Kidney stays loyal to the players he trusts

Declan Kidney has often been criticised for being too conservative, but at least there’s plenty back-up if things aren’t working out.

Preparation is always most difficult for your first Six Nations match. Provincial players come off club duty to combine in a short two weeks and have to produce a cohesive performance under pressure. The coaches will quickly focus in on the expected starting 15 and run them in the majority of plays. The remainder will spend a lot of time in opposition.

There can be no doubt that Keith Earls’ late withdrawal for personal reasons will have thrown the Irish team’s preparations and Fergus McFadden’s in particular.

Added to this, the Six Nations in the aftermath of a World Cup campaign can be a difficult prospect. The highlight of the international cycle has already been completed and world status has been decided. The northern hemisphere battle is an epilogue in a cluttered international calendar.

The championship is a chance for redemption. It is a second chance for glory in an international season following a competition where none of the Six Nations’ teams could truly feel satisfied with their performance.

The French were one point away from shocking the host nation and snatching the Webb Ellis from New Zealand. But two losses in their pool, one to Tonga, and a player revolt against their erratic coach Marc Lievremont soured their tournament. The Italians were brave but ineffective. Scotland failed to advance beyond their group and England failed to make it out of the tabloids.

The Welsh feel rightly aggrieved that their tournament was effectively ended by the application of law that deemed a tackle to be dangerous when in that specific situation, it quite clearly wasn’t. Sometimes the law is an ass. And the Irish team and management were outfoxed in the quarter-final by Wales and Warren Gatland. Every nation has a reason for seeking redemption.

Tomorrow, Ireland get their shot at exorcising their World Cup demons in the Aviva Stadium. Declan Kidney has picked 12 of the team that started in that infamous quarter-final. Brian O’Driscoll is on the long term injury list and Ronan O’Gara loses the coin toss this week while Earls was a late withdrawal yesterday. Kidney’s selection has been criticised for being conservative but it’s his style to stay loyal to a group of players he trusts.

The Irish coach is rarely provoked into knee-jerk reactions by the urging of supporters or journalists but he does have the handy knack of making one or two changes that can be the impetus for resurgence in team morale and performance.

In 2006, Kidney guided Munster to their first European Cup. But the season could hardly be described as plain sailing. Below par performances in the double-header against Newport Gwent Dragons and a New Year’s Eve humiliating defeat by Leinster left the Munster season and morale in tatters. Kidney didn’t make sweeping changes. But he did introduce two young talents in Barry Murphy and Ian Dowling. The season changed. The younger players reinvigorated the team and challenged the older, established players to raise their performance.

While Kidney hasn’t injected any new blood into his starting 15 (apart from the enforced selection of McFadden), he did pack his training squad with some young guns. Rhys Ruddock, Eoin O’Malley, Denis Hurley and Simon Zebo will all have been eager to make a point in training this week. While none of them had any realistic chance of making the match day squad, they will have made their mark. When you’re first called into an Irish training squad, you treat it like you’ve been selected for your first cap. I couldn’t sleep the night before my first Irish training session. The next morning I went out full of nerves, flying into every tackle and racing onto every pass. I was pretty pleased with myself. Later that evening when I stood next to Warren Gatland at the buffet I thought I might have merited recognition for my efforts from the Irish coach. All he could say was ‘there’s more chicken coming’.

It’s pretty obvious that Peter O’Mahony has impressed far more in his first Irish squad session. The Munster pack has been led this season by his abrasive and confrontational style. He carries the ball aggressively and tackles ferociously. He is the archetypal Munster back-row, comfortable playing at six, seven or eight and he relishes contact. There can be no doubt that O’Mahony bruised a few egos in Irish camp this week and the Irish pack can only benefit from that.

O’Mahony may not be sprung from the bench this weekend but it is evident to the Irish forwards that he is waiting for his chance. David Kearney, Donnacha Ryan and Sean Cronin are also ready. Kidney has been commendably loyal to this group of starting Irish players, but if they don’t perform tomorrow he will make changes. Heaslip, D’Arcy, Best and O’Callaghan know that their understudies are desperate for their chance. Nobody on the starting 15 can feel assured of their place when there is such quality waiting in the extended squad. The Irish players may be seeking redemption, but if they can’t shake off the World Cup hangover in this championship, then Declan has other bodies to step up to the mark.