Tiglon wrote: ↑Mon Mar 25, 2024 11:56 pm
People talk about Borthwick bringing through young players and McKellar not.
It's really not that simple - when Borthwick was here there were a few really good youngsters emerging. Steward, JvP, O Chessum, Martin, Reffell, Heyes. 4 or 5 of those are now bordering on world class.
The current crop of youngsters just doesn't compare. Carnduff was very impressive when given the chance and I'd love to see more of him, but L Chessum, Ilione, Edwards etc are simply not there yet. Ok, most of us would like to see a bit more of Ilione too, but based on what we've seen he's not even close to pushing for that starting 7 jersey.
I do agree, and i do normally default to the position of the coaches see more of them then i do. However IMO there are 3 that we have seen glimpses of at first team level and have impressed, yet not being rewarded with further first team action. At that point, it is transcending from trusting the coaches, to asking questions.
The 3 for me are James Whitcombe, Emeka Illione and Archie Vanes. Whitcombe should have had the Joe Heyes treatment of regular 20-30 minute appearances off the bench each week from week 1 of the season. I like Van Wyk and i do think he gets a bad press from fans, but it's a 50/50 call between him and Whitcombe for me, and Whitcombe should get the nod more. Indeed at Quins before the shutdown, he came off the bench and instantly steadied the ship. He's not been rewarded that much since.
Illione again has impressed from his brief cameos. At Irish last season he won a crucial turnover at a crucial point in the game. Came off the bench at home to Quins and within 30 seconds had won a turnover penalty, did the same away in Paris too. I don't think he should be a regular per se, but if Tommy is injured or needs a rest, we should be using him more. I'd rather start a natural jackler like Tommy or Emeka and have Cracknell on the bench if the jackal is not a threat.
Vanes played well in Paris. I know he got three tries, but take that away and he had a decent game overall anyway. Again he has not been rewarded with much game time since. Indeed we have chosen to flog Montoya for over 75 minutes regularly, instead of trusting Vanes or FTT from the bench, which seems pointless to me.
For me, Whitcombe should be more of a first team regular than he is, with Emeka and Archie used more than they have been, even if I don't think they are regulars, they have been vastly underused.