Kearney happy to be in prime position
Judged right and there should be a posse of Edinburgh players waiting to pounce, but the home supporters will be clearing their throats in anticipation of another intercepted missile.
That used to be Girvan Dempsey’s job, of course, and no-one did it better. His solidity was the main reason for keeping Geordan Murphy at arm’s length for so many years, but Mr Dependable has not been missed.
Kearney has been forced to bide his time on the wing for the three-and-a-half years since he first broke onto the Leinster first team as an 18-year old in Michael Cheika’s first season in charge. But he finally looks to have leapfrogged Dempsey. Like Murphy, Kearney’s skills were never in question but there was a similar tendency to punctuate performances with the odd error. His misfortune was that a number of them proved costly.
It was a habit apparent from his very first competitive game for the province, away to the Ospreys in 2005, when his first touch after 60 seconds ended with a blocked kick and a try for the Welsh region.
Two years on and the same thing was happening in a Heineken Cup match in Toulouse but he has learnt from his mistakes. Cheika obviously thinks so too, as Dempsey has failed to regain the full-back jersey since returning from injury some weeks ago.
Put simply, Kearney used to be as safe as house prices, now he’s as safe as houses. He starts at 15 for the fourth time in-a-row against Edinburgh tomorrow having been named the province’s player of the month for December and January. This is his time.
“I prefer playing rugby at 15. When you enjoy your rugby, it probably gets the best out of you. I’ve been trying to focus most of all on my consistency and limiting the amount of errors I make in every single game. That’s something I’m trying to improve on week in week out.
“I feel it’s improved over the last few months. Because I feel that it’s more my natural position I didn’t need to make as much of a transition. So my take on it is, because I think it’s my natural place, I feel that’s where I’m most comfortable and happy.”
If everything up to now has been an apprenticeship then he enters his new ‘profession’ with abundant qualifications. Still just 22, he has already played 76 times for Leinster. At this rate, he is on course to break the 200 barrier.
His rise comes as no great surprise. Leinster press officer Peter Breen can recall meeting the then 17-year old shortly after his Clongowes Wood side had lost a Leinster Senior Cup semi-final at Lansdowne Road and being taken aback by his maturity and perspective.
Declan Kidney saw fit to promote him into the Leinster first-team squad during his short stay in Dublin and Kearney marked his first senior appearance as an 18-year old in a friendly against Overmach Parma with a hat-trick of tries.
It will be interesting to see if the changing of the guard at Leinster is mirrored when Kidney chooses his first 15 for the opening Six Nations tie against France at Croke Park in a fortnight’s time.
Kearney was Ireland’s best player on last summer’s tour to New Zealand and Australia when he filled in for Dempsey at full-back, but the older man was back in situ at 15 for the key autumn internationals.
Keith Earls was also chosen at full-back for the Canada match, but Kearney seems to be the right man in the right place at the right time now. His improved consistency, huge left boot and cutting edge from deep will surely be hard to ignore.
Michael Cheika has been listening to the pros and cons regarding the position on the Leinster and Ireland teams for almost four years now
however, and his take on the debate is slightly different.
“This could be a Northern-Southern Hemisphere thing,” said the Leinster coach. “We consider our wings very integral players as far as attack is concerned. They’ve involvement on a regular basis.
“Here it’s more full-back is the pivotal man in the middle of the field. I know that Rob prefers to play full-back than wing but I also know that he’d prefer to play on the wing than on the bench.
“He probably had a little bit of frustration at the start of the season because he wasn’t playing there but then he took his opportunity. Now I’m sure Girvan is sweating to get his opportunity so he can take it.”
In truth, the province possesses an embarrassment of riches in the position. Aside from Kearney and Dempsey, Isa Nacewa and Luke Fitzgerald can play there. Indeed, the latter would dearly love to.
Throw in Brian O’Driscoll, Felipe Contepomi, Shane Horgan and Gordon D’Arcy and it seems incredible to think that Leinster have failed to score a try in their last two games. They may need four tomorrow depending on results elsewhere.
“The thing that we are most aware of is that when we do start clicking as a team and start to take these opportunities that we have been given throughout games four tries probably won’t be a huge problem to us,” said Kearney.
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