Are our priorities Bent out of shape?
The interim period may have produced a first Grand Slam in 61 years and a famous World Cup victory over Australia but the pressure on the Cork man is far more acute now than when he took over the reins back in 2008.
While England — incredibly ranked fourth in the world at the moment — Wales and France fight it out for that crucial fourth slot prior to the World Cup draw on December 3 which would offer a cleaner passage to a semi-final, Ireland (currently ranked seventh) are scrambling to retain a top-eight slot with Scotland and Argentina posing the biggest threat.
It should be straightforward, as Scotland are poor, but if they somehow pull off a result against South Africa, like they did when beating Australia down under last June, then the unthinkable could happen.
In the circumstances, it has been a challenging 10 days for Kidney, with the additional loss to injury of Brian O’Driscoll, Stephen Ferris and Rory Best compounding the earlier losses of Rob Kearney and Sean O’Brien. With the limited game time accumulated by Paul O’Connell, Tommy Bowe and Keith Earls in recent times, it is not in the least surprising that Kidney would seek to broaden his options by selecting Leinster’s newly qualified Richardt Strauss in the squad. The inclusion of players on the basis of residency is a tricky one but has been utilised by many countries, most notably England, with far more playing resources than we have.
It is a fact of life — and we had better get used to it — as there will be more on the way. While I would hate the prospect that someday, half of the Irish pack hailed from South Africa, which could happen if the likes of Leinster’s Quinn Roux, Ulster’s Robbie Diack and Munster’s CJ Stander come through to join Strauss, I could live with it in moderation. I am far more comfortable with the grandparent rule as at least those players’ roots were once in this country and in many cases were brought up in a home which was culturally Irish.
I remember having this debate with Packie Bonner years ago when the Irish soccer team had several players in their squad who qualified under the granny rule and as someone whose kids were born and raised to that point in Glasgow, he had no problem with it. In general terms, I don’t have a problem either, but I do have an issue with the haste with which Michael Bent was fast-tracked into the Irish squad last week.
At least with Strauss, we had seen him perform for Leinster to a consistently high standard over the last three years and we know that he is a quality performer who has served his time here and bought into the culture in Leinster. Bent is different because, as far as I am aware, neither Declan Kidney, Les Kiss or Gert Smal have ever seen him play live and his credentials are unproven. Watching a prop on a DVD only reveals so much as so many scrums are blind to the TV camera. To make a proper assessment requires several live viewings against quality opposition.
The Irish management made an awkward situation worse, in my view, attempting to justify Bent’s inclusion in the Irish squad before his luggage had even cleared customs at Dublin Airport by playing up his Irish heritage.
“Michael Bent qualifies on the basis of his grandmother on his mother’s side. She grew up in Rathmines.” Fair enough. At least it establishes he is Irish qualified.
“He is the holder of an Irish passport.” Great, even better.
“His sister Kim was an entrant in the Taranaki Rose of Tralee contest a number of years ago.”
Wow, pick him straight away.
“She plays the tin whistle.” Unbelievable. Maybe we should offer him the captaincy in the absence of O’Driscoll.
While I am led to believe that some of those comments were delivered tongue in cheek by Ireland manager Michael Kearney, how ill-advised was the PR picture of Bent with the hurley and sliotar? After all the GAA has done for rugby in this country in recent times, and with the likelihood that they will make up to six of their best grounds available to the IRFU to facilitate a bid for the World Cup in 2023, I found that a little condescending. Perhaps the IRFU should have gone the whole hog and handed him a shillelagh.
The part of me that wants Ireland to be successful sincerely hopes that Bent will be a resounding success and will go on to offer a meaningful challenge to Mike Ross for the No 3 jersey for some time to come. It is the methodology of his introduction to the Irish squad that sits very uneasy at present. The Irish jersey must never become one of convenience.
The last prop from Taranaki to arrive over here was Mark ‘The Bull’ Allen, subsequently good enough to win eight caps for New Zealand, but he had serious question marks over his scrummaging ability. As a consequence, he found himself surplus to requirements at Shannon when the AIL was in its prime in the early 1990s.
Bent has played primarily at ITM Cup level in New Zealand — the equivalent of RaboDirect here — and has only featured at Super 15 level off the bench for the Hurricanes. Just what Declan Fitzpatrick and Ronan Loughney, both deemed good enough to win caps in New Zealand last summer, Jamie Hagan and Stephen Archer think about this development would be interesting.
In my view Loughney and Hagan are not international standard and therefore I can understand the Irish management seeking to broaden their options. The fact that the IRB have sanctioned the inclusion of two specialist prop forwards on the bench for the first time at international level for this November window is a godsend for Kidney after the debacle of having to play Tom Court at tight head in Twickenham last March when Ross departed the scene injured.
Fitzpatrick showed considerable promise when afforded the opportunity in last summer’s tour and Ulster’s Heineken Cup semi-final against Edinburgh, but we are told he hasn’t played enough rugby this season (106 minutes to be precise) to warrant a place on the bench. Paul O’Connell has only managed 14 minutes more than that since May 5. Tommy Bowe and Keith Earls are also chronically short on game time but all three are likely to be named in Kidney’s starting XV tomorrow.
Archer underlined his continued development with strong scrummaging performances against Treviso and Cardiff and was subsequently added to the training squad this week. Fitzpatrick’s progress has been stifled due to injury and the presence of John Afoa in Ulster, and that is unfortunate. At least with Strauss, you know exactly what he has to offer and how he compares with the indigenous talent in his position. In Bent’s case, nobody can say that with any degree of certainty.
Citing injuries and a lack of recent game for Fitzpatrick as a justification for Bent’s inclusion is stretching things. Every rugby squad has to deal with the reality of injury.
The Springboks squad for this current tour is short 13 quality internationals including Bismark du Plessis, Andreas Bekker, Schalk Burger, Pierre Spies, Heinrich Brussow and Juan Smith up front, along with Bryan Habana, Frans Steyn and promising new out half Johan Goosen behind the scrum.
At lunchtime tomorrow, Kidney names an Irish side that will have generated more debate within his management team than any other in his tenure as head coach.
South Africa, severely compromised by injury themselves, are vulnerable after a very poor Rugby Championship. Question is, can Ireland capitalise on that vulnerability and will a relative unknown from Hawera in Taranaki form part of the masterplan to down the Boks?
