Ok here's my 2 cents....
Never assume the 2nd's are any lesser violinists than the 1st's. What often happens is the 1st's get the pretty parts, the parts that look and sound hard but really are all for show. The 2nd violins, on the other hand, get the stuff that sounds easy but in reality is very difficult. I feel that the 2nd violins are a lot like basses....a lot of people take them for granted and don't realize how much they do and don't realize that if they weren't there the music wouldn't be half as beautiful.