End is nigh for Ireland coach, reckons Lenihan

Declan Kidney’s time as Ireland coach is about to reach it’s end, according to Irish Examiner columnist Donal Lenihan, after two dispiriting Six Nations defeats to England and Scotland.

The loss at Murrayfield consigned Ireland to their first back-to-back losses in the spring championship under the former Munster coach who has failed to rediscover the consistency that brought a Grand Slam success in 2009.

“He has dug a very deep hole for himself and I don’t see him climbing out of it,” said Lenihan on RTÉ’s Against the Head programme last night.

“His contract is up in May and there were a series of decisions over the course of the entire season that will come back to haunt him. It is the natural time to make the final decision as to who will bring Ireland to the World Cup in 2015 and I think there will be a change.”

Lenihan criticised the decision to choose Paddy Jackson ahead of Ronan O’Gara at out-half, one which saw Ireland go “into the game with no place kicker” and added that the manner of the Ulster man’s elevation sowed seeds of doubt days earlier.

“There seemed to be uncertainty and the suggestion coming out from the camp during the week was that O’Gara was running everything up to the Tuesday afternoon. Then all of a sudden there seemed to be a u-change and Paddy Jackson came in. That type of uncertainty affects players in a camp.”

Meanwhile, Cian Healy’s appeal against the length of suspension imposed after his stamp on England’s Dan Cole will be held tomorrow in Glasgow under the chairmanship of Professor Lorne Crerar of Scotland.

Fellow Scot Rod McKenzie and Antony Davies of England will also hear the prop’s argument. The Leinster player is set to be absent for the visit of France to Dublin on Saturday week.