Kidney shrugs off the ‘pressure’

GIVEN the critical state of the nation and the high degree of expectation surrounding the rugby team as it takes on the “auld enemy” at Croke Park this evening, there is an ever-increasing feeling that anything other than victory over the English would come as another agonising blow to the national psyche.

The matter was raised yesterday with coach Declan Kidney who readily acknowledged that any good news these days is particularly welcome. But he was also disinclined to make too much of suggestions that there was an added sense of onus and responsibility on his players going into a game that will have an all-important bearing on whether they can go on to claim the country’s first Grand Slam in 61 years.

“To say our desire to win was greater than before would belie any team that has gone out before us,” he reasoned. “We understand how fortunate we are to be in a career that we like. I think we are very conscious that we are a representative side and want to be that to the best of our ability.

“Pressure? Not really. I think this is a good place to live. We have a great sporting public in the island. People know that once we give it everything we have, they’ll go with us. That’s where the pressure comes from. It’s to be as good as we can be. Whether that’s good enough to get a result or not, it’s a sport after all, and we’ll shake hands at the end of it.

“To play your best game will happen to you once in your career because that’s all you can ever play your best game. Our aim will be to give it our best shot. We just want to do our best for our families and people around us, to do them proud.

“You get into sport to have a go against the best. You’re taking on three-time World Cup finalists. It’s a brilliant opportunity. You just have to pinch yourself every so often to know you are here and enjoy the day.”

Kidney scoffed at the idea of England going into the game as underdogs, pointing to their recent worldwide success, while skipper Brian O’Driscoll also recalled how well they had won last year’s contest at Twickenham. The weather forecast suggests rain in Dublin this afternoon so the focus now is on being able to adapt, should the worst come to the worst.

“It’s outside our control,” Kidney observed wryly, “we were born in it so we’ll have to learn to cope.”

O’Driscoll rowed in behind his coach where the favourites’ tag is concerned and with such force and determination that for once it won’t impinge on the team’s performance.

“We have huge respect for all teams but there is that extra something against England because of the history between the two countries so it’s one of those game you always look forward to,” said O’Driscoll. “This is likely to be our last time playing them at Croke Park so we’d like to make it two from two. We know that it is always a tough game against England, leaving two years ago at Croker aside. Any other time I’ve been involved in beating England, it’s been by less than a score and that’s what you want in Test rugby. The hard ones are the ones that are worth winning.

“The more we have played here, the more we’ve realised generating the atmosphere is as much on our shoulders as it is with a raucous crowd. We’ve got to give them something to cheer about. We did that to a degree in the French game and hopefully if we start well, we can do so again.”