Kidney keen to quell Slam ‘hype’

WELL, we can talk about it now; even in the carefully-considered company of Declan Kidney, the possibility of an Irish Grand Slam for the first time since 1948 is an acceptable topic for discussion.

But, even as every media organ and outlet in these islands begins to ratchet up the hype in the build-up to the Millennium Stadium on Saturday for the season-ending decider against Wales, just don’t expect the first-year Irish manager to start getting overly excited about the whole affair.

“It’s new territory for everybody, everybody has to do their job and I would respect that,” he says. “Realistic expectation is grand, it’s when people write stuff for the sake of writing it, that doesn’t do anybody any favours. I know the Irish press won’t be doing that next week.”

Perhaps not, but dammit Declan, just when it seemed that every bit of news coming down the line was bad news, when even this team itself appeared to be struggling during the autumn internationals, we get this, Ireland on the cusp of Six-Nations glory.

Surely even the players themselves must be galvanised, prepared to ‘eat iron’ to beat the Welsh? “They will but we have to be prudent about the way we go about training. This was a very physical game, things just seem to get tighter and tighter and the forwards have put in a huge effort. Now it’s all about recovery and trying to get ready for the next one.”

But 61 years since the last Grand Slam, what about all the hype that’s sure to build over the next week? “That’s just what it is, hype. It’s the same group of players for the last number of years, they have given huge service to Ireland. I have no doubt that we’ll go out and give it a go, but whether that will be good enough or not…” and here he pauses, reflects, before going on – “I think the genuine sports person, that’s what they’ll ask of the team, and that’s what the team will ask of themselves, and if that’s good enough it’s good enough and if it’s not we shouldn’t cry over spilt milk. We’ve managed to give ourselves a chance, that’s all.”

This was not Kidney being coy or cagey, or showing media savvy. This was Declan Kidney being Declan Kidney, feet always firmly on terra firma. It’s not that he doesn’t appreciate the possibilities, and in fact few will know them better; as someone who has been involved at every level of Irish rugby he has had more than his quota of the glory days, days as big in their own way as Saturday will be to Ireland. He has won some, lost some, but one thing he has always known – never get ahead of yourself. Enjoy the moment, live the moment, embrace the moment, but don’t let it carry you away, ever. With that in mind, then, there will be no question of trying to shield the players from the spotlight in what’s sure to be a massive build-up week.

“I wouldn’t do that. This is a week to be enjoyed and if you don’t enjoy weeks like this you’ll never enjoy it. Our job is to stay professional, we’ll prepare the same way for this as for the others, with the difference that we had eight days between France and Italy, then two weeks to England, another two weeks to Scotland, and now we’ve seven days to Wales.”

Given Ireland’s performances so far in this Six-Nations, it’s not altogether difficult for Declan to keep his feet on the ground. Apart from the opening game against France, in Croke Park, Ireland have never really looked like world-beaters, certainly haven’t looked like a side on the verge of writing their own piece of rugby history.

The subsequent 38-9 win over Italy was flattering, the one-point bruiser against an ill-disciplined England side that should have been walloped out of sight was anything but flattering, while this win over an honest but limited Scotland was every bit as close as the final margin suggests.

No-one is more aware of those cold facts than the man himself. “Half-time came at a good time for us, we had that try-saving tackle (by Brian O’Driscoll). You compare that to our match against New Zealand where we had a similar first half; New Zealand get the try, Scotland don’t. Brian is talking all the time about it being such a thin line between winning and losing and I’d be inclined to listen, and that’s just one example of it. Every game is tough; look at Italy — we had a man in the bin, if Italy had kicked the penalty and we not scored the try, we would have been 12-6 down — margins.”

And finally, before we left and lest we overlook the fact, a reminder from Kidney that Ireland aren’t the only side with a lot to play for this Saturday.

“There’s handier ones than having to go to Cardiff and beat Wales. I’ll be accused of mind games but they rested most of their players this week, they are Grand Slam champions, they’re playing at home, they’re playing for the championship, they’re playing for the Triple Crown.”

Say no more Declan, we understand.