Kidney focusing on bigger picture

Despite failing to pick up a single victory from the four World Cup warm-up contests, Declan Kidney was adamant not to board yesterday’s plane to New Zealand in a negative mind frame, insisting that the games would stand to his team over the coming weeks.

“If you don’t win it you are disappointed. But at times you have to see a bigger picture, see where you’re going,” said Kidney.

“Unfortunately we’re without a win. What we didn’t want to do is cloud over positive things that were happening around the results.

“We didn’t get results and we have to live with it. You have to look at trying to get up and going.

“It’s not so much evolving. That was last season. This season has been about trying to get up and going.

“I felt ‘let’s go in at the deep end, against the teams that we know are going to be knocking on the door for the title.”

“While we're disappointed with our losses against England and France, I'd like to feel that if we had to play them again in five or six weeks' time we'll have learned from this experience and we'll be the better for it.”

The former Munster coach also noted the importance of the timing of this year’s tournament and insisted he’s under no illusions of the intensity of the stage, particularly against southern hemisphere opposition.

“Take a look at the records. It’s only the second of the seven World Cups that’s happened in September.

“All the others happened in October, November or around May, which meant the players were coming in from a different place.

“Ireland has played 22 World Cup fixtures. Eleven of them have been against Tri-Nations sides and of the 11 we have only two wins under our belt.

“That shows how difficult these championships are.”

Like Kidney, Irish captain Brian O’Driscoll was quick to play down the significance of recent disappointing results.

“Pre-season games are very different to World Cups," he said.

"People just expect you to pick up after having a four-week holiday and a pre-season and it doesn't happen like that.

"You have to play your way into form. Very rarely do you see any team in the world in their first match together playing brilliant rugby.

"Only people who have been there can understand how difficult it is to build your way into things, that it isn't just about flicking a switch in the green jersey and being back to where we were against England in the last game of the Six Nations.

It doesn't work that way and you have to accept that."

28 of Ireland’s 30 man squad left on their 36-hour flight to Queenstown yesterday with Cian Healy and Gordon D’Arcy forced to wait due to injury concerns.

However, D’Arcy’s delay is said to be merely a precautionary move and his centre partner O’Driscoll is expected to be fit for Ireland’s opening World Cup clash with the USA as is Seán O’Brien and Jamie Heaslip who has recovered from the concussion he suffered against England on Saturday.