Potential for post-O'Driscoll stress

Got into a really interesting debate on Minty's channel the other day about the issue of centre and the 'heir apparent' issue, which is probably at the back of everyone's mind these days, so I thought I'd run through the options and see what the story is...

Point the first: Fergus McFadden is currently slotting in for Leinster in the famed 13 jersey and doing a fine job. But he isn't a true outside centre, and while I appreciate the mans ability to fill a void, there's a real debate to be had here: do we want to employ a talented back as our new 13, or do we want a true outside centre!

Firstly, I think Ferg has earned this chance. He has toiled in the background long enough to be given a shot now that the holy one is on a leave of absence. But McFadden is very much an inside centre. It's all in the way he takes the ball up with venom, he's like a racehorse pulling at the reigns. He's a superb athlete, his pace makes him electric on the break, and he's improving upon his peripheral ability to pass all the time. But he's just not gifted with that special 'footballing' brain that is required here, and so we keep looking. He's one of many within the current Ireland squad who could be ear-marked for this spot and, given the number of talented three-quarter's knocking about, it would seem plausible to push one into the centre. The obvious choices are McFadden, Fitzgerald, Bowe and Earls, with the latter seeming to be the managements particular choice, considering how they've selected him before. This could well be the wrong approach.

If we look at the international scene apart from the club scene we can see that there is very much a need for natural specialists in certain positions, going beyond the obvious specialist Hookers and Half-Backs. Specifically, I mean the Openside Flanker and the Outside Centre. The former is for another day (or just consult George Hook!) but let's take the international 13's for a second. Conrad Smith, Jacques Fourie, Adam Ashley-Cooper and Aurelien Rougerie are all ever present in their respective teams and the reason is quite simply that 13 is a hard position to play, particularly from a defensive point of view. Of these four, the former pair are out and out 13's and the other two are converts from the wing. Smith is a natural like BOD, and Fourie ticks all the boxes. Rougerie has done a fine job since being moved there without ever being sensational and Australia made the mistake of shifting AAC back to the wing during the WC when he had clearly spent the last couple of years mastering the position and making it his own. The point is, it's a bloody hard position to fill. Rougerie is fine and for me AAC is the anomaly (possibly should've been a 13 earlier) but when you start going beyond this group I think things get messy, with national coaches being forced to pick wings or just normal centres to do a job, a la Rougerie. Take Wales, who are currently playing two 12's in the shape of Roberts and Davies. What I'm trying to get at is that a long-term project is needed for Ireland and that genuine 13's should be considered before we start throwing backs at the position to see what sticks. And, believe it or not, we are fortunate to have some fine centres coming through...

Eoin O'Malley

At Leinster there's Eoin O'Malley, who played outside McFadden away at Clermont last season and was magnificent! He has jinking feet and appears rock-solid in defense despite his short stature. Right in the mold of D'Arcy and O'Driscoll then. Hopefully we'll get to see more of him in the absence of the great one.

Munster have unearthed a fine centre in the shape of Danny Barnes, who again is solid and runs hard and straight. Munsters failure to sign a marquee centre from abroad may yet reap huge benefits for this young man.

Eoin Griffin

At Ulster last season we saw the advent of Nevin Spence who's probably the most physically abrasive of the lot, but he's probably gonna be a 12 in the long run. Darren Cave is still only 24 and is a genuine outside centre with vision and poise and could yet prove himself in the Heineken cup cauldron.

At Connacht we have young Eoin Griffin who is improving with every game and is beginning to show himself a real breaking threat.




 I joked the other day that we should just get all these lads into a room and find out who is the most intelligent of the lot; it may well come down to the that in the long run. In any case, I just hope that the right candidate gets his chance and that we don't waste years trying to shunt someone like Keith Earls into the position if he really isn't suitted to the task. Here's hopin'.

P.S. Check out those like minded souls at Whiff of Cordite, far more erudite than I could ever hope to be!
http://whiffofcordite.blogspot.com/