Kidney faith in future to face big Test

A new captain, several new faces and an unfamiliar full-back — it really is all change for Ireland as they face into a challenging Test match tomorrow evening against South Africa.

Yet this is a team thrown together by circumstance rather than design and Declan Kidney is banking on his fresh faces to wipe away the dismal dejection experienced by Ireland’s last outing.

In the wake of that awful 60-0 defeat to New Zealand in the third and final Test in Hamilton last June, Kidney is in desperate need of a boost to the nation’s rugby morale as well as a helpful kick-start to the final season of his contract as national head coach.