Kidney: I believe in this team

WHEN Ireland captain Brian O’Driscoll yesterday characterised his team’s Six Nations campaign to date as “topsy-turvy” he was referring to the level of performances that have reduced them to championship also-rans with two wins from four games. He may also have perfectly described Ireland’s current selection policy at fly-half.

After first plumping for Jonny Sexton as his starting out-half for both last November’s internationals and this year’s RBS 6 Nations, head coach Declan Kidney then switched allegiance after the first two games to previous incumbent Ronan O’Gara.

Both have a win and a defeat against their names for their endeavours, though there is much more to all four performances than the choice of starting fly-half. Kidney yesterday recalled Sexton at O’Gara’s expense, charging the younger Leinster player to engineer for the second year in a row a victory over England and with it stop the visitors to the Aviva Stadium on Saturday from achieving their first Grand Slam since 2003.

Sexton’s inclusion is one of two changes from the team beaten 19-13 by Wales, Kidney having also dropped Luke Fitzgerald from his match-day squad, switching Keith Earls from the wing to the vacant full-back berth and bringing Andrew Trimble in to take over Earls’ number 11 jersey.

There also remained a doubt last night at scrum-half, where Eoin Reddan was named subject to approval from a neurologist under the terms of the International Rugby Board’s “Return To Play” protocols regarding concussions. If Reddan is deemed to be still at risk after catching a Welsh clearance kick full in the face in the opening minute in Cardiff, Peter Stringer will start with Isaac Boss coming onto the replacements’ bench in the absence of the injured Tomás O’Leary.

Dropping O’Gara, though, is the real bone of contention. Sexton started the first two games of the Six Nations campaign against Italy and France but was guilty of below-par game management with his apparent reluctance to kick for touch and instead keep ball in hand.

In Rome, he made way for O’Gara, with the more experienced out-half rescuing Ireland with a late drop goal that averted a shock defeat to the Italians. Kidney then decided to restore O’Gara to the starting line-up for a more structured approach to the Scotland game yet there was no loss of attacking verve in Sexton’s absence as Ireland once again scored three tries in a hard-fought victory at Murrayfield that saw O’Gara score one of those in a man of the match performance.

O’Gara rightly kept his place to face the Welsh last Saturday in Cardiff and though he was slightly less dominant than in Edinburgh he did little to deserve being called ashore after just 50 minutes at the Millennium Stadium, particularly as Ireland were leading by four points at 13-9.

They would not score again with the move backfiring on Sexton, whose first significant act was to slice a kick to touch that directly led to Mike Phillips’ controversial try and then missed a straightforward penalty goal attempt as Ireland went down 19-13. On top of that, against the Welsh, Sexton seemed to abandon his own running instincts completely and rather than adopt a more pragmatic approach, he chose to kick for field position almost exclusively and with little success.

So two puzzling substitutions when Ireland held narrow yet manageable leads that seemingly were made to give Sexton the opportunity to win his place back, neither of which worked and yet O’Gara will find himself on the bench for Saturday.

Kidney said: “We’ve always said we’re blessed with two good 10s, and in the same way that I felt after the French match it felt right to give Ronan a go there and he got the next two, so I feel it’s right to give Jonathan a start this time.”

That contradicts the coach’s stated rationale for his other positions, being to start form players. If that was the case, O’Gara would be starting as he is clearly the player in form this spring with the more rounded game to eke out results. Sexton is undoubtedly a talented and committed player for the cause, capable of undoing defences in a variety of ways, yet as Ireland seek the 80-minute performance that can conquer the best teams in the world he has only produced in patches.

On other levels, Sexton’s inclusion against England makes some sense and his physicality in comparison to O’Gara was undoubtedly a factor. England possess both a quick and physical back three and midfield as well as an incredibly mobile and big back row ready to exploit any defensive weaknesses and Sexton may take the fly-half channel out of their target range.

Kidney, in denying his fly-half rotation had been pre-determined, certainly suggested it was more of a horse for course policy. “I just looked at each game. I didn’t come into the tournament saying ‘well, it’s going to be two there and two there and one for the end’. I just see it as it is at the time and that’s the way I’ve made the decision this week.”

For the rest of the team, though, it is a case of form beats all with Fitzgerald paying the price for his lack of it at full-back. Kidney was asked what made him believe the team he had picked could end the Six Nations on a high.

“I suppose because I trust them,” he said. “I see how hard they’re working, I know the desire and I’ve also been there a length of time that I know that (if anything) we were trying too hard. If I felt we were taking the foot off the pedal in any way or if we were going down the wrong road, then that would have been time for change, but I don’t think so. It’s based on trust and my belief in them.”