Kidney: Conditions made game ‘a lottery’

DECLAN KIDNEY had his reasons when he made nine changes in his side to play Connacht in Galway yesterday, but he also realised he was taking a calculated risk.

Leaving players of the calibre of Paul O’Connell, Ronan O’Gara and John Hayes, to name but three, on the sideline when already short through injury and suspension of some of his finest performers, hardly seemed the wisest option in the appalling conditions, especially with so much riding on the outcome.

After all, Kidney had claimed after the mid-week victory over Leinster that this game was even more important because of the qualification for next year’s Heineken Cup issue.