Dan Cole !!

[LooseHeadProp87]

Was speaking with the ref after my game yesterday he was a tigers and england fan and does not rate Dan Cole one bit we both agreed he has struggled this season and will be exposed in the scrum against oppo looseheads in the 6 nations domingo , healy especially!! anyone think England nee to look into another option at TH ?

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Please name me any other viable option we have, taking Dave Wilson's injury into account.

 

[LooseHeadProp87]

at the moment no one which is quite worrying. i did read somewhere when fit maybe having alex corbs move back over to tighthead

 

[Peat]

Leicester need to look at a second option and stop ******* playing him into the ground like a bunch of nobs. He has looked nowhere near his peak since they stopped trusting Castro to do a job. When not taking on possibly the most physically demanding workload in pro rugby he might start looking like he should again.

I'd agree that right now his form is nothing to shout about but he should still do a job, and if he doesn't, then tough **** as there's no one else.

 

[LooseHeadProp87]

i do agree he has been played into the ground. how has henry thomas looked this season

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Terrible.

 

[LooseHeadProp87]

anyone else performing well at tighthead this season ?? i would of liked to have seen matt stevens maybe asked back for the 6 nations and possibly the world cup.. i no a lot of people wont agree but he has performed well this season he could of been good coming off the bench.

 

[psychic duck]

Leicester need to look at a second option and stop ******* playing him into the ground like a bunch of nobs. He has looked nowhere near his peak since they stopped trusting Castro to do a job. When not taking on possibly the most physically demanding workload in pro rugby he might start looking like he should again.

I'd agree that right now his form is nothing to shout about but he should still do a job, and if he doesn't, then tough **** as there's no one else.

It's not Cole's fault that the depth beyond the first choice at prop has decreased at Leicester of late. Ulster brought on a fresh Tom Court against them recently whilst the Leicester props were tiring. Leicester were spoilt in the tighthead department before when they had Castro, Cole and White, looks much thinner now beyond Ayerza and Cole.

 

[Patchey]

Got to agree with Peat and Duck here, the main issue isn't Cole himself but Leicester's lack of depth at TH. He's playing a lot of rugby in a very physically demanding position and the strain is showing. In an ideal world England could start Wilson for a few games and give Cole a bit of a rest. Of course with Wilson crocked there's no hope for that and Dan will have to keep wearing himself down.

 

[j'nuh]

Leicester need to look at a second option and stop ******* playing him into the ground like a bunch of nobs.

To be honest, I don't blame Leicester at all. I blame the entire rugby setup.

Leicester will argue that they are paying Cole's salary - which will be a lot, perhaps more than anyone else in the squad - so why should it be their responsibility to rest Cole in their own time on top of the time they are already losing to the international period? You're effectively paying the full salary of someone who isn't going to be there for significant parts of the season.

The current system isn't sustainable. A good central contracting system which works for club and country has to be implemented. RFU should take on the contracts and loan the players back out to the clubs with full disclosure of how long the international will be missing each season. The clubs only have to pay for the portion of the season that they have access to the international, and since this will be less than the full amount, they will save room on the salary cap to bring in adequate cover. The international gets more rest. Everyone wins.

IRB should also introduce a maximum number of games per season. This will cause a lot of club-country headaches in terms of how many games a player should play at each level to make up the maximum, and also what happens if a team unexpectedly reaches a knockout stage, but they aren't insurmountable problems, and it will be worth it for player welfare.

 

[ratsapprentice]

There are two issues at hand here.

1: English fans/media always overrate our first choice players - we assume that because they start for us they must be close to the best in the world. Therefore his quality has been exaggerated by some - who now expect him to be phenomenal at every facet of the game. His ball carrying is average bordering on poor (not helped by fatigue) and his scrummaging has never been dominant on the international stage that I can remember.

2: Leicester and England have both absolutely smashed him. Both are guilty of making him play too much.

 

[LooseHeadProp87]

but who would you guys have at tighthead with wilson out injured. say if he picks up a injury who would you go with there ??

 

[McTallshort]

There are two issues at hand here.

1: English fans/media always overrate our first choice players - we assume that because they start for us they must be close to the best in the world. Therefore his quality has been exaggerated by some - who now expect him to be phenomenal at every facet of the game. His ball carrying is average bordering on poor (not helped by fatigue) and his scrummaging has never been dominant on the international stage that I can remember.



2: Leicester and England have both absolutely smashed him. Both are guilty of making him play too much.

Thats all fans not just English ones. He is good at the breakdown....

Very very true! but as someone pointed both Leicester and England are short of TH and a TH is one of the best paid players in a team

 

[Patchey]

but who would you guys have at tighthead with wilson out injured. say if he picks up a injury who would you go with there ??

I guess Thomas? I mean I can't think of anyone else off the top of my head. Doesn't say much for our depth that the third in line is, essentially, a prop who can't scrummage.

 

[ratsapprentice]

English fans do it more in my experience, simply because a lot of English fans don't watch very much rugby other than Premiership rugby.

I didn't say he wasn't good at the breakdown... not sure what your point is?

England haven't been short of a TH when Wilson has been fit, and Wilson has arguably been just as good as Cole for over a year playing him for 5 minutes at the end of a game is just silly.

 

[LooseHeadProp87]

patchey its very worrying dont you think. thats what brought me back to matt stevens plays well at tighthead and can cover at loosehead

 

[LeinsterMan (NotTigsMan)]

I think because Leicester have had so many tight tough games it been a hard call to take him of as he is one of our most stable players.

With Logo, and a whole raft of injuries you need experienced players on the pitch and he makes the call of keeping Cole on. It a very tough call.

Cockers has said in a Q&A that he got It wrong with getting Schuster in, and he wants to really protect he younger props, Balmain is only 22 I believe that if Schuster had come good as a prop Balmain was going to be loaned to a championship side, guess that were Logo would have been doing.

 

[LeinsterMan (NotTigsMan)]

I think because Leicester have had so many tight tough games it been a hard call to take him of as he is one of our most stable players.

With Logo, and a whole raft of injuries you need experienced players on the pitch and he makes the call of keeping Cole on. It a very tough call.

Cockers has said in a Q&A that he got It wrong with getting Schuster in, and he wants to really protect he younger props, Balmain is only 22 I believe that if Schuster had come good as a prop Balmain was going to be loaned to a championship side, guess that were Logo would have been doing.

 

[TRF_Olyy]

patchey its very worrying dont you think. thats what brought me back to matt stevens plays well at tighthead and can cover at loosehead

I disagree - Stevens has terrible workrate and is a penalty machine. He can do well in a strong Sarries pack, but was dreadful for England before he retired from international rugby (which he did a couple of years back).

 

[McTallshort]

English fans do it more in my experience, simply because a lot of English fans don't watch very much rugby other than Premiership rugby.

I didn't say he wasn't good at the breakdown... not sure what your point is?

England haven't been short of a TH when Wilson has been fit, and Wilson has arguably been just as good as Cole for over a year playing him for 5 minutes at the end of a game is just silly.

You know what rats lets just leave each others posts alone and not comment.