Micko stakes his claim

DECLAN KIDNEY has frequently admitted the part of his job he least likes is picking the team for the bigger matches.

Having watched and admired the consistently brilliant displays of Mick O’Driscoll in the second-row of the pack, he knows he faces a really tricky selection in the next month or two.

Paul O’Connell is due to return at the end of the year just as Munster is preparing for the two final Heineken Cup pool matches in Clermont-Auvergne and at home to London Wasps. To the vast majority, omitting a fit-again O’Connell would be unthinkable, but this is an area where Munster are rich in quality. It could even happen the other regular second-row, Donncha O’Callaghan, will also come under pressure to retain the jersey.

“Micko has been immense for us,” Kidney agreed. “He’s had a very good game on Sunday and he’s having a very good innings for us. But he did that for us as well two or three years ago.

Because of bangs and knocks and a few selections, he didn’t get as much game time last year. This year he’s getting it and that’s always the trick in the balance.

“Fellas need it but then again I have 43 guys looking for games and I can only put 15 of them on the pitch at any one time. That is the value of the AIL to us, that we have people on teams that are winning, and they keep that mentality.

“The Munster club results are important in that respect. We have an A game next Thursday against Leinster A, and we’re going to try and balance that with the fact that the Munster Senior Cup is on at the weekend.

“We need to make sure that we don’t upset the clubs and instead work in harness with them because we need one another.”

Looking back on Sunday’s game and the controversial team fielded by Clermont Auvergne, Kidney is still satisfied that the French side and their coach Vern Cotter were seriously intent on winning the match.

“If you assemble a squad of that nature, they’re all fighting for their places. Maybe we benefited from one or two errors and got one or two line-outs at the start because their co-ordination wasn’t there. Having big squads is hugely beneficial but it can present one or two problems earlier on in terms of getting timing.

“I know people will say ‘take a look at the five tries’, but if you had said to me 24 hours before the game that we’d win by a point, I’d have grabbed it with both hands and wouldn’t have looked for what we got. It’s just the quality that they have, it’s getting the balance right. We paid them due respect, they came at us, we managed to hold out and we took our try scoring opportunities.”

So, Declan, which situation would you prefer to have, Vern Cotter’s or your own?

“I love this, it’s brilliant,” he smiled. “But we have to be realistic as well. Somebody told me the other day that their budget is something like €14million. We’re five. And that’s why it was such a great win.

“We need to get stronger if we’re to compete with them. When you look at what people did to get into Sunday’s game and how they supported us last week, there’s an onus on us to represent them properly. Our side is representative of them.

“We want to be able to do that on a somewhat level playing field. Just because we won, I wouldn’t be hiding away from the fact that it’s getting more and more difficult to compete against these teams. That’s why when we do win matches like this, I wouldn’t underestimate the fun in winning them because they’re big wins. We have an exceptional bunch of men and let’s enjoy it when we have it.”

Apart from an A game against their Leinster counterparts in the UL Bowl on Thursday, Munster now await visits from the Gwent Dragons and Leinster to Musgrave Park on successive Friday nights before travelling to Stradey Park for the next Heineken Cup clash with Llanelli Scarlets on Saturday,

December 8.

The Dragons were pulverised by London Irish at Rodney Parade at the weekend and this could be a game in which Kidney will rest a few players and afford game time to others.

“The important thing is that we are fresh going into next weekend’s game,” he maintains. “It’s always difficult when you haven’t been playing. For now it’s important to rest up and we’ll work out on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. We saw how some of the fellas who were subs on Sunday went back out to train, they wanted to keep their conditioning up and it shows the nature of the competition for places.”