Ireland revamp for Fiji fight

IRELAND coach Declan Kidney went along expected lines yesterday by announcing a considerably changed line up for Saturday’s second of the autumn internationals against Fiji at the RDS.

The side includes eight alterations from the team that snatched a last-minute draw against Australia on Sunday.

But Kidney’s selection, which includes a first cap for Leinster out half Jonathan Sexton who comes in for Ronan O’Gara, won’t be regarded as a major risk-taking exercise, given the inclusion of the experienced Shane Horgan, Gordon D’Arcy, Denis Leamy and Leo Cullen alongside the likes of Eoin Reddan, Tom Court and Keith Earls.

Only two of the changes were forced upon the coach, Earls replacing the injured Luke Fitzgerald with Court in for Cian Healy who sustained a shoulder strain on his debut against the Wallabies.

Kidney said: “With the six-day turnabout between matches, it just wouldn’t have been enough (time), hence the reason we called Tom into the side.”

Kidney has opted to nominate Paddy Wallace as possible stand-in out-half should anything happen to Sexton but stressed that nothing should be read into the absence of O’Gara for this match.

He explained: “We’re looking at options everywhere. It is a part of our development too, no reflection on Ronan. Paddy was able to double up for us last year and it was just a question of looking at what the right combinations might be on a given weekend. If you look back to last year when Ronan was playing, Paddy was back up for that position through most of the Six Nations,” he said.

The coach continued: “We’re looking to build a squad and we took into account guys who have been both training and playing well for a while. A lot of the guys here are getting a go now not having had the opportunity for some time, but look at the back-line changes; Keith Earls and Gordon D’Arcy are two Lions while Shane (Horgan) was hugely influential in last year’s Six Nations campaign

“Tom (Court) deserves his go, Leo captained Leinster to a Heineken Cup last year but deserves his place against huge competition, and Denis (Leamy) has been playing very well while Eoin and Jonathan have been making great strides.”

Kidney hopes the team make great strides in one aspect of the game this week — work at the breakdown. He accepted that this had been a troublesome area against the Wallabies on Sunday.

“We got turned over a number of times. We want to get a balance between playing and structure. We did lose the field position battle but I wouldn’t have anything bad said about it because we lost it due to trying things.

“You need to do that if you expect to win matches.

“I would commend the lads in going for things — the way we took a tapped penalty in near our goal-line and ended up inside their half; that’s better than kicking the ball into touch on our 10-ten metre line,” he said.

But structure would, he insisted, be of crucial importance against Fiji. “We’re not all of a sudden going to try to play seven-a-side type rugby; we need to get a balance and being able to grow from where we were last year.

“This week is an important game for us. We must remember that Fiji had only been together a week before the Scottish game.

“But the presence of Mike Brewer (technical coach) means he will know a lot about us. They proved in the last World Cup with a bit of time together what they could do. They got to the quarter-finals and we (Ireland) didn’t.

“I think that should be put things in perspective. Without doubt, we will treat this one with all the respect it deserves.”