The Leinster Front Row preview 2021/22

[hugonaut]

Anybody else think that Dan Sheehan will be pressurised to move south for the good of the country? Woodie of the unbelievables was eulogising about him awhile back. They have fup all down there at the moment don't they, young hookers I mean.

Short answer: yes.

He's an international level player. He could end up being an outstanding international.

Against that, you always have to have two hookers in the matchday squad, and they always get significant time on the pitch. Whether you are playing 50 mins or 30 mins probably shouldn't matter a huge amount, but there's no doubt that it does to most players.

Secondly, hookers are generally not a highly paid position ... in real terms, they are undervalued, in my opinion. The Esportif salary survey [link: https://www.walesonline.co.uk/sport/rug ... s-19535680 ] has them as either the lowest or second lowest paid player in all three European leagues, which is remarkable.

[mildlyinterested]

Anybody else think that Dan Sheehan will be pressurised to move south for the good of the country? Woodie of the unbelievables was eulogising about him awhile back. They have fup all down there at the moment don't they, young hookers I mean.

they've already tried.. I expect the IRFU will try to move him too if he gets as good as expected..

out of contract at the end of the season...

[Ruckedtobits]

Anybody else think that Dan Sheehan will be pressurised to move south for the good of the country? Woodie of the unbelievables was eulogising about him awhile back. They have fup all down there at the moment don't they, young hookers I mean.

they've already tried.. I expect the IRFU will try to move him too if he gets as good as expected..

out of contract at the end of the season...

Managing two hookers in the same Province is the best option to extending both their effectiveness and longevity. So long as egos can be managed by starting each one in some games, Leinster should fight to hold them both.

[mildlyinterested]

Anybody else think that Dan Sheehan will be pressurised to move south for the good of the country? Woodie of the unbelievables was eulogising about him awhile back. They have fup all down there at the moment don't they, young hookers I mean.

they've already tried.. I expect the IRFU will try to move him too if he gets as good as expected..

out of contract at the end of the season...

Managing two hookers in the same Province is the best option to extending both their effectiveness and longevity. So long as egos can be managed by starting each one in some games, Leinster should fight to hold them both.

well you'd hope leinster would be fighting to keep both.

[Oldschool]

Anybody else think that Dan Sheehan will be pressurised to move south for the good of the country? Woodie of the unbelievables was eulogising about him awhile back. They have fup all down there at the moment don't they, young hookers I mean.

they've already tried.. I expect the IRFU will try to move him too if he gets as good as expected..

out of contract at the end of the season...

With Cronin near retirement, Leinster need him.
He'd be better off going abroad than moving to Munster.

[mildlyinterested]

Anybody else think that Dan Sheehan will be pressurised to move south for the good of the country? Woodie of the unbelievables was eulogising about him awhile back. They have fup all down there at the moment don't they, young hookers I mean.

they've already tried.. I expect the IRFU will try to move him too if he gets as good as expected..

out of contract at the end of the season...

With Cronin near retirement, Leinster need him.
He'd be better off going abroad than moving to Munster.

not if he wants to play for ireland.

[Oldschool]

they've already tried.. I expect the IRFU will try to move him too if he gets as good as expected..

out of contract at the end of the season...

With Cronin near retirement, Leinster need him.
He'd be better off going abroad than moving to Munster.

not if he wants to play for ireland.

Moving to Munster doesn't guarantee that.
Unless he demands at least a three year CC as part of the move.

[mildlyinterested]

With Cronin near retirement, Leinster need him.
He'd be better off going abroad than moving to Munster.

not if he wants to play for ireland.

Moving to Munster doesn't guarantee that.
Unless he demands at least a three year CC as part of the move.

leaving ireland rules out playing for ireland.

he will be approached about moving to munster, it will be upto him to say no, like many have before him.

ensuring he gets gametime this season will be key, so far so good.

[CiaranIrl]

I hope he sees how well Leinster have managed having the best two looseheads and then the best two tightheads in recent years, and then compares it to the car crash of a career that players moving south have experienced.

[fourthirtythree]

I hope he sees how well Leinster have managed having the best two looseheads and then the best two tightheads in recent years, and then compares it to the car crash of a career that players moving south have experienced.

Precisely. When one of the best two looseheads moved north after becoming a test lion while playing for Leinster he never recovered.

[wixfjord]

I hope he sees how well Leinster have managed having the best two looseheads and then the best two tightheads in recent years, and then compares it to the car crash of a career that players moving south have experienced.

Precisely. When one of the best two looseheads moved north after becoming a test lion while playing for Leinster he never recovered.

And you're putting that down to him moving north?

[mildlyinterested]

he was carrying a hip injury for a long time.. would he have been better off staying with Leinster? who knows.

[erskinechilders]

If he is forced to move, surely Ulster is a better fit? Also need a hooker to eventually replace Herring ( although Tom Stewart has potential ). They're style of play is closer to ours and less idiocracy in the coaching box.

[mildlyinterested]

you'd have to assume one of Ed Byrne or Peter Dooley will be leaving at the end of the season.. probably Dooley unless something majors changes over the course of the rest of the season.

[Ruckedtobits]

I'd hate Peter Dooley to move as I've been a big fan for 7+ years. However, if he's going to go, I hope it's to Connacht. With his background and personality, the Coaching group there will do him the world of good, improve his confidence, give him game time and generally get the best out of him.

I'm on record in these pages more than five years ago in comparing Peter to Heinke Van de Merwe. I still believe the analogy is valid and would point out that the same guy was still a first choice LHP past the age of 35 in the Top14.

A lot more to come in the career of PD.

[mildlyinterested]

i'd have Dooley ahead of Byrne.. but it doesn't seem the coaches agree and he is too good to not be playing.. don't see him heading west though, imagine it would be abroad, but stranger things have happened.

[wixfjord]

There's obviously something with Byrne & Dooley that fans don't see. I love Ed and his skills are excellent, but Dooley just seems to be a more solid scrummager and also has brilliant hands. His performance against Montpellier away last year was a great example of that.

Yet Byrne gets chosen for Ireland and big Leinster games more often than now.

With Porter's move and a few young guys coming up behind there's probably a need for one of them to move alright.

[Oldschool]

i'd have Dooley ahead of Byrne.. but it doesn't seem the coaches agree and he is too good to not be playing.. don't see him heading west though, imagine it would be abroad, but stranger things have happened.

Dooley would be my choice too.
But the strange thing is that everytime I see EB selected for Ireland I'm expecting things to go wrong and yet everytime he steps up to the plate.
He's technically very good so what are we all missing.
Is it just a size thing?
I'd be interested to hear the opinion of our front row experts.

[ronk]

If some people rate a player and other don't it's most often (except for bias) related to their expectations about the position.

We're familiar with big light a tighthead looseheads like Court, Corrigan, Simon Best. We're more familiar with the strong ball carrier like Healy or Porter. We're not as used to spotting the Paul Wallace,Marcus Horan or Emmet Byrne type smaller loosehead. Part of the reason for that is the smaller looseheads tend not to really rack up lots of big performances at the top level. That and they don't do either of the flashy things than jump out at fans: splinter scrums or big carries. Instead they're quietly effective and hard to play against.

Ed Byrne does actually have one party trick, he is a good finisher. On one level I wonder if he wouldn't have been a hooker if he hadn't had a smaller twin who was even more of a hooker.

[Dave Cahill]

Dooley is an excellent scrummager who is very good in the loose
Byrne is a very good scrummager who is excellent in the loose

If you could combine the two you'd have a world class player - called Cian Healy!