Stu M wrote:
You'd have Havard, Cooper (providing he recovers well) Bryne, Hill, Chan and maybe Ellis? Not many teams run with more than 4 props plus Walters could probably cover there too
I was thinking about this the other day and, although my gut says we're a little light in terms of experience, we have a lot in terms of numbers to keep happy. Havard, Ellis and Byrne would all expect to be starting 17 and I'm sure neither Walters or Chan have signed to play 2nd fiddle. Hill absolutely must be around the starting 17 too. He is showing so much potential for a prop of his years it would be criminal to lose him because he wasn't getting the game time. I think we can spell Cooper both to ease him back in and because of his age but that still leaves us fitting 6 plus Cooper (and Walters if he's intended for the front row) into 4 places and that's before we get to the Academy. There are a couple there looking like they're ready to push for squad places next year.
I can see the logic of saying that's enough and looking for those players to develop over the coming years. Most of the young players are now on long contracts after all so we need to back them. It's paid dividends with Havard who I think has the potential to be the best front rower in the competition. He's ridiculously young to be putting in the numbers he does.
