Is Rory Best all that?

[archie]

What are peoples views or Rory Best. He seems to have gone backwards this season in my view. Only decent game I have seen him have was for Ireland against Scotland.

[King Ding]

at the start of the season and until christmas he was brilliant, really lead the team and put in a performance almost every week when many others didn't, i thought at that stage he was a definite for the lions. his form has dropped abit post christmas imo and i would say his lions chances may be gone with not starting ahead of flannery in the 6N. He played well in the harlequins game at ravenhill, was all over the place and of course scored the try in that game.

[fuzzylogic]

Yeh, good player but not great, peaked far too early in the season and paid the price with his Ireland and Lions chances!

[Ithryn]

Fastest Hooker ever, puts wingers to shame.

Seems a bit knackered post 6nations, but he's by far the undisputed choice as captain for the foreseeable future.

[cables]

There are many things that Rory does well.

The ability of the team to make the correct decision at a crucial point in our last game was highlighted by MW at the recent URSC event. Basically he believed wrong decisions were made at a time when we were in the lead and with only minutes to go.

In this at least I believe he is correct.
Who had the responsibility to lead the team and ensure they knew how we should have played out the game?

Note there are NO stirring smilies in this post.

[Lisburnsooty]

"many things he does well"

Some he doesn't - ie throw straight

[Ithryn]

Agreed RRH, what is it with the recent trend to start threads questioning our players.

Rory is one of the hardest working and loyal Ulster players we have, a player in lions contention, and yet people still like to have a wee whinge.

[darkside lightside]

best is a class hooker, one of the best in the NH, never mind in Ireland. His throwing hasn't been that hot recently, although I think our lineout problems are down to a bit more than throwing. An interesting thing is that he's one of those players who is rated more highly by coaches and fellow players (who without exception sing his praises) than by armchair experts who don't see half of the work he does..

[Shan]

I'm surprised to see this thread to be honest.I agree with RHH.He cannot have gone from being a very good player to an average one in a few weeks.For me his only real issue as a hooker is his throwing.The real problem is that I'm not convinced he is a captain.He doesn't appear to be vocal or forceful enough for the role.I would much prefer to see somebody else take over this mantle and leave Best to do what he is good at.

[Windeos]

silly thread, were lucky to have such a talented player who people forget is still young in terms of normal front rowers

[colinh]

In fairness to wee Rory when the throwing has been off it has been the same for either Jerry Flannery or Nigel Brady which suggests it is not all his fault. His work around the pitch is unquestionable especially in recent games. Have to agree though there are times when the decision making has not been great but it is easy to criticse from our lofty ivory towers. His leadership is up there with them as let us not forget Rory is one of the leaders in the Irish team as identified by Declan Kidney. We are blessed to have two great hookers in Flannery and Best.

[ColinM]

Is Rory Best all that?

Yes. I cant think of another hooker I'd rather see in white.

[Neil F]

I'm basically in agreement with RHH and those who agree with RHH. Rory plays in a technical position and had been away from Ulster for two months with Ireland, comes back and is suddenly nothing more than an average player... Load of crap. Beyond some potential fatigue, which is unsurprising given the way he's played for much of this season, I've seen no significant drop in form. Some of his lineout throws have been dodgy but so have some of the calls.

A few losses on the bounce and suddenly anyone becomes a target. That's pretty lame. In terms of pointlessness, this is up there with those who were calling for Matt Williams' head earlier in this season.

[scrum5]

Would imagine that 99.9% of Ulster Rugby fans have no doubts about Rory's play and commitment, and frankly the other .1% opinion is irrelevant, though Rory could do with a bit more help with more leaders in the team, still believe that him and Fla should both be on the plane to SA

[ding dong2u]

Bloody stupid thread He's one of the first names on an Ulster team sheet and rightly so and anyone who questions that knows feck all about the game. His captaincy is a different matter altogether but no-one works harder on the pitch than Rory.