Safety in numbers as Kidney names squad for autumn series

WHEN you name a squad with as large a complement as 34 players it is easy to keep one’s priorities under wraps and Declan Kidney certainly seems to have achieved that with his selections for next month’s Guinness Series of autumn internationals.

Ireland play South Africa on November 6 in the first rugby international to be staged at the new Aviva Stadium and there will follow visits in the following weekends from Samoa, New Zealand and Argentina. Of his 34 players selected for the task, there are two uncapped players in Leinster lock Devin Toner and versatile Munster back Johne Murphy and several players who missed out on what became an ill-fated summer tour to the Southern Hemisphere.

Accordingly, Ireland head coach Kidney welcomes back Rory Best, Keith Earls, Stephen Ferris, Denis Leamy, Seán O’Brien and Donncha Ryan following injuries that kept them out of that tour while Toner was also included but withdrew due to injury and Johne Murphy was called up late but played no part.

There are still notable absentees on the grounds of health and fitness, with Munster second row Paul O’Connell, hookers Jerry Flannery and Denis Fogarty and scrum-half Toms O’Leary all omitted, as is Leinster back row Kevin McLaughlin. Leinster centre Luke Fitzgerald as well as Flannery will be considered at a later date having been given more time to recover from knocks picked up in Heineken Cup action at the weekend while Leo Cullen could yet feature having returned to action for Leinster as a substitute in the Wembley victory over Saracens.

What head coach Kidney intends to have achieved from this quartet of matches — save for the obvious objective of four wins — remains unclear for the time being based on the wide net he has cast over the Irish players. Atoning for a string of summer defeats Down Under to New Zealand, the New Zealand Maori and Australia will be important, as will a strong showing to christen the new arena at headquarters. Yet with Ireland’s start to the 2011 World Cup coming on September 11 against Eddie O’Sullivan’s USA Eagles, a little more than 10 months away come November 6, just how far will Kidney strive to secure the scalp of either the Springboks or All Blacks or indeed both, and will he instead prefer to keep his frontline players in abeyance with a long, hard slog of Heineken Cup, Six Nations and World Cup rugby ahead?

Choosing the latter path leaves open the increased possibility of a defeat but on the plus side would allow Kidney to see potential World Cup fringe players prove their worth against the world’s best and provide a reference point for them should the call come, as it will inevitably for a few, in New Zealand once the competition gets under way.

Whatever the reason, the quotes from Kidney that were issued with the announcement of the squad kept all his options open.

“There will be a lot of talk about the new stadium and also about the Rugby World Cup, but the responsibility for the squad and management will be firmly to concentrate on the first game and then take each week as it comes in November. We will soak up all the excitement that goes with all that, but the focus for everybody on November 6 will be performing against South Africa.”

He added: “There are a lot of players who are unlucky not to make this squad, but the door will remain open to them also during November to join up with the panel.”

Which widens the pool considerably when you consider the absences of other injured players such as Munster’s Ian Dowling and Felix Jones and those overlooked, among them Leicester captain Geordan Murphy (who could feature later in the series), Leinster back row Shane Jennings and his midfield team-mate Fergus McFadden as well as Connacht’s Fionn Carr and Ian Keatley.

The South Africans, meanwhile, have named a 39-man training squad ahead of their Grand Slam Tour of Britain and Ireland that includes 11 uncapped players, although New Zealand will travel with just one newcomer in Sonny Bill Williams. Kidney, for now, has fallen between the two stools and we will have to wait until next autumn to see whether which of those directions was the path best taken.

IRELAND(squad for Autumn International Series):R Best (Ulster), I Boss (Leinster), T Bowe (Ospreys), T Buckley (Munster), T Court (Ulster), S Cronin (Connacht), G D’Arcy (Leinster), G Duffy (Connacht), K Earls (Munster), S Ferris (Ulster), S Horgan (Leinster), J Hayes (Munster), C Healy (Leinster), J Heaslip (Leinster), M Horan (Munster), R Kearney (Leinster), D Leamy (Munster), J Muldoon (Connacht), J Murphy (Munster), D O’ Callaghan (Munster), R O’ Gara (Munster), S O’Brien (Leinster), B O’Driscoll (Leinster), M O’Driscoll (Munster), E Reddan (Leinster, M Ross (Leinster), D Ryan (Munster), J Sexton (Leinster), P Stringer (Munster), D Toner (Leinster), A Trimble (Ulster), D Varley (Munster), D Wallace (Munster), P Wallace (Ulster).