Coach Kidney confident McCarthy will make mark
Connacht second/back rower McCarthy is the only new cap in the side but Kidney has no fears for him.
“He is a nightmare to train with pre-season because he is always out in front, he would be one of the top trainers. Look at Connacht’s line out stats, they have been excellent. That comes down to just more than a jumper.
“He has good ball handling and after that we won’t put any more helium into the balloon or we will only make Saturday more difficult for him. He’s all right though he has a bit of an accent (London), but sure we will get over it!”
McCarthy expressed delight at his selection. He admitted: “It is a great day for me. I’m massively proud, not just for myself but for my family; I’m just waiting to get out there now and get out and play the first game. This is the pinnacle of my career.”
But Kidney will also keep a close eye on their trio of returning frontline internationals in Murrayfield tomorrow.
Full-back Rob Kearney and scrum-half Tomás O’Leary start, following lengthy spells of rehabilitation, while hooker Jerry Flannery is named on the bench.
Kearney has not played since last year’s autumn Test against New Zealand, when he sustained a knee injury.
“Rob will be judged by a certain standard and there will be comments that he hasn’t played for a while,” said head coach Declan Kidney. “All we ask is that he gives everything. He’ll work through it and whether he has a storming game or a not so good one, it’s just one game. When you’re out injured for a long time, you just want to be able to get back on the pitch.”
O’Leary made his last Ireland appearance against France in February before also being ruled out for the remainder of the season with an eye problem. Flannery’s long battle with a calf injury that forced him to miss the autumn and RBS 6 Nations looks over after the Munster hooker was named on the bench.
Leinster’s Leo Cullen leads a largely second string line-up in the first outing of Ireland’s four-Test summer series.
None of the pack are likely to start the World Cup opener against the USA on September 11, but Cullen, Denis Leamy and Tony Buckley supply experience.
The bench contains vast experience with Flannery, Marcus Horan, John Hayes and Mick O’Driscoll all veterans.
With fitness doubts over Gordon D’Arcy and to a lesser extent Brian O’Driscoll, Leinster rookie Fergus McFadden is given the nod at outside centre.
While Kidney is juggling the need to test out combinations and give certain players crucial game time, he insists beating Scotland remains the priority.
“When you play a Test match there’s no holding back. You either go for it or you don’t,” he said.
“If you operate at only 80% or 90%, you actually increase your chances of picking up a knock.
“It’s a Test match and that’s the way we’re approaching it — we want to go out there and get a win.”
Kidney also outlined his selection criteria for the plane to New Zealand. He explained: “Some guys have gone well over the last couple of years, We will sum it up from how guys went towards the end of last season, from what we know guys can bring to it, how they have gone in pre season and the fourth part of that will be to see how they go in the coming matches. It’s open enough in that there is an opportunity for everyone to play their way in if I can accommodate them with game time, but it may not be possible to do that in order to get 30 guys match fit. There is no fairness in it (I suppose), because we have five games (including a friendly against Connacht) and you try to divide up the 400 minutes evenly. But that doesn’t happen because you have to try to give combinations a chance to work, you have to get some guys who were out (injured) more time than others to get them match-fit.”
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