Unflappable Kidney believes it’s ‘coming together’

DECLAN KIDNEY remains fiercely optimistic Ireland can enjoy a fruitful World Cup despite a succession of pre-season defeats and the loss of one of his most influential players.

As he bemoaned the injury to David Wallace, he insisted the squad had the ability to turn form around and win the big World Cup matches. However, based on Saturday’s display Ireland look like a side following the dismal form of 2007 but Kidney remains confident and argued: “We haven’t got the results we wanted but we will be the better for having it.

“I have put together teams in the past and I can see us coming together now. There is obviously work to be done but I know we needed the games and I’m glad we played the games.

“There is no one area where I could say that’s definitely parked now. Our set piece is getting stronger all the time, and in the first 40 to 60 minutes we managed to put the ball in behind them so we managed to think like rugby players.”

Ireland’s policy of going for position from penalties rather than attempting to kick for goal cost them in this particular match.

But again, Kidney wasn’t prepared to point a finger of blame at his players.

“I think that’s a feel. We gave away a score, got one back to make it 7-3 and we have gone for it in the past.

“We don’t put ourselves out as world champions and we have to fight for everything we have. We have to go for things. We went for a few things that didn’t pay off but as long as we keep going I know we will get a fair return.”

One area he will be looking for a quicker return is at the breakdown and conceded England came out on top.

“But,” he said, “we will get better at that. That’s the benefit of having the games and we needed to play them because it pointed out that you can’t rely on the referee to sort that out for you.”

The breakdown was also an area of concern to stand-in skipper Paul O’Connell, but the big second row agreed the problems can be solved by adapting more quickly to the different challenges they will face in the World Cup.

“Overall, the breakdown is a good part of our game, but every so often you need a reminder of where you need to be at and that was one of those for us. They put numbers in, they hit hard, a lot of it was illegal but they got away with it.

“They gave away a lot of penalties and had a man sent to the bin but they got what they wanted to achieve; they slowed down a lot of our ball and it meant we were taking ball from a standing start.

“It is going to be an important eye opener for us going to the World Cup, it’s something we regard as a strength of ours; this was a good reminder of what we need to do.

“In terms of morale, guys are disappointed but I don’t think morale will be affected. We know we have excellent players, know we have a good side and we know how good we can be. I think we can produce that in the World Cup,” he said.