Kidney gets ‘manic’ job reward

Ireland head coach Declan Kidney saw his team rebound from five straight Test defeats and admitted that in his “manic” job you had to be “off your head” to cope with the highs and lows of Test rugby.

Ireland finally delivered the performance Kidney’s players have been promising since their chastening 60-0 defeat to the All Blacks in New Zealand this summer with a seven-try demolition of a fatigued Argentina. Not only did it fulfil the objective of securing a top-eight world ranking ahead of next Monday’s World Cup 2015 pool draw but also heralded the arrival of a new generation of Irish stars and strengthened Kidney’s hand as he reaches the end of his current contract following the 2013 Six Nations.

Showing all the evasiveness of a body swerve from Saturday’s debutant tryscorer Craig Gilroy, the head coach sidestepped questions about his own future, instead concentrating on the fickle nature of international rugby and the importance of positivity.

Ireland were at a low ebb a fortnight ago after throwing away a 12-3 half-time lead against South Africa with a scoreless second period that left them 16-12 losers. After a run of defeats that began with a second-half capitulation to England at Twickenham last March and preceded by a 3-0 series whitewash by the All Blacks climaxed with that record defeat, the Springbok reverse heaped even more pressure on Kidney.

“Which part do you look at? Do you look at the part ‘we’re not too far off it, we got within four points, we’ve given everything to it and we’ve lost’?” Kidney said.

“Or do you say something else because you’ve lost; so this is a manic job, really, you just have to be off your head to do it. The highs and lows in it are just enormous.”

“In your fantasy dreams, you hope for seven tries against Argentina but the reality clicks in and you say if you can get a win out of it at all, because all previous Ireland-Argentina games have been much tighter affairs,” Kidney said.

“The little bit of luck, the weather held off. We were expecting rain, that would have made it a bit of an arm-wrestle. Because we were able to avoid it being an arm wrestle, that gave us fluidity. We were able to punch holes and once we kept them moving, we felt we would avoid some of the matches like we have had against them in the past.”

Kidney said he could enjoy his Christmas before Ireland regroup ahead of the 2013 Six Nations, when further solid performances can help secure new contracts for him and his backroom staff.

Not that the two-time Heineken Cup-winning coach was prepared to talk about that aspect.

“First and foremost I will kick to touch and say that I will work with the employers,” Kidney said, adding that he had not considered a bad autumn series would lead to his removal before the spring.

“This team isn’t about one person, or me, or whatever. It doesn’t matter whether I’m around or not. The only thing that matters is that this team does well. That’s the only thing that has ever concerned me. When I was asked to do it first day I said I would only do it if I feel I could contribute to it. So, no.”

Was he interested in going beyond the Six Nations and into the next World Cup?

“I don’t know, I’ve been too busy getting ready for matches, really,” Kidney replied. “I’m interested in having an old drink now.”