Kidney feels for excluded players

DURING the memorable days when he masterminded Munster’s progress to two Heineken Cup finals and a host of victories, Declan Kidney loved every aspect of his job — except one: telling players they would not be directly involved in a match.

Nowadays, the former PBC teacher turned assistant Ireland coach oesn’t quite have that responsibility.

Eddie O’Sullivan handles that side.

However, as a true players man, Kidney still feels the same pain as the unlucky ones.

That’s why he will help to pick the team to tackle Australia in Melbourne’s Telstra Dome on Saturday with the utmost sense of duty.

“I see all the hard work the players are doing which makes each week difficult in its own way,” he says. “They all wanted to play on Sunday and that is why I like tournament rugby; because the matches come so quickly.

“There is always that carrot for those who didn’t get selected. We have five guys who haven’t had a chance to tog out, and the way they’re being professional about their work is helping everything else to grow from there.

“What I say to them is that the fellows who are playing are those who think they have the hard job. They don’t really. It’s the guys who are backing them up. You try to give them a reason. You would hope that those who aren’t selected don’t agree with you because they have to believe they are better than the people picked.”

15 minutes of the second half had elapsed at the Adelaide Oval on Sunday last when Kidney was seen talking on his radio microphone to Eddie O’Sullivan in the stand.

They decided to bring on Ronan O’Gara at a particularly crucial stage, something that must cause mixed emotions for Kidney as he has been Ronan’s teacher, mentor, coach and friend for years.

Does he feel compromised by the competition between the two No.10s? “Well, I’m part of the group that sits down to select between the two of them and I always go with what the room decides,” he responded.

“What I have to say is that I commend both of them for the way they have conducted themselves, and the way they have dealt with it. Being out of a team is very difficult, especially when you’re in a pivotal decision-making position as they are.

“They realise that they must do what every player has to do and that’s to work on what is within their control. They don’t have any say in who gets selected so they know the best way of improving themselves is in backing each other.

"So instead of knocking each other down, they build each other up and that has made them both better players. I was part of the process that brought Ronan in on Sunday, although I wouldn’t go into the extent of that part because that wouldn’t be very appropriate.

“We were one point up but we weren’t getting a foothold in the Argentine half. Maybe we adopted a slightly different approach. David and Ronan would have a few obvious similarities, but there are differences in their strengths and weaknesses as well, and possibly that change from one to the other is what threw Argentina.

"Ronan took the first pass flat which got him caught. It was just a case of getting into the pace of the game, being a small bit deeper and giving himself a bit of space. That’s always likely to happen and that’s the benefit of having 25 minutes instead of ten.

“But I don’t think there’s any black and white formula when you do or don’t make the change. The counter argument is the other guy is just coming good and has done all the hard work in the first half, and just when the game loosens up, when there are more things on, you give him his chance to see it out.

"You have to know your background as to what each guy brings into it. Even the conditions or the way the referee is handling the match. They’re outside your control but you hope to get a feel for them on the day and that can swing the way you make your decision.

“I’ve always loved tournaments, I tasted it first at under-age level, and this is a great experience. We had possibly the best run-in to the World Cup with Romania first, followed by Namibia, and then Argentina leading into the Australian game.

"I felt good going into the Argentine game. I believed we were better than them once we kept a calm head. Even though we didn’t play as well as we would have liked, nobody panicked and that probably pleased me more than anything. To get players to a level where they don’t panic takes a bit of time.”

Now it’s the champions in their own backyard (if you could ever describe the Telstra Stadium in such terms), and the widely held opinion here that Ireland are no hopers.

“That’s why these matches are great,” Kidney reacts with a broad smile. “When we’re on the road, whether it’s the Lions, Ireland, Munster, or in any sport, the Irish people are great. It will be a cauldron on Saturday night, especially with the roof closed.

"Nobody that I know of was asked if we had an opinion on that. Perhaps they decided after Lansdowne Road last November.

"Some of our players have experience of this situation, in Cardiff in front of 70,000. And then there’s the noise. The forwards will have difficulty getting their line-out calls and the backs can be ten metres apart and won’t hear a thing.

“I’d never train a team that didn’t have a chance. Unless you feel you can’t beat them, you’ll never beat them.

"Why shouldn’t we beat them? They are the side that has to win. That’s always a tougher place to be. The expectation. Let’s see if they’re good enough to beat us. If they are, we’ll shake their hand. If they’re not, we’ll beat ‘em.”