Kidney has faith in young guns

IT’S likely Declan Kidney was always going to use Friday’s first ever clash with the Maori to blood some of Ireland’s fringe players.

As it was yesterday in Rotorua, he was left with no options. Fielding the most experimental Irish side for some time, Kidney’s selection was highlighted by his inclusion of a 19-year-old flanker, who just two days previously had been playing his rugby in Argentina.

Fresh from being pounded by New Zealand, his team will line up against another Haka and another battalion of beasts, decked out head-to-toe in black. However, he is hoping for a very different outcome.