Yeah Iād agree with that. He is massively disliked by a lot of fans outside Leinster for some reason. Just donāt think his record can be questioned.
He canāt match the best attributes of some of his peers e.g. he doesnāt carry as well as Stander, not as good at the breakdown as POM etc. Heās not the best in the world at anything, maybe not even the best in Ireland at anything, but he is very good at everything. His consistency is something else. He went through somewhat of a trough IMO for a few years up to and incl last season but heās been close to his best for a lot of this season. He was excellent in November internationals.
Huge amount of criticism centres around how little carrying he does relative to the likes of Vunipola or Faletau. I donāt really buy that. His willingness to do the less glamourous jobs allows better carriers either side to get hands on the ball even more. Doesnāt make much sense to have Heaslip carrying and SOB acting as a link just because that is their traditional role based on no on back of jersey.
He is a very good player the last couple of years. He regularly went missing in the past. I met him ince and he seems like a pretty decent chap. I donāt think i have seen a tweet ever. I donāt give a fuck really about their personalities.
And he is a very good player. There is no hating. But he has nowhere near the consistency of performanxe over a long period of time of BOD or POC and thats not to mention all the lads previous to this era of player.
I would have Rory Best on same level as Heaslip. Very similar projectory. Had major flaws for a long time nut worked on them and got progressively better and pretty much indispensible. POC and BOD were indispinsible for their entire careers. Humongous difference.
Heaslip will struggle to get back in Irish side now I think. If you pick your best 6 itās POM, best 8 is Stander then and Heaslip wouldnāt be an option at 7. Hed struggle to make a 23 If he didnāt start.
Doesnāt mean heās not a good player mind, just we have better options now.
He is a two time World Player of the Year nominee.
He is consistently one of the most impact making players for Ireland.
He has been dropped on two occasions afaik. Once for the Lions in 2013 for the 3rd test for Faletau, but that was the test where Gatland decided to basically play as team Wales. The other occasion was Scotland in his first year, which was seen by many as rotation, after which he came on during the game to score the game breaking try. He was then nominated for WPOTY in the same year.
He is consistently near the top of tackles/pass/run stats for Ireland. And lets not forget his record for Leinster in terms of trophies. Best has been a mainstay of Ulsterās leadership team but they pissed away their chances at trophies in recent years.
Best is a fine player but there is a reason why he isnāt nailed on Lions starter despite being a fantastic leader and Dylan Hartley doing his best to get banned for life. Too often he has the yips, such as the 2013 Lions tour. When it was Flannery versus Best for the jersey with both fit, Flannery won out most of the time.
Best isnāt related to the levels of flannery or Keith wood. He often shits his togs at lineout time and is infective in the lose. Niall scannell will be a much superior player in time.
Heaslip is the best No8 we have ever had. By some distance. The Munster rugby crowd donāt like him because he doesnāt do the Mick the Muldoon routine of slobbering pints and walking around like a caveman with the arse falling out of his Wranglers. He has a barely disguised disdain for the shite that the media go on with and doesnāt pander to the gallery. He is also very astute in business and is I assume quite wealthy.
Think Heaslip linked up with FotF Harbo to invest in Lovinā Dublin. Didnāt Harbo post some drunken video or message a year or two back saying that Ireland would have lost out on his (Harboās) many talents but for people like Heaslip keeping him in the country?
Yep. Thereās an update in this weekās Phoenix. Harbo on the outs in terms of day to day management. Denis OāBrienās nephew seems to have taken over completely. Last paragraph mentions that Jaime will be hoping to get some kind of return.