Time to blow off the cobwebs

Rather like a particularly tedious season of Big Brother, the reality show that is Ireland’s RBS 6 Nations campaign in 2012 is desperately in need of some action.

After the flurry and controversy of the opening game against Wales, the contestants have been unusually idle and after week four in the house, Declan Kidney will allow them to get rid of the pent-up frustration simmering since that late postponement in Paris 10 days ago.

With Italy coming to the Aviva Stadium on Saturday, Ireland head coach Kidney yesterday named the same matchday XV and replacements that 10 days ago were pumped and primed to take on France, only to have the opportunity to unleash their energies stymied by the frozen tundra of the Stade de France. It has left the 15 players who were due to start on that icy Saturday night without any competitive outlet in three weeks and with only one match under their belts – the 23-21 defeat to Wales – in the last five.

The downside of the postponement, of course, was to hand Ireland a return date against France back in Paris on March 4, making this weekend’s game against Italy the first of four Tests in consecutive weeks. So while there was a temptation to make changes and rotate his squad ahead of a short, hard championship slog, Kidney has instead opted for continuity, giving his first-choice side a chance to finally put their disjointed performance against Wales behind them, get up and running against the very beatable Italians and banish the frustrations of Paris.

“The lads are just looking forward to playing a game now,” Kidney said. “We’re coming into our second game and it’s our fourth week in a hotel. You just really want to get playing at this stage. You do need a little bit of time to prepare and get the nuances that you want to try and do in a team but after that you’re hoping that players will take it over and just swing with it. “I can see that happening and that’s what you want to happen.”

Kidney was only too aware that rustiness was in danger of returning to his camp following the Wales game of February 5, and said he altered the last week’s schedule, around one of the tournament’s official non-match weekends, accordingly.

“That’s why we adjusted last week’s training; we would have trained differently last Wednesday to what we would normally have done. We had a bit of contact there and a bit of contact again this morning, just ‘repping’ (replicating) a few match situations.

“You do a little bit of it, you don’t want 80 minutes of it by any manner or means. That’s why I said the way everybody applied themselves last Wednesday was vital. Some lads who didn’t play against Wales went off and played (for their provinces last weekend) but all the time you’re trying to get balance between having enough games as against having too many knowing what’s ahead of you.”

As for the prospect of successive games against Italy, France, Scotland and England, Kidney refused to wallow in self-pity. “You can make this more than it is. It’s a match Saturday and I think it’s eight days to the next one, so let’s see where we are. Like, if you look at the end of Leinster’s season I think they played a semi-final, maybe a (Magners League) match, a semi-final of the (Magners), a final of the Heineken Cup and then a final of the Magners.