• Help Support The Rugby Forum :

The Irish Backrow

Get him on a bit of Hosea Gear​.

Wait... Gear and Hosea Gear.. Do they make these drugs from the namesakes blood? Waay too much of a coincidence for me.

Seriously though he should just get on the Taro the Samoan steroid. Ireland should substitute all their potatoes for Taro to develop perfect rugby specimens.
 
I would advance the theory that at some point in the next 2-3 years, Henderson will be considered as undroppable as POC or BOD, and the question is where, providing good fortune follows him. There are very few athletes to match him in rugby full stop for what he does. To my mind, that will be a definitive edge. Maybe not today, but it is coming.
 
So with the horribly possible reality of SO'B missing half the 6N what would our backrow look like now?

Henry should be fit giving us the same backrow as we had against Argentina last year. It would be good defensively with both Henry and Heaslip and all three would make it good on the ground. However I feel it is a very underpowered backrow. Especially with Healy likely to miss the start of the tournament as well. Now I know what I say next will anger any stray Munster fans if they come across it but I think PO'M is unable to replicate the close in carrying he does for Munster at international level. Based on players expected to be fit Henderson will be the best backrow carrier available. Pairing him with Ulster teammate Henry would make a lot of sense. However there's also a good for O'Donnell (and a more eloquent one than osulli mi or cmac will give us). He has would also give more carrying ability than Henry and is good on the ground. The tradeoff being we'd probably lose out in defense. Then there is also Ruddock who has been in fantastic form recently.

It's a big headache and I can't decide myself, so what would you guys do?
 
So with the horribly possible reality of SO'B missing half the 6N what would our backrow look like now?

Henry should be fit giving us the same backrow as we had against Argentina last year. It would be good defensively with both Henry and Heaslip and all three would make it good on the ground. However I feel it is a very underpowered backrow. Especially with Healy likely to miss the start of the tournament as well. Now I know what I say next will anger any stray Munster fans if they come across it but I think PO'M is unable to replicate the close in carrying he does for Munster at international level. Based on players expected to be fit Henderson will be the best backrow carrier available. Pairing him with Ulster teammate Henry would make a lot of sense. However there's also a good for O'Donnell (and a more eloquent one than osulli mi or cmac will give us). He has would also give more carrying ability than Henry and is good on the ground. The tradeoff being we'd probably lose out in defense. Then there is also Ruddock who has been in fantastic form recently.

It's a big headache and I can't decide myself, so what would you guys do?


Tom of the mighty O'Donnell clan. When he was left in the woods on his third birthday and told to make his own way home not only did he return home, he brought ****ing dinner with him and ate his wolf raw. I reckon he'll be able to handle a few up jumped Welsh pricks, Henry, TOD and Heaslip for me.
 
Tommy "the bird" O'Donnell also operating under the pseudonym last name Ever first name Greatest, delivering humble pie to all of you haters. No one man should have all that power. What's a king to a god, what is a god to Tommy O'Donnell. He was conceived when a graceful swan had sex with a monster truck. Every time he handles the ball he creates a widow, he's bigger than you, and his dad could undoubtedly beat up your dad. He eats hand grenades, nobody calls him chicken and yes his ass is 100 percent natural.
 
Don't think Henry and TOD in the same back row offers enough size and carrying ability. I'd go with Henderson and TOD, but only if Henderson is playing well enough when he comes back. Otherwise I'd go with POM
 
Tommy "the bird" O'Donnell also operating under the pseudonym last name Ever first name Greatest, delivering humble pie to all of you haters. No one man should have all that power. What's a king to a god, what is a god to Tommy O'Donnell. He was conceived when a graceful swan had sex with a monster truck. Every time he handles the ball he creates a widow, he's bigger than you, and his dad could undoubtedly beat up your dad. He eats hand grenades, nobody calls him chicken and yes his ass is 100 percent natural.

I'm not Irish and I'm taking so much joy out of this thread.

That could be due to the SOB injury though... Great for England's chances. Still it's a shame, I love seeing him run all over teams. Who's likely to slip into 8 once Heaslip moves on/ if he picks up an injury?

And also, because I do wish I could just see more of the man himself, how crippled is Ferris at this point?
 
I'm not Irish and I'm taking so much joy out of this thread.

That could be due to the SOB injury though... Great for England's chances. Still it's a shame, I love seeing him run all over teams. Who's likely to slip into 8 once Heaslip moves on/ if he picks up an injury?

And also, because I do wish I could just see more of the man himself, how crippled is Ferris at this point?

Most would have said Heaslip's backup is SO'B but...

Luckily the likelihood of Heaslip getting injured is (hopefully miniscule) he plays the most games out of any Irish player in a season I believe so much so that he'd likely play less at Toulon and is still almost never injured the last time he was injured was for the third NZ test in 2012.

If something did happen the likely replacement would be Roger Wilson or Jordan Coughlan, not the two most inspiring of options. There's also potnetial curveballs of O'Mahoney or Henderson at 8 or Jordi Murphy (Heaslip's backup at Leinster) or Eoin McKeon (Connacht) to come in. Again none can come close to offering the certainty that Heaslip can.

Ferris: Depends on who you ask I'm taking the optimistic line that he himself has presented I would be delighted to see him this season but I'd say it's pretty unlikely given the time he'd probably come back. Hopefully we'll see some of him but I wouldn't hold my breath. I am expectant of seeing him ready for next season.
 
No doubt SOB is a massive loss. He is the best Irish backrow of the professional era IMO. I expect Chris Henry to slot in to his position. TOD was missing from Munster for the last week so that might indicate that he was in Ireland camp. Who knows, Schmidt might throw a curve ball somewhere. Theres talk of Sean Dougall being called up but I can't see that happening. He is playing well but might lack the x factor that others have.


I don't think Henderson will be playing at 6 in the 6 nations. It'll be POM or McLaughlin/Ruddock. Henderson isn't guaranteed his place in the Ulster team at the moment. For me, Ruddock has the edge over McLaughlin at the moment. I can see Henderson being regularly used as an impact sub. Schmidt likes having some impact off the bench as well as flexibility so I would be surprised if Henderson doesn't feature in most of the games.


We need to be realistic about Ferris. He is crocked. Its not like he is unlucky by picking up lots of injuries. His knees are said to be fairly damaged and the way he plays puts a lot of pressure on the knees. I was thinking if he can come back for a year or two as an impact sub he'll be doing well. Over the last few seasons Ireland's backrow has lost Wallace, Leamy and now it looks like Ferris too.


Lastly, I think Ireland has a very flexible backrow. They don't play traditional roles so any number of players can slot in and the others will adapt.
 
Last edited:
If Henderson wasn't injured I know I certainly would have him in the starting XV every time profitius. We have so many injuries so it's hard to tell our starting team but im pretty sure a fit Henderson would always start 6 for Ulster. (Excluding Ferris)

I don't in the slightest agree right now McLaughlin is better than a fit Henderson, but I do like the idea of him being an impact sub.
 
Barring phenomenal form on return, I'd put money on Henderson occupying shirt 19 in the Six Nations. He's missed too much gametime to really stake a claim as a starter. He and TOD - assuming form - would be my benchers, with POM/Henry/Heaslip starting. Very harsh on Ruddock but I feel Ireland would benefit from a conservative approaching to picking the starters this coming 6N, so no starting him ahead of POM/Heaslip, and he loses out to Henderson because Henderson can cover lock as well. No point having both - using Henry to suffocate the game for 60 minutes and then O'Donnell to run them ragged for 20 sounds like a useful gambit.
 
Barring phenomenal form on return, I'd put money on Henderson occupying shirt 19 in the Six Nations. He's missed too much gametime to really stake a claim as a starter. He and TOD - assuming form - would be my benchers, with POM/Henry/Heaslip starting. Very harsh on Ruddock but I feel Ireland would benefit from a conservative approaching to picking the starters this coming 6N, so no starting him ahead of POM/Heaslip, and he loses out to Henderson because Henderson can cover lock as well. No point having both - using Henry to suffocate the game for 60 minutes and then O'Donnell to run them ragged for 20 sounds like a useful gambit.

While I agree that Henry is perhaps a safer bet to start I think the Idea that should go conservative in selection is tad ridiculous we've just gotten rid of a coach who refused to pick new players barring injury. With the new set up its the perfect time to go a little adventurous, I don't mind how Ireland do results wise this 6N as long as we start seeing intelligent rugby and game-plans that suit our players. The results will come later.
 
While I agree that Henry is perhaps a safer bet to start I think the Idea that should go conservative in selection is tad ridiculous we've just gotten rid of a coach who refused to pick new players barring injury. With the new set up its the perfect time to go a little adventurous, I don't mind how Ireland do results wise this 6N as long as we start seeing intelligent rugby and game-plans that suit our players. The results will come later.

Well, I'm not sure 'go' is the right word there, as Schmidt was pretty conservative in the last window in terms of selection, and I think I'd expect him to do so again. He's asking a lot from his players as it is - it's natural that a premium is being placed on international experience as a whole. Conservative selection is generally the hallmark of international rugby anyway and probably should be. The onus is on O'Donnell to unseat Henry unless Henry unseats himself - which he hasn't - unless O'Donnell is a noticeably better fit for the team. Which I don't think he is. Just because Ireland are ideally looking to play more ball in hand doesn't mean defensive players and workhorses aren't needed - quite the reverse.

Really, by any measure I'd have Henry ahead of O'Donnell, simply because Henry is a better breakdown player and I think he will do the work needed to free up the other two to play more as ball carriers. I don't think the Irish back-row needs another ball carrier as much as it needs a general irritant. For me, the conservative measure is keeping Ruddock out, who I think would add some major levels of physicality and in the best possible balanced back-row would be forcing POM and Heaslip to compete for 8. Ironically, if I were to pick Ruddock, I might think more about O'Donnell as then the balance changes.
 
Schmidt is a hands on coach. He needs a lot of time with his players to get them working in the way he wants. Therefore it is natural to assume that he'll want to keep working with the same core group of players.


None of this matters anyway tbh. With Healy and Sob missing large parts of the tournament now we're buggered anyway.
 
If Henderson wasn't injured I know I certainly would have him in the starting XV every time profitius. We have so many injuries so it's hard to tell our starting team but im pretty sure a fit Henderson would always start 6 for Ulster. (Excluding Ferris)

I don't in the slightest agree right now McLaughlin is better than a fit Henderson, but I do like the idea of him being an impact sub.


I think McLaughlin is more experienced and is better at the subtle things. That will come to Henderson in time. Henderson is a world class athlete and will learn to use his abilities better as he gains more experience. I'd have Ruddock ahead of McLaughlin. They're similar type of players but Ruddock seems to have a bigger impact.


Schmidt will probably continue to rotate the team. There'll be injuries and knocks and I can't see him start the same backrow throughout the tournament.


Jordi Murphy could also be there or thereabouts esppecially if he gets a run of games for Leinster. He is another good all rounder who can play in multiple positions, which might give him an advantage over Ruddock and McLaughlin if it comes down to a bench spot.
 

Latest posts

Top