IRE vs NZ rematch: build-up thread

aloooof

TICKLE_ME_ELMO wrote: »

Lyttle has impressed me in the few games he's played. Obviously it's way too early at this point to be calling for him to be included in the Ireland squad but if we were to leave a few of the older guys at home next summer I think we could do worse.

Stockdale came on at centre in Ulster's last match there, Edinburgh was it? Dreadful performance all round but he provided some real spark when he came on and can play wing and FB too.

I'd say if we were ranking the younger players Sweetnam is ahead of the two Ulster lads but if we were to leave older heads at home next summer I wouldn't be mad if any of them got to go to Japan.

Would seem like the perfect opportunity to give some of the younger guys a chance. I'd love to see the likes of Rory Scannell getting some game time there too.

Would Bleyendaal be qualified by then? I'm not sure if he's even said anything about declaring for Ireland, unlike Payne and Stander. (Or if he'd be picked, for that matter).

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

aloooof wrote: »

Would Bleyendaal be qualified by then? I'm not sure if he's even said anything about declaring for Ireland, unlike Payne and Stander. (Or if he'd be picked, for that matter).

This is technically his 3rd season at Munster but I don't think he actually arrived in Ireland until January 2015, so I assume it will be January 2018 before he's eligible?

Buer

pickarooney wrote: »

What has scholes been up to since he went to Scotland?

Not a lot. He hasn't really settled well there from what I can see. I don't think he has any significant injuries either. 2 starts (one in the Challenge Cup) and another sub appearance.

And on another note, where is max deegan playing now?

He's in the academy. A couple of appearances at B&I Cup level but there's such a glut of back row players at Leinster he'll need to be patient. I would imagine this season is all about conditioning for him. He only turned 20 a few weeks back. He's playing a good big for Lansdowne in the AIL too. Scored against UCD last week.

aloooof

TICKLE_ME_ELMO wrote: »

This is technically his 3rd season at Munster but I don't think he actually arrived in Ireland until January 2015, so I assume it will be January 2018 before he's eligible?

I think you're right here, he got injured and had surgery in NZ before moving over from what I remember.

Awesomeness

the baby bull elephant wrote: »

Unfortunately I'm not but thanks anyway!

Install kodi media player. You can then get a bunch of add on's that show all sports

bilston

TICKLE_ME_ELMO wrote: »

bilston wrote: »

Not sure if it will happen soon but I'd like to see Jacob Stockdale get an invite to the training camps. Depending how he goes with Ulster (and there is ait of competition there) he could come into contention for Japan or if not then next November.

The problem for Stockdale is that he doesn't seem to get a)a good spell of consecutive games and b)playing in the same position.

I read his preferred position is centre but bar the last week he played there he's usually used on the wing or at FB. Of course that makes him the ideal candidate for the 23 shirt.

If his cameo against Edinburgh a couple of weeks ago is anything to go by he will start nailing a place down in the 23 and given our injuries the starting XV soon enough. He has come on leaps and bounds since last year. He was genuinely outstanding against Edinburgh from the bench. He was so far and away our best player that night it wasn't funny! Mind you given the way most of the others played it wouldn't have been hard!

stephen_n

TICKLE_ME_ELMO wrote: »

You know, I was this close to including him to see the reaction

It's funny, though he is much maligned on this board, he has 32 caps, 6 more than Zebo and double what Dave Kearney has. To my memory he has never played badly for Ireland, even though he is limited compared to many, he's still in the mix when injury free I'd imagine. Though that's rare these days.

Losty Dublin

Match Thread is now up

awec

Match thread now open. Post there instead.