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#Post#: 85374--------------------------------------------------
Re: March Left Out
DIR By: DOK
Date: February 24, 2022, 1:10 pm
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--- Quote from: Mr_B link ---
>
> God Carling at FH was a dreadful experiment, I still have
visuals of his penalty kick in front of the posts that hit the
corner flag :-)
>
--- End Quote ---
To be fair, weren't we waiting for Thierry Lacroix to be our fly
half, and for some reason he couldnt make the start of the
season? The team was asked if anyone fancied stepping up, and
Carling said he would if no-one else wanted it. It wasn't "an
experiment" as such, just someone doing what needed to be done,
however ill equipped he was for it. (and yes, I remember the
banana kicks).
#Post#: 85375--------------------------------------------------
Re: March Left Out
DIR By: FatQuin
Date: February 24, 2022, 1:44 pm
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That one in front of the posts that went under the crossbar was
exceptional.
#Post#: 85376--------------------------------------------------
Re: March Left Out
DIR By: J Scott
Date: February 24, 2022, 1:54 pm
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Well he’s back in now so kinda ends this debate.
#Post#: 85383--------------------------------------------------
Re: March Left Out
DIR By: JammyGit
Date: February 24, 2022, 2:17 pm
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--- Quote from: Yareet link ---
>
> So what does he have to do be classed as a winger?
>
> He’s convinced three coaches. Even you’ve said he’s a decent
winger. Is it possible that he’s a wing/centre rather than a
centre?
>
> Players can be proficient at more than one position.
>
--- End Quote ---
He's not convinced three coaches. One shoehorned him in at the
wing in order to get him on the pitch and accomodate an All
Black in the position they wanted a crack at. Another has picked
him on the wing at times when it's useful and also to help
further Marchant's international prospects. And Eddie is Eddie,
addicted to "multi-positional" players almost to a fault.
Daly isn't a fullback, but he's played fullback a lot more than
Marchant. All things considered, Marchant is a guy who's played
13 almost his entire pro career and who is quick enough, defends
well enough, and has a good enough all-round game to make a good
go at playing on the wing. He played 13 against Italy and he's
been called up again now that Manu's injury (a centre). He's a
13 who can play wing!
If the choice is a straight one between picking him at 13 or on
the wing when there's equally good options to fit in in either
position, he'd play 13 at Quins with a proper winger outside
him. Because it's his best position :-)
#Post#: 85386--------------------------------------------------
Re: March Left Out
DIR By: poorfour
Date: February 24, 2022, 2:47 pm
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--- Quote from: JammyGit link ---
>
> He's not convinced three coaches. One shoehorned him in at the
wing in order to get him on the pitch and accomodate an All
Black in the position they wanted a crack at. Another has picked
him on the wing at times when it's useful and also to help
further Marchant's international prospects. And Eddie is Eddie,
addicted to "multi-positional" players almost to a fault.
>
--- End Quote ---
And yet they all had "proper" wingers who they left out of the
team to include Marchant. It's not as if they didn't have other
options, or (I assume) that Joe had compromising pictures of all
of them.
The bottom line is that these coaches wanted something different
from their wingers than you do, and were prepared to trade off a
bit of speed to get the additional rugby nous that Marchant
brings. Though to be fair, his best performance for England was
probably against the Boks, when he ended up as a centre again.
#Post#: 85389--------------------------------------------------
Re: March Left Out
DIR By: Quinston Churchill
Date: February 24, 2022, 3:00 pm
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Manu out, Marchant recalled.
#Post#: 85391--------------------------------------------------
Re: March Left Out
DIR By: Bolly-Quin
Date: February 24, 2022, 4:17 pm
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--- Quote from: JammyGit link ---
>
> Nah. You can play as a winger without being a winger.
Marchant's a 13 making a decent fist of playing wing. Ugo was a
winger playing fullback for a while.
>
--- End Quote ---
Age 16, I was drafted in to the First XV to play Bryanston -
1979/80: I was a flanker and they put me on the wing as both our
wingers had pulled out. I had to mark and play doormat to David
Trick, who had already started to play for Bath by then and
England U16/19s - it was my Lomu moment (receiving end)...
#Post#: 85392--------------------------------------------------
Re: March Left Out
DIR By: Monte
Date: February 24, 2022, 4:25 pm
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--- Quote from: Quinston Churchill link ---
>
> Manu out, Marchant recalled.
>
--- End Quote ---
Didn’t last long. I do feel sorry for him but it is a bit of a
joke.
#Post#: 85394--------------------------------------------------
Re: March Left Out
DIR By: Guildford Quin
Date: February 24, 2022, 4:47 pm
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So Eddie who are you going to select at 13 now ? The Slade/Daly
combination didn't work well and Marcus will be more comfortable
with Marchant at 13. Both Daly & Marchant can cover Centre &
Wing off the bench. Await revised selection with interest
#Post#: 85395--------------------------------------------------
Re: March Left Out
DIR By: JammyGit
Date: February 24, 2022, 5:51 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
--- Quote from: poorfour link ---
>
> And yet they all had "proper" wingers who they left out of the
team to include Marchant. It's not as if they didn't have other
options, or (I assume) that Joe had compromising pictures of all
of them.
>
> The bottom line is that these coaches wanted something
different from their wingers than you do, and were prepared to
trade off a bit of speed to get the additional rugby nous that
Marchant brings. Though to be fair, his best performance for
England was probably against the Boks, when he ended up as a
centre again.
>
--- End Quote ---
It's got nothing to do with what I want from a winger.
For the Blues, they wanted to play Marchant and so found a space
for him, because he'd been playing well and they thought he was
good enough to have a crack at it. He is a quality player who
was forced to move out wide but was in contention with a
sub-international player on the wing at the time, vs a
highly-rated All Black trying to get game time at 13.
For Quins, it was a combination of giving him the extra string
to his bow for England selection, and to increase options in the
squad / get Northmore onto the pitch more often (after all, we
tried it the other way around as well - Marchant at 13,
Northmore on the wing). No club would shoehorn a player into one
position if it hurt their international ambitions, and it
benefited the club a great deal as well for obvious reasons.
For England, Eddie loves the flexibility of having someone who
can play multiple positions and doesn't care whether they're
actually a wing or a centre or a fullback or what. Hence
Lawrence being shoehorned in at 12 despite better specialist
options. Daly being shoehorned in at 15 despite better
specialist options. Curry being shoehorned in at 8 despite
better specialist options. Marchant being shoehorned in at 14
despite better specialist options.
None of this makes Joe a winger. His career makes him a centre.
His strongest position is centre. His experience is at centre.
His skillset is that of a centre. He hasn't been tearing it up
on the wing for club or country, and he's made his name as a
centre. I'm very happy whenever I see his name on the team sheet
no matter the position, but his forays as a winger don't make
him any less a centre playing on the wing.
If he plays there primarily for the next year or so, I'll
happily revisit this!
I think the closest example we have to this that you may or may
not remember is that of career Kiwi centre Richard Kahui, who
was a high class, high quality 13 in Super Rugby who played most
of his All Blacks career on the wing, including a starring role
in the 2011 World Cup. He was a centre playing wing - they put
him there because they trusted his skillset and he was an
ultra-reliable player with all-round skills who could be trusted
to do a good job in all circumstances, and his versatility
helped so much to balance the match-day squad. Those matches on
the wing represent a huge percentage of his professional
appearances as a winger; he made a great job of what he was
asked to do and it's quite likely he would've missed out on that
world cup squad if he'd "only" been a 13. He was a cracking
player, but he was no Conrad Smith; of the two of them, he had
the game that could survive on the wing. As an outright winger,
he probably wasn't quite as good as most of the options in the
squad, but there wasn't a lot in it and they couldn't cover
centre like he could. It's what they needed, and it worked.
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