Smith: Kidney exiled O’Leary

Declan Kidney made a ‘scapegoat’ of Tomás O’Leary by dropping him for the World Cup, according to London Irish boss Brian Smith.

Eoin Reddan, Conor Murray and Isaac Boss were chosen ahead of O’Leary for the tournament in New Zealand after the 28-year-old fell out of favour at Munster and performed poorly in the warm-up game against France in Dublin, throwing an intercept pass for a Francois Trinh-Duc try in the 26-22 defeat.

And Smith, who signed O’Leary for London Irish this summer on a three-year contract, believes Kidney treated the scrum-half disgracefully and says he still has faith the Cork native will reach the heights that saw him selected for the Lions in 2009.

“Tomás O’Leary was hung out to dry,” said Smith, who also endured a torrid time at the World Cup as he was heavily criticised in his role as England’s attack coach.

“He was a starting player for Ireland and they came under a bit of pressure in the warm-up games for the World Cup. He threw an intercept pass in a game that didn’t go well for Ireland and he was hung out to dry.

“Tomás O’Leary has never stopped being a brilliant player. He was hung out to dry and the fact that he was a bit of a scapegoat is something that he can’t control. In my opinion, looking at it as a neutral observer, I felt that Tomás probably got a pretty bad deal.”

O’Leary had not heard Smith’s comments when they were put to him by the Irish Examiner at yesterday’s Aviva Premiership fixtures launch at the Stoop in London, but didn’t feel he had been made a scapegoat.

Yet O’Leary did admit to being hugely disappointed by Kidney’s decision, although he insisted he has no personal problems with a man who brought him through the ranks at Thomond Park.

“Obviously it was really disappointing, but that is the way it worked out — I wasn’t picked,” said O’Leary.

“It would have been a great experience and I wanted to go to the World Cup, but shit happens in rugby. I might have been struggling with a bit of form going into the World Cup. I wouldn’t be too bothered about it [Smith’s comments] as it’s all in the past.

“I played in last season’s Six Nations and I have a good relationship with Deccie — he picked my for a lot of games. I certainly don’t hold any grudges against him. I have a lot of time for him and hopefully I can get picked again by him.

“Disappointments make you hungrier. I have achieved a lot with Ireland but I haven’t played in a World Cup and I would love to do that. But I prefer to look at what I have achieved than what I haven’t.

“If it [being selected for a World Cup] happens three or four years down the line then brilliant, but if it doesn’t it certainly won’t define my career.”

But O’Leary admitted getting back into the Ireland side was a motivating factor in deciding to move to the Aviva Premiership. He made just nine starts last season as a stellar Munster career ended in disappointment and having moved to London, O’Leary believes he will mature as both a player and a person during his stint in England.

“I could have carried on at Munster and I had a brilliant seven years there, winning two Heineken Cups and a few league titles with a brilliant team,” said O’Leary.

“But I can’t hang on to the past. I’m at a new club and I want to achieve success here.

“Being born and bred in Cork and being involved with Munster from schools level up to seniors means it’s certainly a change, but that’s what I signed up to.

“It’s different but I wanted to experience that. Hopefully this will mature me both on and off the pitch and then we will see where that leads.

“I would love to get back into the international setup, but I wasn’t playing at Munster so it wasn’t going to happen that way.

“There were other factors in it, but I wanted to be playing week-in, week-out, and to get that opportunity at London Irish — well I grabbed it with both hands.

“If it leads to international recognition then brilliant, if not then I will just get back to playing regular rugby and enjoying it again.”