Myles, about your 4 players,

>I agree with you on Murphy and O'Connor. Dempsey and Gleeson are doing
>all the things they're good at, but doing them better for Leinster.
>Ditto Neil Best and, arguably, Bryn Cunningham for Ulster.

To be honest and I know you won't agree with me on this, but last
Saturday's game was precisely the style of game that Gleeson struggles
to impose any kind of physical presence. It has been in similar games
against juggernaut packs that he has gone AWOL. I believe he would have
been a welcome addition against the Scots but I would seriously have
doubted if he could have made an impact last Saturday.


>On Mal, I didn't see him do anything wrong before Borthwick's try, and
>it's worth noting that O'Callaghan's first action on replacing him was
>to throw a punch at White that, had it been seen, could have earned
>him a red card, and should at least have been a yellow. I'd maybe have
>O'Driscoll starting ahead of both of them. He'd add some leadership to
>the team, too.

Donal, whatever happened to Mal had him out on his feet shortly after
halftime, it wasn't that he did anything wrong, more that he seemed
incapable of doing anything at all. Perhaps he copped a couple of digs
from English forwards, either way the shepherds hook was long overdue.


>On Easterby, I thought he was very good. His 1st 2 actions in the game
>were to catch English players behind the gainline at the fringes; I
>think he got a turnover off Ellis off one of them. To say he "nearly
>cost us the game" for having the misfortunre to be standing near
>Dawson when he tapped a penalty is even harsher than the yellow card
>he got for his troubles.

Fair comment.......With Easterby I was more referring to the fact that
during the AI and the 6N he has been anonymous for much of the time. The
game on Saturday presented him with ample opportunity to show his
strengths. I still believe however that he is a detriment to a more
expansive game and is contributing to the imbalance in the back row. He
could still be a solid bench option though, he has the versatility. BTW
I agree totally wrt the yellow card.
On a different topic, someone mentioned here that Darcy didn't get the
credit he deserved, I tend to agree, he made some lovely half-breaks,
got across the gain line several times and tackled very well.

Myles






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