Brendon O'connor

[SirGordonRamsey]

I think Will Evans has been criminally underused too. You read a lot of nonsense about him being underpowered but no matter who he plays against he always averages about 15 tackles,2 turnovers and averages 5m on the carry,its our pathetic front 5 carrying stats that are making us play an unbalanced back row!

Erm... Ellis genge i the front 5, so is Tyoungs and DC who is in sme suprising form. Its been the second row the the lack of go forward... glad Fitzgerald is back

[Scott11]

Bar Genge they dont make many metres at all. TY has one bowling ball run per game nowadays but always averages between 1-2 metres and Cole doesnt even average 0.5m,sometimes worse! Check ESPN match stats,very detailed mate.

[G.K]

Bar Genge they dont make many metres at all. TY has one bowling ball run per game nowadays but always averages between 1-2 metres and Cole doesnt even average 0.5m,sometimes worse! Check ESPN match stats,very detailed mate.

You got a link to those ESPN stats? I always struggle to find them for some reason.

[maroontrunks]

Don't really agree with the idea that his style of play is somehow out of favour. He's a player that's consistently underrated by Tigers fans, I think because his intelligent style of play isn't as flash as some more well known back row players. His (and others) bad luck with injuries has meant that in general, Tigers hasn't had a consistent approach to back row play but I think he should be in the mix if he can get back to fitness as he has that breakdown nous that we completely lacked against Munster. BOC has great stats for turnovers and is also a highly effective link player. I don't think these needs are really going out of the game and the Irish teams clearly continue to place a big emphasis on them. That said, it all needs to be part of a balanced pack and our lack of grunt in the second row is clearly having a big effect on the composition of the back row. I'd like to see O'Connor with Hamilton or Mapa at 6 and Kalamafoni at 8 and see if we can get the right balance between carrying, tackling, clearouts and turnovers.

I agree with alot of this. I dont think you can back up your point about tigers fans underrating him.

All of the Irish teams operate with a heavier back row, like MOC is trying to play with now.

What other flashy back row players? Especially at Tigers...

I do like your idea about having him with Hamilton or and Sione. Drop kitchener and move Williams to 4.

To back up the underrated comment, I’ll refer you to the rumour thread where a number of voices are suggesting we move him on.
We don’t really have any flashy back row players it’s true though I think BOC is often compared to the likes of Underhill, Haskell etc who play quite aggressively but don’t seem to produce the same quantity of turnover ball. Thinking about balance across the pack, I suddenly remembered our victory at home against Stade Francais two seasons ago. While Stade barely showed up to the match, I do recall Mike Williams starting in the second row with Fitzgerald. Can’t remember who was at 6 and no doubt McCaffrey was at 8. We also did the double on a less than vintage Munster that season. I remember the forwards being very impressive in that match. Surely we have better resources now though. Perhaps Williams to 5 could be an option again, though not sure how the line out would function. The glaring problem is still our lack of a forwards coach and I hate to say it but I really think we need a different captain.

[maroontrunks]

Just looked it up and it wasn’t the Stade match when Williams and Fitzgerald started together at lock. There definitely was a match like that though early in the Mauger era, I swear!

[maroontrunks]

Oh forgot we played Stade again in the knockout stages. We did indeed play a pack of Ayerza Youngs Cole Fitzgerald Williams Croft O’Connor McCaffrey in the pool stage match!

[Tiger93]

I remember that one. The sheer aggression and breakdown ability of the second row allowed the back row to flourish and be more balanced: Line-out technician, ball carrier and breakdown operator. It was brilliant. Then again with Ayerza in the front row everything is easier.

[Scott11]

G.K i just do it game by game. Just search match followed by ESPN,heres the Munster one for exeample http://www.espn.co.uk/rugby/playerstats ... gue=271937

Cole 1 run for 1metre lol,Kitchener 3 for 0 metres,these are the norm!

[SirGordonRamsey]

Ill check out the ESPN match stats, cheers for the heads up.

[drc_007]

Bar Genge they dont make many metres at all. TY has one bowling ball run per game nowadays but always averages between 1-2 metres and Cole doesnt even average 0.5m,sometimes worse! Check ESPN match stats,very detailed mate.

You got a link to those ESPN stats? I always struggle to find them for some reason.

http://www.espn.co.uk/rugby/ look at fixtures/results and choose a particular game.