Kidney ‘privileged’ to land Leinster job

IT was supposed to be his first official day in office but the evidence surrounding new Leinster coach Declan Kidney yesterday suggested that the Corkman had been beavering away long beforehand.

The former Munster and Irish assistant coach was not only flanked in the Old Belvedere clubhouse by Bobby Byrne, his assistant coach confirmed four weeks back, but by a couple of new if familiar faces.

Gerry Murphy, Ireland’s coach at the 1995 World Cup, on his right-hand side, was confirmed as a second assistant to Kidney, while former Irish international centre Paul McNaughton was confirmed as the province’s new manager. That’s of course not forgetting scrum-coach Roly Meates, who was part-and-parcel of the previous two regimes at the province.

“We just looked around to see who was in the area,” said Kidney of his newest management recruits. “A lot of these people around me have given up a lot of their hours talking to me about getting involved; it wasn’t a case of just jumping on board. They certainly do have Leinster at heart and that’s a great starting base. If you count in the various experiences they have in the game, and where it comes from, you can see I’m very fortunate to have them with me.”

Beforehand, Kidney joked that there were a lot of “Leinster fellas” at the top table, but he denied that being in charge of the province was a strange feeling, insisting instead that landing the role was an absolute privilege.

“It’s more of an honour than anything else,” said the 44-year-old. “To be involved in any Irish team is an honour. I had a brilliant five years with Munster and to get the chance to work with another province in European competition and the Celtic League is a great chance for me.”

Kidney admitted he was received a bit of ribbing around Munster for taking the job, but insisted that switching provinces was part of the professional era. This job with Leinster is something new and different again.” Kidney was also quick to bury the myth that this particular bunch of Leinster players had underachieved over the past few years. “That’s a word that’s been bandied about alright but who is anybody to say what other people should do with their lives,” he said. “Sometimes in this country we give teams different tags and I haven’t seen any players not trying their best. Once every player has done their best, you can’t ask any more of them.”

It was also confirmed at yesterday’s press conference that Reggie Corrigan would once again captain the province, with Keith Gleeson, Leo Cullen, Brian O’Driscoll and youngster Shane Jennings appointed as his assistants. “We met last week and I asked the players to give me an indication of who they thought should be captain,” said the coach. “There was a very strong reason among the players (for Reggie Corrigan) and I didn’t see any reason to go any other way.” Kidney has two more contracts to fill before Leinster’s first Celtic League game on September 5 - not that he is rushing. “It’s a case of trying to find the right candidates and the contracts will be filled whenever those candidates are found. The positions that these players will fill, as I told the players already, will be positions that will keep everyone on their toes,” said the coach in typical cryptic fashion.

There was, however, a hint that a couple of players of Irish descent might be headed Leinster’s way as soon as the NPC in the New Zealand and the Currie Cup in South Africa were finished.