How is it different?
He get the armpit hair on his other arm pulled and instead of having one fella reach under him and pull on his pubes, the lad on the other side does instead.
I wouldnāt call it the easy route. It was more difficult if anything. He had been loose head all his life until converting and then he was, what about three seasons TH? Was it even three? He made a fist of it but wasnāt as impactful as he had a rep for being at LH. And he was stuck behind Furlong for both Leinster and Ireland and was going to be for a long number of years barring major injury. Would say LH was the easier route of the two and the obvious course back to a starting place.
The loose head needs to be far more mobile and would generally be much lighter than the th
Fair enough
The tighthead is āpacked downā with his head between the opposing loosehead and hooker, so tight on either side. The loosehead is opposite the tighthead only and open at the other side. If that makes sense.
Why does he need to be more mobile? Not taking the piss. Genuinely interested. Also curious as to why 6s tend to be bigger than 7s
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He generally has to come up in the defensive line before the tight head after a scrum is over as he is usually nearer the play as it develops.
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Sixās tend to be tacklers and defenders. Your seven is more attacking the ball on the ground.
Isnāt it also the case that training to handle the pressure at TH is going to result in being far less mobile?
You need to be bigger to lock out the scrum but porter isnāt good at that.
He can squad 250kg all he likes. Heās a liability.
He doesnāt have to be but itās easier to scrummage there with less strength required ā¦so why would you carry a bigger man than you needed at LH. He will be out of the scrum before the TH as well so like the hooker he needs to do a similar job to a back row if possible
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And he is the first man up off the scrum to cover the opposition attack or support his own attack so mobility is more valuable there
Heās also a penalty machine.
Lads - Porter is a world-class Loosehead. Heād start for almost any international team.
Thatās not to suggest heās a world-class scrummager but heās shown enough games where he can survive at that level to suggest that you donāt need to be. His contribution around the pitch far outweighs that.
Iād have far more worries about Furlong - who hasnāt played close to his best in a year or so - at the RWC than Porter.
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Hopefully furlong has had enough of a break to be alright by then. Youāre right about Porter around the pitch but is he worth all the penalties he gives away? You canāt not start him but heās regularly a liability.
Assessing all his contributions both positive and negative I would still say heās Top 3 in the world in his position at the moment.
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Heās given away six and seven penalties a game on a few occasions and often picks up yellows. Heās an incredible player but thatās a huge liability.
I donāt have the penalty stats to hand but I feel if the yellow card stats are anything to go by, your perception may be a bit skewed.
In the last 7 seasons, Porter has been yellow-carded twice. Once for Leinster (v Gloucester this season) and once vs NZ (end of last-season). All the other seasons he didnāt receive a card.
That would seem to be quite a bit away from āoften picks up yellowsā
Iād say heās one of the first names on the Irish team sheet at this stage and his loss would be a huge setback for the team - itās a massive step down to Healy or Kilcoyne
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I stand corrected on the yellow card count. I agree heās top class and one of our best players and miles ahead of the other two. I do think his penalty count is a worry, in both general play and scrums. Scrum penalties often depend on a refs impression and they can take a set against a player.
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