Luck of the draw finally comes good for Kidney

OVER the years on his many European odysseys with Munster, Declan Kidney never had any great fortune when it came to the Heineken Cup draws, particularly at the semi final stage.

While he will be reluctant to admit it, the allocation of pools for the World Cup in New Zealand in 2011 has been kind to Ireland. Let’s face it, it could have been far worse.

In 2003 and 2007 Eddie O Sullivan had to negotiate a win over either the host nation (Australia and France respectively) or Argentina to progress to the quarter final. We all know what happened. In three years time a win over Italy should be sufficient for Ireland to advance to the quarter final on the assumption that the minnows, in this case likely to be two from Romania, Georgia and USA, will be accounted for.