nah, he works well at lock and should stay there, the fact he has aspects of his game that are flanker-like (much of the good stuff is making a nuisance at the breakdown ala 7 style from what I've seen) is just an extra bonus.Mellsblue wrote:It could be that playing 6 for Eng and lock of Sarries makes him the best forward in the world. There's also a fair few examples of top players playing slightly out of position. Pocock isn't an 8 but he's played a World Cup final in that position, Carter isn't a 12 but he started his international career there, Bergamasco isn't a 9 but he...ah, no, ignore that last one. If you didn't know of him and you watched the way Itoje plays around the park for both Eng and Sarries it would be difficult to know that he is named on the teamsheet as a lock and not a flanker.Puja wrote:I think if he were to choose to specialise at it, it wouldn't necessarily be out of his reach. But his preferred position is lock and that's where his club choose to play him. At the moment, he's a square peg that wants to go in a square hole. We could convert him, but why?Peat wrote:
Why do you think being the best 6 in the world isn't in his reach also?
I'm also very wary of deciding young players' positions based on where the national team is currently short. It's not so long ago that people wanted Croft to play lock because that was where England was short. Even less time ago that people questioned my desire for [redacted] to play 8 because there was the insuperable duo of Bill and Ben there. Form dips, young players coming through, injuries - they can all change the picture very quickly.
Puja
Puja
Rather work on aspects of his game that are under used at the moment, ball carrying in open play, linking & off load passing since he's pretty mobile once he's moving and his height would make him a right pain in the arse to defend against with a flying back on either shoulder