[quote=“larryduff”]Squad is disappointing. Few examples:
Toner lucky to be in squad imo.
Would have had Boss ahead of Stringer at least.
No way Fogarty has started the season as well as either of Ulster hookers.
Aware Kidney is conservative but now was time to be a bit more experimental imo and go with form players.[/quote]
Toner is more than lucky to be in there. He’s nowhere near good enough at the moment anyway.
Agreed on Fogarty too.
I get the feeling that squad was picked at the Churchill Cup. It could be worse, there’s some trimming going on. In Deccie we trust.
I think he has tried to keep combinations together. Excluding Boss and Humps. Excluding Brady, Kyriacou, O’Donoghue, Caldwell. Including Reddan, Sexton, Fogarty, Toner etc. Think this was wrong call to be honest and no is time to get partnerships going at national level. Faloon too should be pissed not to make it.
Must say i’m happy enough with that, and Kidney continues to bring new players in, which is great. Much bigger spread of players as well.
I’m sure every province could argue for one or two more, but generally it seeems the right squad, picked on form.
The squad is clearly not picked on form caoimhaoin. If that were the case there would be far higher Ulster representation in the squad. Toner, Stringer, O’Leary, Fogarty, O’Gara etc aren’t in form yet were picked.
[quote=“larryduff”]Squad is disappointing. Few examples:
Toner lucky to be in squad imo.
Would have had Boss ahead of Stringer at least.
No way Fogarty has started the season as well as either of Ulster hookers.
Aware Kidney is conservative but now was time to be a bit more experimental imo and go with form players.[/quote]
Actually agree with that, strange call now that you say it. Stringer is still a better player than Boss though, and his International experience is valuable.
I wouldn’t quibble with the Stringer over Boss call because while Boss has improved I don’t think he’s an international scrum half and Stringer does have the experience to offer.
Would have been a good idea to get an Ulster hooker and second row in there though - think they’ve probably had the best Irish lineout this season and they’ve been impressive overall as a pack.
So you’d drop O’ Gara completely? To be honest i agree he needs a kick up the hole. But this is a 39 man pick. If he picked a team right now and O’ Gara was in it i’d ask serious questions.
Stringer and O’ Leary are playing well enough, O’ Leary is flying considering where he was coming from.
Toner is picked ahead of Micko and Caldwell. What i’ve seen Caldwell id the better of those 3 alright, but your not going to nail it perfectly for everyone, especially not you Larry.
Yeah I like Stringer as an option on the bench simply because his service is so bloody good it allows backs that extra half yard late in the game. That said Boss is like new player this season and can rightly feel p-ssed not to be included. Exclusion of both Brady and Kyriacou strikes me as simply poor calls I must say.
Were either Brady or Kryiacou at the Churchill lar?
[quote=“caoimhaoin”]So you’d drop O’ Gara completely? To be honest i agree he needs a kick up the hole. But this is a 39 man pick. If he picked a team right now and O’ Gara was in it i’d ask serious questions.
Stringer and O’ Leary are playing well enough, O’ Leary is flying considering where he was coming from.
Toner is picked ahead of Micko and Caldwell. What i’ve seen Caldwell id the better of those 3 alright, but your not going to nail it perfectly for everyone, especially not you Larry.[/quote]
No I wouldn’t just saying the fact he was picked shows it wasn’t picked entirley on form. I would have stuck with O’Gara for sure and would have gone for Sexton ahead of Humps too. That said if Humps continues this form up to New Year he should rightly be considered for Six Nations.
I don’t see logic behind having Toner ahead of O’Donoghue or Caldwell or having Fogarty ahead of our two hookers. If I’m sounding parochial that ain’t meant to be the case but genuinely think we have gotten bit of raw deal in this squad.
Neither were no
[quote=“larryduff”]No I wouldn’t just saying the fact he was picked shows it wasn’t picked entirley on form. I would have stuck with O’Gara for sure and would have gone for Sexton ahead of Humps too. That said if Humps continues this form up to New Year he should rightly be considered for Six Nations.
I don’t see logic behind having Toner ahead of O’Donoghue or Caldwell or having Fogarty ahead of our two hookers. If I’m sounding parochial that ain’t meant to be the case but genuinely think we have gotten bit of raw deal in this squad.[/quote]
I’m agreeing on the Toner and Fogarty calls, no doubt about that.
Thrilled to see Devin Toner in there. 
Yea, this squad was picked on the plane back from the Churchill.
Boss and O’Donoghue were in Churchill squad though. Their performance levels have improved considerable since then yet aren’t in squad
Do you really think DK would do that, your retardedness goes from strength to strength.
Outstanding idiocy.
From listening to Les Kiss talk, I think you could tell how much stock they were putting into the Churchill Cup camps, and the A Intls. FOllowing on from that, Boss is lesser than the other options. I couldnt commit myself on O Don just yet, I’d need to see him more.
[quote=“caoimhaoin”]So you’d drop O’ Gara completely? To be honest i agree he needs a kick up the hole. But this is a 39 man pick. If he picked a team right now and O’ Gara was in it i’d ask serious questions.
[/quote]
I would. He was a limited enough player at his peak but O’Gara has been finished as any kind of a force since 2007. Its a joke that Ian Humphreys couldn’t make a squad of 39. He’s been in outstanding form this season.
Almost as much of a joke as you suggesting that ROG isnt good enough to make a 39 man Irish squad :rolleyes:
Im sure whatever 10s are in the squad will benefit from his experience. I would have included Humphs as well, he must have pissed in someones tea at some stage alright.