 6 Nations at using the bench. He seems to have developed some serious trust issues that have emanated in him not trusting young talent or using his bench effectively.

I am firmly of the belief that a number of the bench players used against France would not have come on were it not for injuries. Ian Madigan definitely would not have come on if Luke Marshall and Brian O'Driscoll hadn't gotten concussed in the 72nd minute.

Having O'Gara on the bench against Scotland made no sense to me. At 35, and with a style of play so similar to Jackson's how was he going to come on and change the game? Either what Jackson was doing was wrong and Ronan would ride in to save the day by doing the same thing, or Jackson would be playing well and deserve to stay on. If he was doing well, he deserves to earn the experience of seeing out a game at this level.

Bench players need to offer something different to the players they replace, much like the Boss/ Reddan combination at Leinster, or the van der Merwe/ Healy combination. Boss brings the physicality around the rucks that Leinster need, while Reddan brings pace and tempo to the Leinster backline. This system actually gets the best out of both players. Why can't it work at an international level?


7. Introducing Young Players

One good thing that the injuries did for Ireland in the long term was to force Kidney to blood talent in the form of Ian Madigan, Paddy Jackson and Luke Marshall.

Kidney has gone from having the confidence to through in youngsters into the deep end, to not selecting them as they are untried at this level. But how are they going to get the experience without playing?

Players like Ian Madigan and Luke Marshall were ready to be challenged at a higher level, and only got the call up due to injuries. But there are others like Tommy O'Donnell who has had a great season, and is still uncapped.

In conclusion, are Ireland as good as I think they are? The answer is very frustrating and annoying. They are irritatingly inconsistent, leading me to say no. Performances like the World Cup game against Australia, the second test against New Zealand, the destruction's of Argentina, England and Wales lead us to think that Ireland are world beaters. A look at the world rankings suggests anyone from 2-10 can beat each other on their day. Which seems to be reflected in Ireland's results over the last number of years, where only New Zealand beat us by any big score. Meaning that luck or chances could see Ireland as "nearly" unbeaten in the same period if everything had gone for us.

Perhaps this is why they are so frustrating to follow. Ireland needs more consistency. We need to stop giving away stupid penalties. We need to stop getting carried away with victories, and stop getting so depressed about losses. We need to start playing for 80 minutes.

We have the players, we have the technical coaches in place and we have the talent coming through. We just need a bit more thought from everyone involved, and a little more cohesion. That process starts now.

Future English Options at outhalf

There's been a lot of talk about the Irish options at out-half, which you can read the updated version here. But I think it's worth casting an envious eye over the options across the pond that England having coming through just in time for RWC 2015 and beyond.

Owen Farrell

Farrell is now the current incumbent and rightly or wrongly is a former IRB world player of the year nominee. And he's only 21. That is a scary thought for those going to face the English in the next 10 years and beyond.

In his short career, Farrell has already showed flawless goal-kicking, and incredibly strong defense. Farrell seems to be Jonny Wilkinson 2.0, there is certainly the equivalent English hysteria surrounding him at the moment.

With Sexton's injury, and a lack of credible alternatives, he seems to be the main runner for the starting test spot on the Lions tour. But while the English are renouncing a glorious talent, I've had reservations about him. Yes, he is a world class kicker, and tackles with no fear, but having grown up playing in the centres, does he have the skills to run a backline on the highest stage? He showed against Scotland that it would appear so, and delivered a wonderful pass for Geoff Parling to score. He didn't show this against Ireland, in horrendous conditions, which is fair enough. And Farrell showed impressive temperament to manage the game effectively.

Farrell is a coaches dream. He is incredibly solid, won't make mistakes and will kick his goals. But I'm reserving judgement on him until he demonstrates the capabilities to manage a backline for an extended run of games. In his short career he hasn't had a dip in form yet either. What separates the world class from the very good is the response to that dip in form. Until we see what happens then, we shouldn't be burdening him with IRB player of the year nominations.

Freddie Burns

The oldest of this trio, at an ancient 22 years old, has been impressing many watching Gloucester this season. Burns made his English debut coming on against the now famous game against New Zealand. He would be on the bench this 6 Nations if it weren't for an untimely injury.

There is a lot of buzz about Burns in England, and it says a lot about him that there were question marks about who would start at ten for England before Burn's injury, when you consider where Farrell is in everyone's mind now.

Unlike Farrell, Burns knows how to run a backline, he knows how to unlock a defense, is a capable runner with a great step, and has a great boot on him. His passing is excellent, and if nothing is on, he can produce a piece of magic, or find a great touchfinder.

Usually a player with that amount of attacking talent is vulnerable in defense, but Burns is a big guy, and tackles as well as anyone. Farrell may have more solidity about him, which isn't me suggesting that Burns is flaky, but Burns has the X factor.

He recently returned for Gloucester, and didn't put in a fantastic performance, but with Farrell's injury should see some game time against Italy and might start against Wales.It looks like Flood should start, but Burns should see some game time, and if he shows the form of before his injury, don't discount him for the third out-half slot on the Lions tour.

George Ford

The youngest of the 3, at only 19, but perhaps has the most potential. Ford is the youngest player to make his debut at the young age of 16 for Leicester in the LV Cup.

Ford is leaving Leicester at the end of the season, where he is backup to Toby Flood, to join Bath and show what remarkable talents he has.

From watching him in the Wolfhounds game against the Saxons a number of weeks back, Ford was head and shoulders above everyone else on the field. He oozes class.

Ford controlled that game, and showed that he has a fantastic rugby brain. He knew when to showcase his attacking talent, and when to play for position.

In terms of style he is more attacking than Farrell, and more solid than Burns.

Conclusion

If these three were in different eras, or even different nationalities, they would all have close to 100 caps on the international stage. As it is, they will be competing with each other for many years. I think that Ford has the most about him, and will usurp the challengers in the next 2-3 years.

However, right now, despite his recent injury return, I would prefer to see Burns play, even when Farrell comes back. But that's just my preference for the style I'd want my outhalf to play. One thing is for certain, England have quality coming through at ten, with a lot more substance to the Irish talent coming through in the same position.

A Lack of Experience

As seen here

After that performance, the bandwagon for Deccie to leave has gotten bigger and bigger. This isn't a post about whether he should stay or go, but rather, what needs to be done between now and the World Cup. Whenever the World Cup comes around, it's emphasised that the World Cup is the be all and end all, and that teams should be focusing on it. I, for one, would love to see Ireland finally do well at the World Cup. That Welsh game was the most depressed I've been about sport in my life, and I'd rather not go through it again.

Thus far under Kidney's reign, rightly or wrongly, there has always been an emphasis on the next game. Best players out for winning as many games as possible. This means that players who won't make the world cup are collecting caps, while promising youngsters sit on the bench. This means that when the pressure situation comes, the young players don't have enough experience to know what to do.

Take a look at England. Stuart Lancaster decided last 6 Nations to build a squad for 2015 World Cup. They have been blooding young talented players that will play a huge part in their fortunes over the next few years. Some have even begun to be mentioned as Lions candidates. People like Tom Youngs, Joe Marler, Mako Vunipola, Joe Launchbury, Geoff Parling, Tom Johnson, Chris Robshaw, Ben Morgan, Freddie Burns, Owen Farrell, Jonathan Joseph, Billy Twelvetrees, Alex Goode and Brad Barritt have all either made their debut or been brought into the squad and started featuring as a regular since Lancaster took over.

Lancaster has managed to bring in these talents while making huge strides and winning matches. That must be the goal for Kidney. Bringing in too much too soon will be bad, but not bringing in enough is detrimental in the long run. I firmly believe that most of Kidney's youthful introductions to the side are forced on him through injury like Marshall and Jackson last weekend or Zebo to fullback last November. If Kearney had been fit, or Sexton and D'Arcy fit now, it wouldn't be unreasonable to suggest that all three talented youngsters might still be waiting for their first caps.

This 6 Nations should be the perfect time to blood inexperience. It's the first chance after the World Cup seeding is settled so there isn't as much pressure. Especially now that the championship has gone for another year, the time to give experience is now. The only way that Kidney can attempt to win another contract is by doing some forward thinking and preparing this side for the challenge in 2 years’ time.

There are a number of talented players on the cusp of the national side that need exposure and will be needed in the next two years. Players like Kilcoyne, Strauss, Sherry, Tuohy, Henderson, Ruddock, O'Donnell, Ryan, Marmion, Paul Marshall, Madigan, Jackson, Luke Marshall, McSharry, Cave, O'Malley, O'Hallorhan, Felix Jones and Henshaw are going to be in the top two or three in their positions in two years and are ready to make the step up to internationals now. Others like Paddy Butler, Jordi Murphy, Jared Payne and Ian Keatley will be ready soon and need their chance too. While the tight head prop situation needs someone to get some time, whether it's Fitzpatrick, Bent, Archer, John Ryan or someone completely left field like Nathan White.

The overall focus has to be developing a squad of 30-40 quality alternatives for the World Cup cycles. This means that quality youngsters have to be given the chance to show what they can do. We've already seen the uplifting impact they can have on the squad, so why not give those chances. Kidney only blooded Marshall and Jackson because of injuries. And there are many others that are worth having a look at.

Players aren't trusted because they've no experience. Now is the time to give them some of this experience. Whether Cian Healy or Jonathan Sexton are available for France or not, neither should play. Kilcoyne and Jackson need another go. As does Marshall, but I think he's earned it. Kidney needs to help Jackson out by selecting McFadden on the wing in place of Earls, while letting Gilroy continue his acclimatization to this level. Henderson needs to be thrown in at the deep end, while Dan Tuohy and maybe Tommy O'Donnell should be on the bench at least. I would also like to see Reddan replaced on the bench. Not because he's not good enough, but when the world cup comes around he'll be 34, and Marmion or Marshall will be in a better position to challenge Murray. 

Speaking of experience, last Autumn Chris Robshaw was lambasted for some poor decision making in defeat to South Africa. Fast forward a few months and its Jamie Heaslip's turn. The decision has been made Heaslip is captain. It wouldn't have been my choice, but nonetheless, Heaslip will make a great captain. He will learn on the job. It's said leaders are born, but leaders can be made too. And not all born leaders take to it straight away. Heaslip is the man, and keeping him in the captaincy is the right call. Sure there were doubts when O'Driscoll was made captain the first time. And there were concerns about Keith Wood.

Team for France:

1. Kilcoyne

2. Best

3. Ross

4. Ryan

5. Tuohy

6. O'Mahony

7. O'Brien

8. Heaslip

9. Murray

10. Jackson

11. McFadden

12. Marshall

13. O'Driscoll

14. Gilroy

15. Kearney

16. Cronin /Sherry - just as long as they get on this time

17. Tom Court

18. Fitzpatrick

19. Henderson

20. O'Donnell

21. Marmion

22. Madigan

23. Fitzgerald / Darren Cave 

Team for Italy (injury permitting)

1. Kilcoyne

2. Cronin

3. Fitzpatrick

4. Tuohy

5. Ryan

6. Henderson

7. O’Donnell

8. Heaslip

9. Murray

10. Jackson

11. McFadden

12. Marshall

13. Cave

14. Gilroy

15. Kearney

16. Best.

17. Court

18. Bent

19. Stevenson

20. O’Mahony

21. Marmion

22. Madigan

23. Fitzgerald

Introducing... Luke Marshall

I've been waxing lyrical about Luke Marshall for a while now, and this is why.

When you see a young player for the first few times, it's a relatively safe assumption to say that their preferred playing style won't change too much for the rest of their career. And it doesn't take too long to see the main attributes of this player that has brought him this far.

As an example, Ronan O'Gara knew how to control a game with his kicking, was a very good placekicker, but had some other areas of his game that were very poor. It just happened that the good parts of his game were so good that he ended up being one of the best out-halves in the world at his peak. While ROG was world class at controlling games, you wouldn't put money on him chasing a game and producing attacking magic to break lines from himself or others.

Having said that, while players like Madigan often producing some magic, he are doubts that in big games he couldn't control the match the way that O'Gara so wonderfully did for so long.

Which brings me to Luke Marshall.

In the games I've seen of him; Marshall has shown that he plays a physical game.In defence, he tackles ferociously and effectively, frequently stopping attackers dead in their tracks, and in attack, showing that he is willing to run straight and hard to provide go forward ball for his team.

But Marshall grew up as an out-half and is more than just a physical specimen.

He has the play making ability with ball in hand to either find a gap himself or put others into space. He provides an extra boot outside of the fly half, and has a long and accurate kick, if needed to kick to the corners.

He has a wonderful low fast pass that releases the faster players outside him. He runs good lines, both direct and into space and possesses a good step. He possesses a very good offload too.

And he has shown fantastic ability in the breakdown area much like D'Arcy and O'Driscoll in either turning ball over, or winning penalties. Not many centres in world rugby are as good at the breakdown as D'Arcy or O'Driscoll. Marshall is on his way.

He may not be amazing at every attribute I've mentioned, but he has shown the ability and willingness to try all of them, and it all seems to come to him naturally. He can improve all of these qualities to be world class in anything he wants, whereas others where it doesn't come as naturally will have to work harder. He still has a long way to go, but experience will improve what seems to be one of the more natural talents in the youth system in Ireland.

In short, Luke has it all, and the potential to go very very far. A bit of work on any of these areas and he can be world class. He will be the incumbent inside centre in Irish rugby for years to come. One to hang our hopes on?

Ooh Ah Luke McGrath

Luke McGrath seems to me to be the main contender from this season's 20's that could make the step up to the professional ranks.

Sometimes I think I can be a bit biased about things, and I probably am, maybe even about this as McGrath went to my old school St. Michael's in Dublin.

Last year he shared scrum-half duties with Kieran Marmion, who has since gone on to bigger and better things with Connacht, with McGrath starting twice and Marmion three times in the 6 Nations, and Marmion gaining the upper hand in the JWC, starting all but one of the games.

Now, to me, It doesn't seem like a huge jump to suggest that Mike Ruddock, who would have the best chance at looking at the upcoming talent in the ranks, seemed to only slightly think that Marmion was better than McGrath.

Given what Marmion has gone on to achieve, it wouldn't be a huge step to conclude that McGrath might go on a do something similar. He's had two full Leinster caps already in the Rabo, as well as captained Ireland and Leinster at U18 and U20 level, suggesting huge leadership ability.

However, watching him and the rest of the 20's this season  you can clearly see that he is the heartbeat of the side, and without him they would be on the end of some hidings.

Watching him during the game, he controls is forwards the way Stringer did at his best, he has a good pass off both hands, and can pass without taking steps (even if that has started to creep into his game a bit recently). As he showed several times against Wales though, he isn't afraid to have a snipe around the fringes, and usually makes yards and retains the ball.

It's in defence that he really stands out. He covers the play extremely well, and isn't afraid at 5'9'' and 84kg to take on people a lot bigger than him, and stop them with great tackling technique. It's almost scary the amount of key covering tackles he makes which suggests that the rest of the team's defence isn't brilliant. At the breakdown as well, he is like D'Arcy or O'Driscoll and he small size makes it easy for him to get over the ball and generate a few turnovers.

Comments from dementedmole:

"Luke McGrath stood in for the injured John Cooney for Leinster ‘A’ in the cracking British & Irish cup semi-final against Munster ‘A’ that went into extra time in the RDS on Good Friday. The youngster stepped up to the mark well and bagged a try, outplaying his 26-year old opposite number Duncan Williams for most of the game. With another season at this level in front of him, and another very capable scrum-half in Kieron Marmion in the squad for the tournament, The Mole thinks it likely that we’ll see both No9s used in the way that Leinster have used Eoin Reddan and Isaac Boss over the last two seasons.

EDIT: McGrath also made his senior Leinster debut this year, coming off the bench to replace Eoin Reddan for eleven minutes against Newport Gwent Dragons in early May."

"Luke McGrath – The highly regarded McGrath has another season at U20 next year. His defence against England was tenacious and he showed his kills earlier in the tournament with a neatly taken drop goal. McGrath put a reasonable tempo on the game in the 6 Nations and has had exposure at ‘A’ level for Leinster, as well as playing for UCD in Division 1B. Boss and Reddan have nailed down the first two slots in the Leinster depth chart but both players are closer to the end of their career than the beginning and McGrath will be hoping to get some squad exposure next season."

The importance of the Under 20's

As featured on Harpin On Rugby

Links galore here; Check out Heaney's link in particular -> great video.

After the impact that Simon Zebo and Craig Gilroy are making on the Irish team of late, so recently after graduating from the Under 20's, now is a great time to see if this has been one of graduations, or is the Irish under 20's identifying talent, and nurturing them through for long distinguished careers.

2012

15. Shane Layden
14. Conor Finn
13. Chris Farrell
12. JJ Hanrahan
11. Sam Coughlan Murray
10. Paddy Jackson
9. Luke McGrath Luke McGrath
1. Kyle McCall
2. Niall Scannell
3. Peter Reilly
4. Iain Henderson
5. Daniel Qualter
6. Conor Gilsenan
7. Aaron Conneely
8. Jack Conan

16. James Rael
17. Des Merrey
18. Diarmuid Higgins
19. Tadhg Beirne
20. Jordan Coughlan
21. Kieran Marmion
22. Cathal Marsh
23. Foster Horan Foster Horan Try

Last year's group includes names that should already be known to those interested in the first teams of the provinces.

Paddy Jackson started at out-half for the Under 20's in last years 6 nations, before going on to claim the starting 10 jersey for Ulster and playing in a Heineken Cup final; Iain Henderson has already gone on to win his first caps for the full Irish team last Autumn; and Kieran Marmion has claimed the 9 jersey as his own for Connacht this season.

And after only a year gone, there will definitely be more from that group making a name for themselves soon such as JJ Hanrahan who was nominated for JWC player of the tournament, Shane Layden and Conor Finn who impressed in last season's 6 Nations, Sam Coughlan - Murray who is highly thought of in the Leinster academy, and has been earmarked since appearing for Newbridge in schools rugby. Daniel Qualter, Chris Farrell and Conor Gilsenan are also promising members of the Connacht, Ulster and Leinster academies respectively.

While Jordan Coughlan has been identified by Joe Schimdt to change position and become a bruising inside centre.

I found it interesting to find out that 21 of the 23 mentioned were still playing the game with a provincial or an English side, while acknowledging that not all will continue to have a career in the game, it seems to me that more of the Under 20's are getting a chance to further their careers.

2011 JWC squad JWC squad 2011 2011 2011

15 - Michael Sherlock (Clontarf/Leinster)
14 - Craig Gilroy (Dungannon/Ulster)
13 - Alex Kelly (UCD/Leinster)
12 - Luke Marshall (Ballymena/Ulster)
11 - Andrew Boyle (UCD/Leinster)
10 - Paddy Jackson (Dungannon/Ulster)
9 - Blane McIlroy (Ballymena/Ulster)
1 - James Tracy (UCD/Leinster)
2 - Niall Annett (Belfast Harlequins/Ulster) (capt)
3 - Martin Moore (Lansdowne/Leinster)
4 - Michael Kearney (Clontarf/Leinster)
5 - Daniel Qualter (Buccaneers/Connacht)
6 - Shane Buckley (Garryowen/Munster)
7 - Aaron Conneely (Corinthians/Connacht)
8 - Jordi Murphy (Lansdowne/Leinster)

Replacements:

16 - David Doyle (UCD/Leinster)
17 - Tadhg Furlong (Clontarf/Leinster)
18 - Iain Henderson (Queen's University/Ulster)
19 - Cathal O'Flaherty (Cork Constitution/Munster)
20 - Mark Dolan (Corinthians/Connacht)
21 - JJ Hanrahan (UL Bohemians/Munster)
22 - Tiernan O'Halloran (Galwegians/Connacht)



Even the year before we start to see more familar names such as Gilroy. We also see Andrew Conway who has recently signed for Munster from Leinster, and James McKinney who earned a move to Rotherham Titans from Ulster during the summer.

Other names feature again, and would go on to star for the Under 20s the following year include Henderson, Hanrahan, Qualter and Jackson.

Luke Marshall has impressed with Ulster this season and featured in the Irish XV vs Fiji. He has a very bright future ahead of him.

Other names such as Niall Annett, who is starting to feature for Ulster, Mick Kearney, of Connacht, who is knocking on the door of a second row place, and Eoin McKeon who seems to have nailed down his place in Connacht as well as Tiernan O'Hallorhan who frequently looks Connacht's best player in Heineken Cup games.

Jordi Murphy is another who made the step up, and has featured well for Leinster in Heineken Cup games, and is challenged Kevin McLaughlin for that blindside jersey

Brendan Macken, , Martin Moore, , Blaine McIlroy, James Tracy,  Andrew Boyle all still feature for their academies, with Macken getting the most game time. Surely time is running out for them soon though.

2010

The starting team in 2010 vs England was:

IRELAND U-20:

15. Andrew Conway (Blackrock College/Leinster);
14. Darren Hudson (St. Mary's College/Leinster),
13. Brendan Macken (Blackrock College/Leinster),
12. Nevin Spence (Ballynahinch/Ulster),
11. Simon Zebo (Cork Constitution/Munster);
10. James McKinney (Queen's University/Ulster),
9. John Cooney (UCD/Leinster);
1. Bryan Cagney (UCC/Munster),
2. Niall Annett (Belfast Harlequins/Ulster),
3. Jack O'Connell (Lansdowne/Leinster),
4. David O'Callaghan (UCC/Munster),
5. Ben Marshall (UCD/Leinster),
6. Rhys Ruddock (UCD/Leinster) (capt),
7. Dominic Ryan (Lansdowne/Leinster),
8. Patrick Butler (Shannon/Munster).

Replacements: Duncan Casey (Shannon/Munster), Stewart Maguire (Old Belvedere/Leinster), Brian Hayes (Cork Constitution/Munster), Robin O'Sullivan (Bective Rangers/Leinster), Michael Heaney (Belfast Harlequins/Ulster), Brian Kingston (Blackrock College/Leinster), Eoin Griffin (Corinthians/Connacht).

This highlights more than most, how many good players are coming through the ranks of Under 20's. Darren Hudson is still in the Leinster academy, and Nevin Spence was a star for Ulster with a huge future ahead of him before his untimely death. Add to that Heaney and Griffen from the bench and you can see the strength of this year's time.

For me, this also highlights the ongoing problem Ireland have with developing props. You look at the pack and pick out star names like Ruddock, Ryan, Dave O'Callaghan and Butler, but not one of the names identified have been a prop no matter what year we've looked at.

Out of interest, here is the English team from that night, with the names I recognize highlighted.

ENGLAND U-20: Jack Wallace (London Wasps); Will Hurrell (Leicester Tigers), Jonathan Joseph (London Irish), Tom Casson (Saracens), Jonny May (Gloucester); Freddie Burns (Gloucester), Sam Harrison (Leicester Tigers); Lee Imiolek (Sale Sharks), Jamie George (Saracens), Shaun Knight (Gloucester), Danny Wright (Gloucester), Charlie Matthews (Harlequins), Jackson Wray (Saracens), Jacob Rowan (Leeds Carnegie) (capt), Alex Gray (Newcastle Falcons).
Replacements: Arthur Ellis (London Wasps), Joe Marler (Harlequins), Kieran Brookes (Newcastle Falcons), George Kruis (Saracens), Jordi Pasqualin (Gloucester), Jake Sharp (Saracens), Christian Wade (London Wasps).

2009

The class of 09's biggest winner is clearly Peter O'Mahony, who with Ferris injured so much, has just about claimed his shirt on the Irish team. It's interesting to note here that most of the other teams didn't feature props that would go on to have a career in the game, while Jack McGrath and Paddy McAllister are still plucking along. Jack McGrath is now a loosehead and fancied to step up to fill Heinken van der Merwe's sizeable shoes should he leave fro Stade Francais as is being reported.

I'm only after noticing Conor Murray at sub scrum half here, Matt Healy is still making a name for himself, as a winger for Lansdowne if this video is anything to go by. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=48ZYg4oIlt4

15 - David Kearney (Lansdowne/Leinster)
14 - Ronan O'Mahony (Garryowen/Munster)
13 - Ian McKinley (UCD/Leinster)
12 - Eamonn Sheridan (Lansdowne/Leinster)
11 - Michael Keating (Clontarf/Leinster)
10 - Ian Madigan (Blackrock College/Leinster)
9 - Matthew Healy (Lansdowne/Leinster)
1 - Paddy McAllister (Ballynahinch/Ulster)
2 - Thomas Sexton (Old Belvedere/Leinster)
3 - Jack McGrath (St. Mary's College/Leinster)
4 - Ciaran Ruddock (Neath/Exiles)
5 - James Sandford (Queens University/Ulster)
6 - Rhys Ruddock (Millfield School/Exiles)
7 - Dominic Ryan (Lansdowne/Leinster)
8 - Peter O'Mahony (Cork Constitution/Munster) (capt)

Replacements:
16 - David McGregor (Ballynahinch/Ulster)
17 - Adam Macklin (Belfast Harlequins/Ulster)
18 - Mark Flanagan (UCD/Leinster)
19 - Michael Noone (Seapoint/Leinster)
20 - Conor Murray (Garryowen/Munster)
21 - Andrew Burke (Garryowen/Munster)
22 - Shane Gahan (Lansdowne/Leinster)

2008

IRELAND UNDER-20 TEAM & REPLACEMENTS (v Scotland Under-20s, RBS U-20 Six Nations, Dubarry Park, Athlone, Friday, February 22, kick-off 7.30pm):

15 - David Kearney (Lansdowne/Leinster)
14 - Sean Scanlon (UCC/Munster)
13 - Eoin O'Malley (Old Belvedere/Leinster)
12 - Eamonn Sheridan (Lansdowne/Leinster)
11 - Chris Cochrane (Queen's University/Ulster)
10 - Martin Dufficy (Dublin University/Leinster)
9 - David Moore (Blackrock College/Leinster)
1 - Paul Karayiannis (Queen's University/Ulster)
2 - Jason Harris-Wright (Greystones/Leinster)
3 - Ben Barclay (UCD/Leinster)
4 - James Sandford (Queen's University/Ulster)
5 - Eoin Sheriff (Lansdowne/Leinster)
6 - Kieran Essex (UL Bohemians/Munster)
7 - Paul Ryan (Blackrock College/Leinster) (capt)
8 - Patrick Mallon (Lansdowne/Leinster)

Replacements:
16 - Stephen Douglas (Ballymena/Ulster)
17 - Stephen Archer (UCC/Munster)
18 - David Nolan (Galwegians/Connacht)
19 - Ian Nagle (UCC/Munster)
20 - Ian Porter (Queen's University/Ulster)
21 - Ian Madigan (Blackrock College/Leinster)
22 - Conor Cleary (Greystones/Leinster)

2008 emphasizes how important it seems to be to have at least two years of Under 20's experience under your belt to make it in this game. Madigan and Kearney feature in both 08 and 09 and other than that, Eoin O'Malley, Harris-Wright, Nagle and Archer are the only other names I've heard before.

Harris Wright made a name for himself in England with Bristol before returning to Connacht, a route that a few of this side and others have taken, like Eoin Sherriff at Saracens and James Sandford at London Irish,

2007

More recognisable names Jones, Cave, Earls, Keatley, O'Donoghue, Healy, Hagan, Browne (back at Connacht) O'Brien, O'Donnell, O'Connor and more names that have been exiled but continue to have strong careers, like Shane Monahan now at Gloucester or Ruadhri Murphy now at Brumbies.

I count 5 Internationals, one Lion, and 2 potential internationals on this team.

15. Felix Jones (Seapoint/Leinster);
14. Shane Monahan (Dublin University/Leinster),
13. Darren Cave (Belfast Harlequins/Ulster),
12. Aidan Wynne (Buccaneers/Connacht),
11. Keith Earls (Thomond/Munster);
10. Ian Keatley (UCD/Leinster),
9. Paul O'Donohoe (UCD/Leinster);
1. Cian Healy (Clontarf/Leinster),
2. Richard Sweeney (St. Mary's College/Leinster),
3. Jamie Hagan (Greystones/Leinster),
4. Conor McInerney (UCD/Leinster),
5. Andrew Browne (Galwegians/Connacht),
6. Thomas Anderson (Dungannon/Ulster),
7. David Pollock (Queen's University/Ulster) (capt),
8. Sean O'Brien (UCD/Leinster).

Replacements used: Tommy O'Donnell (UL Bohemians/Munster) for O'Brien (32 mins), Ruaidhri Murphy (Lansdowne/Leinster) for Hagan, Neilus Keogh (UCC/Munster) for McInerney (both 78). Not used: Ger Slattery (Young Munster/Munster), David Drake (Ballymena/Ulster), Niall O'Connor (Belfast Harlequins/Ulster), Kyle Tonetti (Blackrock College/Leinster).

ENGLAND U-20: David Doherty (London Wasps); Ollie Dodge (Leicester Tigers), Tom Youngs (Leicester Tigers), Adam Powell (Saracens), Selorm Kuadey (Sale Sharks); Seb Jewell (NEC Harlequins), Danny Care (NEC Harlequins) (capt); Charlie Beech (Northampton Saints), Matt Mullan (Worcester Warriors), Dan Cole (Leicester Tigers), Dave Attwood (Bristol Rugby), Phil Hoy (Northampton Saints), Alex Shaw (Leicester Tigers), Chevvy Pennycook (Bristol Rugby), David Tait (Sale Sharks).

Replacements used: Matt Cox (Worcester Warriors) for Attwood, Frankie Neale (Saracens) (both half-time), Hugo Ellis (London Wasps) for Tait, Jordan Turner-Hall (NEC Harlequins) for Neale (both 48), Tom Stanfield (London Irish) for Mullan, Mullan for Cole (80+1). Not used: Tom Mercey (Saracens), Richard Bolt (Exeter Chiefs).

2006 U21

The 20's were only formed in 2006/07, but it's worth looking at the last few years of U21 too to see how much of a difference there is. I count 5 french that I recognise; Medard, Mermoz, Beauxis, Montes and Ouedraogo, compared to 14 Irish.

Admitedly, some of those 14 Irish, like Duncan Williams and Billy Holland, are still not featuring prominently for Munster, which at this stage they should be. It's more a case of 8 internationals from this side ( and Paul Marshall, who is knocking on the door). Which is a good return.

FRANCE U-21: Maxime Medard; Yann Fior, Thibault Lacroix, Maxime Mermoz, Gregory Puyo; Lionel Beauxis, Fabien Cibray (capt); Florian Cazalot, Laurent Sempere, Yohan Montes, Julien Ledevedec, Loic Jacquet, Fulgence Ouedraogo, Nicolas Bontinck, Fabien Alexandre.

Replacements: Arnaud Heguy, Laurent Cabarry, Carpentier, Steve Malonga, Damien Neveu, Thomas Anies, Julien Jeuvray.

IRELAND U-21: Fionn Carr; Peter Durcan, Darren Cave, Conan Doyle, Matthew Williams; Jonathan Sexton, Paul Marshall; Darragh Hurley, Stuart Philpott (capt), Paul Doran-Jones, Daniel Tuohy, Devin Toner, Ross Noonan, Ejike Uzoigwe, Billy Holland.


Replacements: Sean Cronin, Callum Black, David McGowan, Sean O'Brien, Duncan Williams, Tom Gleeson, Fergus McFadden.

2005 U21 2005 U19

Final year that we go back features some Lions in Tommy Bowe and Stephen Ferris not to mention Trimble, and Chris Henry, while Stevenson, Caldwell and Andress are prominent for their sides.

(15) Mark Kettyle (Belfast Harlequins) (14) Tommy Bowe (Belfast Harlequins) (13) Andrew Trimble (Ballymena) (12) Greg Stafford (Lansdowne) (11) Paul McKenzie (Belfast Harlequins) (10) Barry Keeshan (Cork Constitution) (9) David O'Leary (UCC) (1) Michael Diffley (Buccaneers) (2) Stuart Philpott (Saracens) (3) John Andress (Belfast Harlequins) (4) Lewis Stevenson (Belfast Harlequins) (5) Ryan Caldwell (Dungannon) (6) Brett McNamee (Northampton) (Captain) (7) Oisin Hennessy (Dungannon) (8) Stephen Ferris (Dungannon)

Replacements used: Eamonn Bracken (Buccaneers) for Ferris (29-41 mins), Kieran Geraghty (London Irish) for Kettyle (53), Joseph Merrigan (Corinthians) for Philpott (61), Chris Henry (Malone) for Hennessy (68), Bracken for Andress (76). Not used: Mark Melbourne (Garryowen), Paul Marshall (Ballynahinch), Jonathan Sexton (St. Mary's College).

Coach: Mark McDermott Assistant Coach: Brian Walsh Manager: David Haslett

ENGLAND UNDER-21: O Morgan (Gloucester); T Biggs (Leeds), M Cornwell (Leicester), R Davis (Bath), T Varndell (Leicester); T Flood (Newcastle), B Foden (Sale Sharks); M Cusack (Leeds), N Briggs (Rotherham), A Croall (Saracens), R Blaze (Worcester), T Ryder (Leicester), J Haskell (Wasps), D Seymour (Saracens), M Hopley (Worcester).


Replacements used: M Hampson (Leicester) for Cusack (48 mins), T Ojo (London Irish) for Varndell (64), S Cox (Sale Sharks) for Ryder (70), S Mackie (Newcastle) for Briggs, L Dickson (Newcastle) for Foden (both 73), S Whatling (Worcester) for Davis, R Thorpe (London Irish) for Hopley (both 76).

2013

And on to this year's breed.

15 - Stuart Olding (Belfast Harlequins/Ulster)
14 - Alexander O'Meara (Hartpury/Exiles)
13 - Tom Daly (Lansdowne/Leinster)
12 - Rory Scannell (Dolphin/Munster)
11 - Rory Scholes (Belfast Harlequins/Ulster)
10 - Steve Crosbie (Old Belvedere/Leinster)
9 - Luke McGrath (UCD/Leinster) (capt)
1 - Brian Scott (UCC/Munster)
2 - George McGuigan (Newcastle Falcons/Exiles)
3 - Chris Taylor (Malone/Ulster)
4 - John Donnan (Ballynahinch/Ulster)
5 - Gavin Thornbury (UCD/Leinster)
6 - Peadar Timmins (UCD/Leinster)
7 - Ryan Murphy (Dolphin/Munster)
8 - Conor Joyce (Malone/Ulster)

Replacements:

16 - John Andrew (Ballymena/Ulster)
17 - Peter Dooley (Lansdowne/Leinster)
18 - Jake Caulfield (Malone/Ulster)
19 - Sean McCarthy (Shannon/Munster)
20 - Josh van der Flier (UCD/Leinster)
21 - John Creighton (Malone/Ulster)
22 - Darren Sweetnam (UCC/Munster)
23 - David Panther (Corinthians/Connacht)

Olding, McGrath and van der Flier are the only players returning from last year suggesting that they have the best chance of making a career out of this. McGrath in particular looked a class apart last Friday, and there has been a lot of talk about him for a long time. I was also impressed with Crosbie, Scholes, Scannell and Daly in the back line and Conoy Joyce looked powerful at 8.

Olding has impressed me when he played at 10 for Ulster, but didn't get in the game enough for me last Friday, and van der Flier is returning from injury so didn't show what he could do. And to think that Henshaw could be in this side. Darren Sweetnam is meant to be highly regarded down in Munster, having turned his head from hurling.

Whatever happens, It seems that Ireland are making a great use out of the Under 20 side, with a lot of graduates going on to make good careers out of the game, especially in recent years. Why not tune in on Friday to see the next crop of Irish players?