Josh Van Der Flier

[Stuka]

He is the most natural 7 we have had since Jennings/Gleeson.

In Leinster you mean, or in Ireland?

And tbf, Jenno's just retired, it's not like we're gazing back into the mists of time

In Leinster.

I know we are not gazing back, im just making the point that a genuine link man 7 is a rare breed.

[Stuka]

Irish hooper.

Ruddock, vdF and Heaslip is the best balanced back row leinster have and if vdF isn't at least in the everyone gets a text preliminary squad I'll be shocked.

no SOB?

Seanie should be encouraged to slip away into the night at the end of the season to top up his pension pot. He has won everything with us, has given us his best years and deserves a few bob and a bit of sun. He is very injury prone these days and has been off form since before the 2011 World Cup. Nothing to do with lack of effort, he just seems to be constantly injured and never gets the chance to build up a bit of form.

[Oldschoolsocks]

He is the most natural 7 we have had since Jennings/Gleeson.

In Leinster you mean, or in Ireland?

And tbf, Jenno's just retired, it's not like we're gazing back into the mists of time

In Leinster.

I know we are not gazing back, im just making the point that a genuine link man 7 is a rare breed.

Fair enough

[Oldschoolsocks]

Irish hooper.

Ruddock, vdF and Heaslip is the best balanced back row leinster have and if vdF isn't at least in the everyone gets a text preliminary squad I'll be shocked.

no SOB?

Seanie should be encouraged to slip away into the night at the end of the season to top up his pension pot. He has won everything with us, has given us his best years and deserves a few bob and a bit of sun. He is very injury prone these days and has been off form since before the 2011 World Cup. Nothing to do with lack of effort, he just seems to be constantly injured and never gets the chance to build up a bit of form.

Ah, now you're just messing.

1: he's never ever gonna be given any chance to recover from injury or build form in France.
3: whatever about his head injuries over here, he'll be targeted and seriously done in France by bigger fatter men
B: I think he was playing himself back into form in the WC, was naive and unlucky to be cited, has this ear thingy now, once that's fixed I reckon four or five matches and he's back in top form.
iv: what seannie needs is to stop running at collisions and to relearn the art of running at soft shoulders and gaps, his real asset is his speed, not his tacklebusting.

[fourthirtythree]

Irish hooper.

Ruddock, vdF and Heaslip is the best balanced back row leinster have and if vdF isn't at least in the everyone gets a text preliminary squad I'll be shocked.

no SOB?

No SOB is pretty much a constant with Leinster team sheets at this stage. Now maybe he will have a late career return like O'Connell did, but maybe not. His presence is a bonus rather than something you can plan on.

[dropkick]

http://www.the42.ie/josh-van-der-flier- ... 9-Dec2015/

Great attitude from VDF in that article.


Btw, according to David Nucifora, Leinster tried to sign a backrow a few months ago but were blocked from doing so. Nucifora rightly points our that VDF has now gotten a break, Leinster have saved about €200K and Ireland have another option. Its crazy that Leinster tried to sign another backrow.

[simonokeeffe]

http://www.the42.ie/josh-van-der-flier- ... 9-Dec2015/

Great attitude from VDF in that article.


Btw, according to David Nucifora, Leinster tried to sign a backrow a few months ago but were blocked from doing so. Nucifora rightly points our that VDF has now gotten a break, Leinster have saved about €200K and Ireland have another option. Its crazy that Leinster tried to sign another backrow.

twas the rumour it was world cup cover/with that in mind and Locky's retirement I think

But I like the idea of (for Leisnter) a Thorn or a Hines instead of a Gopperth AND a Kirchner

Think we might see a decline in the number of project players too as a fallout of that

[cormac]

http://www.the42.ie/josh-van-der-flier- ... 9-Dec2015/

Great attitude from VDF in that article.


Btw, according to David Nucifora, Leinster tried to sign a backrow a few months ago but were blocked from doing so. Nucifora rightly points our that VDF has now gotten a break, Leinster have saved about €200K and Ireland have another option. Its crazy that Leinster tried to sign another backrow.

Quite probably the last place Leinster needed to sign a NIQ was in the back-row.

[LeRouxIsPHat]

http://www.the42.ie/josh-van-der-flier- ... 9-Dec2015/

Great attitude from VDF in that article.


Btw, according to David Nucifora, Leinster tried to sign a backrow a few months ago but were blocked from doing so. Nucifora rightly points our that VDF has now gotten a break, Leinster have saved about €200K and Ireland have another option. Its crazy that Leinster tried to sign another backrow.

Technically he's right, but it's a seriously weak argument in the wider context. Leinster not needing to sign a backrow doesn't mean that Ulster's situation is the same etc etc and that seems to be what he believes.

[simonokeeffe]

http://www.the42.ie/josh-van-der-flier- ... 9-Dec2015/

Great attitude from VDF in that article.


Btw, according to David Nucifora, Leinster tried to sign a backrow a few months ago but were blocked from doing so. Nucifora rightly points our that VDF has now gotten a break, Leinster have saved about €200K and Ireland have another option. Its crazy that Leinster tried to sign another backrow.

Technically he's right, but it's a seriously weak argument in the wider context. Leinster not needing to sign a backrow doesn't mean that Ulster's situation is the same etc etc and that seems to be what he believes.

he said the 4 + 1 is a maximum so doesnt have to be filled for sake of it (Leinster) but think he knows the other 3 provinces do need to fill it

[Laighin Break]

World Player of the Year 2022. What an achievement.

[Ruckedtobits]

Ahhh look I'm not criticising VdF, I'm just trying to slow down the hype train. We are talking as if he's the next Pocock when all he's done is manage to look like he belongs at league and cup level. There is a long way to go before he's good enough for international call ups and that's the standard I expect of pretty much any of our players.

We did the same with Dippy, Jordi and pretty much any young player that comes in and doesn't make a complete arse of it. We should stop doing that.

Look at the date of this post (Dec2015). Proof, if needed that hard work and progress can ultimately produce every result.

As a former flanker, I watched his progress over the past 8 years in Leinster and he's the best example I can cite of a player who has thrived on great listening to what he's been told to do and good coaching every step of the way.

Well done Josh and thank you Stuart & Noel McNamara, Denis Leamy & Hugh Hogan, amongst others, along the way.

[TMC]

Congrats to the man. Great achievement.
Loved the line about getting married, he knows who the boss is!

How in the name of all that is holy are there only two pages on this thread. Shame on us all.

[munster#1]

What an achievement from JVF, as an Irish fan I am very proud of him, and as a Munster fan I am jealous that he is not a Munster player.

He has not had the most straight forward international career, having spent a lot of time injured or on the peripheries.

His game has come on leaps and bounds over the last 2 years, showing a good example for other players, that just because you are not there at 23 or 24, that if you persist, work hard and have belief that you can still make it.

[Twist]

HIs carrying has really improved.

[wixfjord]

One of the things that really annoys me about certain players is guys with immense natural talent who fail to do the work to improve skills that can be improved (passing, throwing, scrummaging).

VDF is the exact opposite. He's clearly a brilliant athlete but to become really world class he has had to diversify his game and really focus on rounding out key parts of what it means to be a backrow.

I'd say he's a guy who really looks after himself too and has been lucky with injuries, which always helps. Wonder is there a drop of Heaslip's wolverine blood in there!

[cormac]

One of the things that really annoys me about certain players is guys with immense natural talent who fail to do the work to improve skills that can be improved (passing, throwing, scrummaging).

VDF is the exact opposite. He's clearly a brilliant athlete but to become really world class he has had to diversify his game and really focus on rounding out key parts of what it means to be a backrow.

I'd say he's a guy who really looks after himself too and has been lucky with injuries, which always helps. Wonder is there a drop of Heaslip's wolverine blood in there!

Agree with pretty much all you've written there, except for the bit about luck with injuries. He suffered a very bad injury against France in 2018 (knee ligaments) which caused him to miss the rest of that grand slam/HEC winning season and picked up another bad injury at home to France the following season.

[LeRouxIsPHat]

Delighted for him, this really is huge and he fully deserves it. Everything about him being a great guy is true so it's good to know that nice guys can get to the top!

Said it recently that I can't remember a player who's kicked on like this later in their career. There have been late developers and obviously players improve but not too many who have been playing at a really high level and then managed to be the very best.

He just has a savage work ethic. I always remember Lancaster saying "he's a machine is Josh" when he was already in the gym a couple of days after he got one of those bad injuries and that he had "an extra coach" because Josh was already getting stuck in to helping out the team in any way he could.

Well done Josh