JG certainly got it wrong and both Johnno and Cockers got just about it right. Although youngsters are maturing earlier and earlier, we pay these coaches a lot of money to choose the right moment and right game to bring them into the 1st team and I for one think they got it right.
A good young SH does not need to be brought into a game when the forwards are likely to be going backwards for some of the game and spending his 1st game being clattered all game. He does need at some stage to learn the skill of his position when things are not going well but learning should be a gradual thing - how much did Toby learn from his apprenticeship with JW and are England not getting the benefit from that now.
Last comments about JG - which team has he coached and selected at senior level - to my knowledge - none.
Which young players has he developed and brought into the team at the right time - to my knowledge - none.
enuff said!!!!
Guscott thinks jhonno made selection mistake.
Moderators: Tigerbeat, Rizzo, Tigers Press Office, Tigers Webmaster
Re: Guscott thinks jhonno made selection mistake.
Hehehehehehehehe
Re: Guscott thinks jhonno made selection mistake.
Utter rubbish....his distribution was so poor in the away heineken cup game less than a year ago it lost us the game to Ospreys....he was not ready then!!! He is fantastic now and in my opinion they bought him in very well. 
Re: Guscott thinks jhonno made selection mistake.
seems to me some people have short memories...
Ben Youngs made his debut for Tigers in 2007.
At the start of least season most on here, were of the view that if Ellis was fit Youngs would be doing well to be the no.1 SH at Tigers.
Over the last year he's taken the opportunities available and shown himself to be as good as many of us hoped he could be.
IMHO the tigers coaching staff deserve a lot of credit for they way they've handled the situation and while Johnno maybe could have picked him sooner, at least not doing so avoided a repeat of the problems we had with TV after his premature england selection.
Ben Youngs made his debut for Tigers in 2007.
At the start of least season most on here, were of the view that if Ellis was fit Youngs would be doing well to be the no.1 SH at Tigers.
Over the last year he's taken the opportunities available and shown himself to be as good as many of us hoped he could be.
IMHO the tigers coaching staff deserve a lot of credit for they way they've handled the situation and while Johnno maybe could have picked him sooner, at least not doing so avoided a repeat of the problems we had with TV after his premature england selection.
Re: Guscott thinks jhonno made selection mistake.
Exactly why hes a pundit and not England coachkingol22 wrote:According to his bbc q and a column martin took too long to pick ben youngs and should have been playing him 12 months ago. Obviously he forgot that youngs was not even in the tigers first team 12 months ago. Isnt it time the BBC got some new pundits that had an idea about what there on about?
Re: Guscott thinks jhonno made selection mistake.
I note we have a selection headache at hooker (especially as Chuter is not getting any younger!).
First of all I must state I was a back so I have very little knowledge of the dark arts of the forwards - they were just the fat guys that gave me the ball! Tigers do have a wealth of front row talent, albeit at prop rather than hooker. What does a hooker have to be able to do that a prop can't (aside from throw the ball in which I am sure you can learn fairly quick)? What's to stop Tigers fielding a front row of Cole, Castro and Ayerza? These guys are all excellent in the loose, so we wouldn't suffer there, and you would think that come scrum time you could have Tinky-Winky and Laa-Laa playing in the second row and we would still destroy any other scrum.
I am sure there is a very genuine reason why this can't be done but just seems a shame to have such talent out of the starting team when there is a weakness at hooker. I think Smit use to operate between hooker and prop and if we can convert a centre in Tom Youngs then surely this shouldn't be too much of a stretch
First of all I must state I was a back so I have very little knowledge of the dark arts of the forwards - they were just the fat guys that gave me the ball! Tigers do have a wealth of front row talent, albeit at prop rather than hooker. What does a hooker have to be able to do that a prop can't (aside from throw the ball in which I am sure you can learn fairly quick)? What's to stop Tigers fielding a front row of Cole, Castro and Ayerza? These guys are all excellent in the loose, so we wouldn't suffer there, and you would think that come scrum time you could have Tinky-Winky and Laa-Laa playing in the second row and we would still destroy any other scrum.
I am sure there is a very genuine reason why this can't be done but just seems a shame to have such talent out of the starting team when there is a weakness at hooker. I think Smit use to operate between hooker and prop and if we can convert a centre in Tom Youngs then surely this shouldn't be too much of a stretch