Cody downplays importance of settled team

Shockwaves reverberated around O’Connor Park this evening when it was announced that Brian Cody had made a raft of changes to the Kilkenny side and introduced Conor and Aidan Fogarty, Joey Holden and Brian Hogan into his side, but the most successful manager in the sport was fully vindicated by his team’s victory, while after the match he also downplayed the importance of a consistent selection policy when he explained his thinking behind making so many changes to his starting XV.

“We’ve been doing that all year, we went through the league without a settled team. I’ve said it many times, I’m not concerned about a settled team. It’s something that you’re supposed to have, but I believe we’ve a strong panel and there’s no point talking about a strong panel unless you’re prepared to use it. We have options, we have players who can do different things and play in different positions, and I’d have confidence in them”, he declared.