Kidney can relish World Cup headache

REGARDLESS of his Munster roots and satisfaction at the result, few had as much reason to be pleased at Thomond Park on Saturday as Ireland coach Declan Kidney.

A cracking Magners League Grand Final between the country’s top two sides showed most of his front line players to be in outstanding form and, more pertinently, there were no more injuries to concern him entering the summer months.

Kidney will shortly announce a World Cup squad of 50, which will be reduced in August to the 30 who travel to New Zealand for the Rugby World Cup the following month. Nominating the preliminary 50 will present few problems but that will not be the case when it comes to the final squad.

On the back of what has been seen over the season, I came up with 43 credible names for Kidney. Thirteen will not be going to New Zealand and while the coach faces several difficult choices, anyone in his position would be glad to tackle them.

First, however, he has to be assured of the fitness of three key players who have played little or no rugby over the past 10 months. Rob Kearney at full-back, Jerry Flannery at hooker and Stephen Ferris in the back row would be shoo-ins in normal circumstances and all three are now back in full training.

The four preparatory August internationals against France (twice), England and Scotland will be crucial for the trio. To have any chance of being on the plane, Kearney, Flannery and Ferris would have to prove their fitness beyond doubt, all the more so because there is genuine alternative talent available.

For instance, Felix Jones has emerged as a very strong candidate at full-back. He was outstanding once again on Saturday, displaying defensive qualities to augment his ability as a counter-attacker. Even when fully fit, Flannery has to battle hard to stay ahead of Rory Best as number one hooker, with both now also needing to keep a close eye on Sean Cronin, Damien Varley and Mike Sherry.

Kidney has a whole host of back-row options so even if Ferris fails to make it, he would hardly fret given the form of David Wallace, Sean O’Brien, Shane Jennings, Kevin McLaughlin, James Coughlan and Denis Leamy.

Then there is the question of versatility. Players comfortable in more than one position have a distinct advantage and that’s one good reason why Donnacha Ryan has jumped right into contention. He has done very well of late for Munster in the number six jersey and when moved to the second row for the final 15 minutes against Leinster also performed well.

Leamy and Coughlan will battle to understudy Jamie Heaslip at number eight while they are also comfortable at number six. McLaughlin is another to have figured in the second row.

While Kidney will spend little or no time on the out-half spot with Jonathan Sexton and Ronan O’Gara absolute bankers (just like Heaslip as the stand-out number eight), he faces a serious quandary at scrum-half where there is ever increasing competition for recognition.

Three number nines will travel and up to the last couple of months of the season, it looked a straight fight between Eoin Reddan, Peter Stringer, Tomás O’Leary and Isaac Boss. But Stringer and O’Leary have since fallen behind Conor Murray at Munster and that makes for a different situation altogether.

Presuming that Kidney will opt for 17 forwards and 13 backs, the accompanying panel indicates what the squad might look like based on the form shown over the past season and allowing for the return after injury of some key players.

And that would leave players of the calibre of Andrew Trimble, Shane Horgan, Nevin Spence, Paddy Wallace, O’Leary, Boss, Ryan, Mick O’Driscoll, Jennings and Coughlan on the sidelines. Fortunately for them, they will have the opportunity to convince Kidney of their claims during those four games in August.