Most Underrated Player

[RyotoTheDragon]

Kahn Fotualii

 

[ZeFrenchy]

Tom Carter. He is at the level of Anthony Fainga'a (probably better in defense) and Pat McCabe (better at center, McCabe wins in versatility), certainly deserved a spot in the 40 yet nobody ever mentions him.

edit: here's a piece on "why we love to hate Tom Carter": http://www.theroar.com.au/2011/03/09/the-tale-of-tom-carter-the-waratah-who-couldnt/ . I'd advise him to find an English (or Irish, Scottish, Italian, Fijian, or anything) grandmother and gtfoh. He will just never be rated in Oz.

 

[cyRil]

Tom Carter
Rob Horne
Sarel Pretorius

 

[LittleGuy]

Chauncey O'Toole, how he dosen't have an overseas contract shocks me. Glasgow gave up on him ridiculously early.

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Think everyone who has seen O'Toole recently really rates him - God knows I do!



Really rate Tom Carter as well

 

[OptimisticJock]

Chris Paterson. Would have been a Lion if he was from one of the other Home Unions

 

[Gavin]

Chris Paterson. Would have been a Lion if he was from one of the other Home Unions

Perhaps during the 2005 tour when Woodward was head coach; remember he was accused of being too reliant on English players who won the 2003 World Cup. In the 2009 tour Lee Byrne and Rob Kearney were the full-backs, and they were on better form than Paterson. Also Ian McGeechan was head coach.

But yes, he is very under-rated.

 

[Irishflanker]

David Wallace... the man has put in great performances for an often underperforming Irish team for years, and at 34/35 he's still going surprisingly strong.

 

[Logorrhea]

Nahhh Paterson is a big fish in a small pond. Would have struggled to get a cap in any of the other home nations if you ask me.

Amazing kicker .............. otherwise too small.

 

[Draggs]

Keegan Daniel. Very underrated backrower, both at openside and 8. I'd pick him over Burger or Stegmann based on current performances.
I'd also say Ashley Smith is underrated. He has been a consistent performer for the Dragons and unlucky not to be involved with the Welsh setup. His defence is reliable and moves his backline well. Also supposed to have been a good standoff before the switch to midfield.

 

[Larksea]

Anthony Boric & Bryn Evans.

I think Boric is arguably NZ's best lock, he's had some really badly timed injuries that have prevented him establishing himself in NZ's run on side. Though Honestly I'd take a fit Boric over Brad Thorn in the AB's starting 22.

 

[OnTheBall]

I think Gavin Duffy is quite underrated. Should have been given a go for Ireland during the 6 nations at fullback.

 

[JW.]

By the SH Nick Evans.

 

[staph.glorious]

I think Gavin Duffy is quite underrated. Should have been given a go for Ireland during the 6 nations at fullback.

How do you rate this?

(Cheap shot with an old clip, I'll admit it!)

I think Duffy has done well enough to earn the caps he has managed for himself so far. With the return of Kearney and Geordan Murphy on the horizon, and the likes of Fitzgerald and Earls having varying degrees of provincial experience in the 15 jersey, it would arguably not have benefited World Cup preparation to bring Gavin Duffy in for that Six Nations. Kidney invited the experiment upon his side, and even if the results were nowhere near marvelous, they were informative.

 

[OnTheBall]

How do you rate this?

(Cheap shot with an old clip, I'll admit it!)

I think Duffy has done well enough to earn the caps he has managed for himself so far. With the return of Kearney and Geordan Murphy on the horizon, and the likes of Fitzgerald and Earls having varying degrees of provincial experience in the 15 jersey, it would arguably not have benefited World Cup preparation to bring Gavin Duffy in for that Six Nations. Kidney invited the experiment upon his side, and even if the results were nowhere near marvelous, they were informative.

To be honest, I doubt that either Earls or Fitzgerald will play fullback at the world cup. Kearney/Murphy will be back in there in a heartbeat. Fitzgerald was woeful at fullback, coughing up territory and possession countless times. Confidence was a bit low in the team and I think that wins would have been more beneficial in the lead up to a world cup, instead of Fitzgerald showing us why he shouldn't be allowed near the 15 jersey for the foreseeable future.

I think that we would have beaten France at least with a solid fullback and that is what Duffy would have provided-solidity. That video really isn't fair on the guy. I've seen him play countless times and his defense is pretty good and his attack is better than he's given credit for. I don't know how informative Earls at fullback was for the England game either. Yes he played well, but he was hardly tested at all, unlike Fitzgerald who had to deal with bombs all day during the 6 nations.

 

[staph.glorious]

To be honest, I doubt that either Earls or Fitzgerald will play fullback at the world cup. Kearney/Murphy will be back in there in a heartbeat.

Yes, but injuries occur both during and between matches, so cover must be established. Selecting Duffy would have, at most, only put forward another specialist fullback who cannot compete with the best of Kearney and Murphy.

I think that we would have beaten France at least with a solid fullback

Why do you think that? Everyone bombed at one stage during that match. There were glimpses of potential throughout, but nothing quite clicked. Fullback wasn't the problem.

 

[OnTheBall]

Yes, but injuries occur both during and between matches, so cover must be established. Selecting Duffy would have, at most, only put forward another specialist fullback who cannot compete with the best of Kearney and Murphy.



Why do you think that? Everyone bombed at one stage during that match. There were glimpses of potential throughout, but nothing quite clicked. Fullback wasn't the problem.

Duffy may not compete with Kearney and murphy but if they were to get injured, I would rather Duffy, who regularly plays fullback be called up, rather than a player who is better on the wing and does not regularly play in that position to step in. That said, I would like jones to start in NZ but I think we all know that he won't. I would also happily have him ahead of Duffy, but I would not like Earls or Fitz to be ahead of Duffy in that pecking order.

It's been a while since I saw the France match, my feeling at the time was that with the exception of Fitzgerald and D'arcy, the team didn't play too badly. Fitzgerald seemed to hand the initiative right over to France on numerous occassions as he failed to do the basics right, costing Ireland valuable momentum, territory and possession and letting France creep back into the game when we had them under the cosh.

 

[staph.glorious]

It's been a while since I saw the France match, my feeling at the time was that with the exception of Fitzgerald and D'arcy, the team didn't play too badly. Fitzgerald seemed to hand the initiative right over to France on numerous occassions as he failed to do the basics right, costing Ireland valuable momentum, territory and possession and letting France creep back into the game when we had them under the cosh.

While D'Arcy and Fitzgerald had especially bad campaigns that Six Nations, in the Aviva Stadium that day the entire team played erratically. No one player could be made accountable. It was a frustrating spectacle.

 

[LittleGuy]

the Georgian prop Davit Kubriashvili, he keeps Carl Hayman out of the Toulon side yet people still respond "who?" when he's mentioned

he should be considered up with the likes of Nicolas Mas and Adam Jones as one of the best tightheads in the world

hopefully some of the members of this forum saw him play for the Barbarians and remembers that he was a beast at scrum time.

Totally agreed, in fact pretty much the entire Georgian forward pack is underated, they could cause some scary moments for Scotland, Romania and to a lesser extant Argentina at the RWC this year.

 

[OnTheBall]

While D'Arcy and Fitzgerald had especially bad campaigns that Six Nations, in the Aviva Stadium that day the entire team played erratically. No one player could be made accountable. It was a frustrating spectacle.

Fair comment but fullback can be quite an unforgiving position if you're not on your game and considering the tight nature of the match, it is just my opinion that solidity at the back would have tipped the scale in our favour on the day.