Kidney puts experienced Wallace straight into action
Wallace, who only arrived on New Zealand shores last Tuesday, was called up to the squad last weekend after Gordon D’Arcy was ruled out of the Hamilton clash with a calf sprain.
The Irish head coach has several options available to him in terms of his starting centres, with widespread speculation that he would start with Jonathan Sexton at inside centre to accommodate Ronan O’Gara at fly-half, but Kidney has opted for the experience of Wallace in the No 12 jersey.
Kidney dismissed any suggestion that jet-lag or rustiness would be a worry in terms of the selection of the Ulster centre.
“He was straight on the ball yesterday,” said Kidney on Wallace’s selection. “It just shows, he got through it fine, obviously it’s a considerable journey but at the same time it’s hard not to be involved too.
“It is ironic really the way it has fallen for Paddy this time in terms of selection.
“We just had an arrangement this year that we wouldn’t have him in the squad unless we had to, to allow him play away because after a while too, for all players, playing week-to-week helps to get a bit of form.
“Paddy has shown that in the last three to four months with Ulster and he finished off well against the Barbarians too. It is ironic the way opportunities come about really isn’t it?”
Kidney also could have reinstated Keith Earls in centre alongside Brian O’Driscoll — the same combination that started the first Test in Auckland, but opted for the experience of Wallace, who will be charged with keeping Sonny Bill Williams quiet on his home ground.
Kidney has made two other changes with Earls, who missed the narrow 22-19 loss in Christchurch with a pectoral muscle injury, starting on the left wing in place of Andrew Trimble, who drops to the bench.
In the pack, Munster’s Peter O’Mahony replaces the injured Jamie Heaslip at No 8 and forms the back row with Sean O’Brien and Kevin McLaughlin.
“There was a chance of putting Peter at seven, and Sean at eight where he’d be very effective as well,” said Kidney on the make-up of the new back row.
“Sean is just a natural footballer and Peter has played in all three positions.”
After last weekend’s heartbreaking loss, it is an almighty ask of this Irish team to go out and produce another world-class performance against the best team in the world but Kidney insisted his troops were up to the challenge.
“There’s no point in doing it once,” said Kidney.
“Nobody goes to an inconsistent doctor. That’s just the truth of it.
“This is like a Lions series, where you play three Tests on the trot. There’s a build up to it and you must do your work and everybody will write things like dead rubbers but once these games start they’re full throttle too.”
Dan Tuohy has held off the challenge of Donncha O’Callaghan and continues in the second row alongside Donnacha Ryan while Cian Healy, Rory Best and Mike Ross continue in the front row.
Meanwhile, Ireland have received a significant boost with the news that All Black stars Dan Carter and Kieran Read have been ruled out of Saturday’s Test.
Carter, who scored the winning drop goal in last weekend’s thriller, has been ruled out with a hamstring injury which he picked up in training on Wednesday while Read has failed to recover from a bout of concussion suffered in the Christchurch match.
Young fly-half Aaron Cruden steps into the vacant number 10 jersey while skipper Richie McCaw moves to the unfamiliar role of No 8 in Read’s absence.
Hansen has made six changes in all to his starting team with lock Romano coming in for Brodie Retallick while wingers Hosea Gear and Ben Smith have earned call-ups.
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