Kidney upbeat about future

By Barry Coughlan

Toulouse's seven home substitutes are reputed to be paid as much as the entire Munster team, but assistant Irish coach Declan Kidney reckons it is unlikely any Irish province will go down that same road of financial inducement.

In any event, the Irish Rugby Football Union paymasters have taken a conscious decision to facilitate and develop Irish-based players as much as possible. It's country first, provinces next.

Despite the failure of both Munster and Leinster in the semi-finals of the Heineken Cup, Kidney is upbeat about the future of Irish rugby at both international and provincial level.

He doesn't believe, for instance, there will be any wild speculation in the transfer market by any of the provinces over the next few months.

He admits that one or two key players might be introduced to the Munster, Leinster or Ulster squads but knows that it will have to be for a valid reason.

As former Munster coach, for instance, he says that John Langford and Jim Williams were signed because players of their calibre and experience were needed at the specific times of their signing.

"When John Langford arrived we needed a second row to perform on the pitch and bring some of the younger guys on. Both he and Jim have helped Munster progress to where they are today. The same has happened in the other provinces."

Irish rugby supporters were left reeling after the hammer-blow losses by Leinster and Munster in the Heineken Cup, but Kidney is not disenchanted.

"I have always been a great believer in trying your best to get into good positions in sport. Munster and Leinster got to the last four in Europe and Ireland were involved in the last match of a Grand Slam year.

"A few years ago nobody believed this could possibly happen. As coaches, we have to be happy the way the season progressed, the way three Irish teams were involved in tournaments right up to or close to the end.

"It would be fair to say that we must now sit down and try to learn all of us from those defeats, to take it a stage further and to go out and improve still further. I believe that is possible but the work will have to be done.

"In sport you can never stay still, you either go forward or you go back. It's up to everyone involved in all of these good teams to ensure we go forward."

Kidney has had his share of disappointments with Munster and Ireland but he remains an optimist. "I would say the opposite in fact. I have been lucky to be involved with very good sides that almost got to the end of the road. There were great times, great memories along the way. The important thing is the players can say they were good enough to be there.

"If you look at England, for instance, they spent five years knocking on the door before they won the Grand Slam they were looking for. What Irish teams need to do, and they have been doing it, is to knock at the door as often as possible. If you're not there towards the end, you can't win. If you are, there is always a chance.

"Last year in Europe, there were two Irish teams in the quarter-final stages, one of which got to the final. This year there were two in the semi-finals. Who is to say there won't be two in the final next year?"

Kidney was present at Jury's Hotel, Cork, last evening as guest speaker at the UCC Sports Star Awards dinner and lauded the voluntary efforts of the religious in developing emerging sporting talents.

"I would also like to bring in the countless men and women in religious orders for their huge contribution over so many years. Religious orders have received some negative publicity in recent times but there is no doubt that thousands or priests, brothers and nuns have contributed a massive amount to the development of sports people in Ireland.

"With the drop in vocations, I would earnestly suggest that these young people and those others who may recently have retired from their respective sports, should think about putting something back in years to come."

Meanwhile, former Irish captain and current under-21 coach Michael Bradley is to take over from Steph Nel as Connacht coach next season.