Just four spots up for grabs on plane to New Zealand

NOW that he and his players have gotten themselves off the hook big time with the memorable demolition of England, Declan Kidney is already looking forward to the World Cup in New Zealand next September and figuring out the composition of his squad.

He will take due note of the upcoming European Cup and Magners League programme but Kidney will already have a good idea of the 30 players who will board the plane for Down Under.

As he contemplates his selection, he will be a very relieved man given that some of his calls prior to and during some of the earlier games in the Six Nations campaign were difficult to understand — and one in particular threatened to derail things to a serious degree.

His persistence with Paddy Wallace in the replacement panel was an accident waiting to happen, and it duly came to pass in Cardiff. And yet he remained in favour for the clash with England.

It is unlikely that there is any substance to the suggestion that there has to be a quota of Ulster players in the Irish squad as Kidney isn’t the kind of person to go along with that kind of practice.

But we would all love to know why he picked Wallace for game after game — and not just this season — when he already had one of Jonathan Sexton or Ronan O’Gara on the bench as well.

Kidney could also be faulted for his use of the replacement panel on a few notable occasions during the campaign. The substitution of Sexton for O’Gara 10 minutes into the second half against Wales is still difficult to comprehend, while sending in a whole host of players in the dying seconds of a game that has already been won or lost only serves to cheapen the value and significance of an Irish cap.

And yet, after the manner in which he masterminded the victory over England, Kidney’s reputation as a wily coach and astute man manager remains at least as solid as ever, if not even more so. He got it right in almost every important call he made, especially in replacing the excellent Sexton with the more experienced O’Gara when the need for battening down the hatches became apparent.

It is likely we will see a repeat of this aspect of the game plan on several occasions leading up and including the World Cup. It could be fairly argued that he brought Mike Ross ashore too early in the second half and certainly the scrum wasn’t as effective after Tom Court’s arrival. No doubt, though, Deccie had his own good reasons for moving when he did.

As of now, some 26 of the 30 players heading for New Zealand can already be making their plans for the late summer and early autumn. It probably won’t happen but only Paddy Wallace of the 22 that lined out against England should be left at home.

Fergus McFadden, who has played well for Leinster at European level and scored a try against France in one of his two chances in the Six Nations, has far stronger claims.

And if he wants a third out-half in the squad, then Ian Humphreys, who has done so well with Ulster, could at last be called in from the cold.

Currently, we have four key players laid low by long term injuries and the ardent hope is that hooker Jerry Flannery, blind side flanker Stephen Ferris and full-backs Rob Kearney and Geordan Murphy will prove their fitness in good time at least for the four warm-up games in August.

The back-row axis of David Wallace Sean O’Brien and Jamie Heaslip has performed superbly throughout the Six Nations and the addition of Ferris would make this an even more serious department in the Irish set-up. A speedy open-side flanker like Shane Jennings should also be an attribute.

Flannery faces a tough battle given that he has not only to demonstrate full recovery from the spate of calf injuries that have blighted his career but also to once again become number one choice at hooker ahead of Rory Best and Sean Cronin.

Even though Keith Earls excelled at full-back on Saturday, his outstanding talents can also be utilised elsewhere and Kidney will be happier when Murphy and especially Kearney report fit once again.

Tomás O’Leary is a certainty to join Eoin Reddan and Peter Stringer as one of the three scrum-halves and there will also be considerable emphasis on the prop forward positions.

John Hayes and Tony Buckley are out of the frame at present with the former especially in need of a lot of game time after injury.

The front-row is such an attritional area that both may well be required; if not, any one of Devin Toner, Mick O’Driscoll or Donnacha Ryan could make it as a fourth second-row.

Charlie Mulqueen’s Irish World Cup 30: Backs: B O’Driscoll (capt), K Earls, R Kearney, L Fitzgerald, G Murphy, T Bowe, G D’Arcy, A Trimble, F McFadden, J Sexton, R O’Gara, P Stringer, T O’Leary, E Reddan. Forwards: C Healy, M Ross, T Court, J Hayes, J Flannery, R Best, S Cronin, P O’Connell, D O’Callaghan, M O’Driscoll, L Cullen, S O’Brien, S Ferris, D Wallace, D Leamy, J Heaslip.

Charlie Mulqueen’s Six Nations team: A Masi (Ita); T Bowe (Ire), B O’Driscoll (Ire, capt), J Roberts (Wal), C Ashton (Eng); J Hook (Wal), M Parra (Fra); T Domingo (Fra), W Servat (Fra), M Castrogiovanni (Ita), R Gray (Sco), P O’Connell (Ire), S O’Brien (Ire), D Wallace (Ire), S Parrisse (Ita).