Funny you mention Jeremy Staunton, a guy who also had a few notable flaws in his game along with competition from a younger, more fancied competitor and left these shores to a solid enough career...ronk wrote: ↑September 30th, 2021, 12:15 am Jeremy Staunton was the athlete who had everything and could do anything. He worked hard and focused on his game. Ronan O'Gara was talented, but not as blessed. He worked harder and won games however he could.
Future success isnt just an ability function. Ross Byrne isn't perfect, but he's been winning Leinster games for a long time. He doesn't score a lot of tries but he's scored the same or more tries in the HC as the URC every year. He's a big game player.
To go back to the earlier point, look at some of the 10s coming through on the test stage now. Smith, Sheedy, Hastings, Ntamack, Jalibert. Some of them don't have Ross' kicking game, but to be a viable 10 at test level you have to have a certain athletic profile. You have to be able to threaten.
Again, Ross is a cracking player who has led us to some brilliant wins, but he doesn't have that in his locker, which is a big blocker at a high level.
(This discussion is moot anyway, as Ross isn't going anywhere imo.)