Rob Kearney slow to change Ireland's winning team for All Blacks clash
Virgin Media Television rugby pundit Rob Kearney pictured ahead of the Autumn Nations Series. Pic: Sam Barnes/Sportsfile
Rob Kearney has made Ireland favourites to exact revenge on the All Blacks for last November’s World Cup quarter-final defeat and backed the same starting line-up which beat South Africa in Durban last time out to get the job done at Aviva Stadium this Friday night.
Though it seems first-choice tighthead prop Tadhg Furlong will not, through injury, be able to retain his place in the XV due to be named at 2pm on Thursday by head coach Andy Farrell, fit-again backs Jamison Gibson-Park, Bundee Aki, Mack Hansen and Hugo Keenan could all feature in the matchday 23.
The quartet missed the epic 25-24 victory over the world champions at Kings Park last July 13, when Ireland rebounded from a 27-20 first-Test defeat in Pretoria to tie the summer series with the Springboks in their own backyard.
Conor Murray, Robbie Henshaw, Calvin Nash and Jamie Osborne deputised in their absences at scrum-half, inside centre, on the left wing and at full-back respectively and ahead of head coach Farrell’s team announcement, Kearney guarded against making too many changes to a winning Test team, particularly one which scored such a significant victory on foreign soil.
Speaking ahead of the Autumn Nations Series airing live on Virgin Media Television, the 95-capped former full-back said: “It’s something that coaches are reluctant to do and particularly after a big win like they’ve just had in South Africa.
“I know it was a few months ago but you’ve got to reward players who were involved that day and give them the opportunity to go out and win again. And you’d always be very reluctant to change a winning side because the chances are if you’ve won, particularly against South Africa away from home, a lot of things were done particularly well on the day and they were.”
Kearney’s policy extends to the fly-half selection debate where he backed Jack Crowley to continue as Ireland’s starting number 10 ahead of second-Test drop-goal hero replacement Ciaran Frawley, despite the latter having enjoyed more consistent form for Leinster than the Munster playmaker.
“I don’t think it’s an issue, to be honest. I think it’s a selection headache which is what coaches tell us is what they love having. It’s always somewhat difficult to judge a player, particularly a number 10 behind a team and a pack that hasn’t been going particularly well. But you look back on the South African tour and Jack coped pretty well with the occasion.
“Yeah, and Frawley coming in and having that 10 minutes that he did, not just the drop goal but how he moved the team around and sped up the pace of play a little bit. So there’s definitely a selection headache for him and we’ll soon find out but I expect Jack to start, but he’ll want to have a pretty strong performance to hold onto the jersey for the remainder of the campaign.”
Having watched first-season All Blacks head coach Scott Robertson’s team squeak a 24-22 victory over England at Twickenham’s Allianz Stadium on Saturday, Kearney also offered his assessment of the Irish and New Zealand teams coming into this Dublin contest for a first . since the 2023 World Cup quarter-final 13 months ago, a 28-24 defeat for Ireland at Stade de France.
“I think Ireland have gone about their business unbelievably well. To win a Six Nations, obviously a massive achievement. There’s arguments to be made about the game in Twickenham against England, they probably let it slip away but then to win that second Test in South Africa was again a massive achievement.
“And the manner in which they did it, they got bullied and beaten up in the first Test and turned it around pretty significantly in the second Test. Now I don’t think South Africa were at their very best in terms of how they can play but an element of that has to be because we put them under a huge amount of pressure defensively.
“New Zealand, probably struggling a little bit. They will have learned a huge amount from that hit out at the weekend. Okay, a six-day turnaround which is not ideal but there was parts of their game against England that they looked very ordinary and unimpressive in.
“I think some of their handling was particularly poor. I don’t know how many handling errors they had but it would be close to double digits and that’s something we absolutely don’t come to expect from New Zealand rugby teams.
“So it’s building very nicely. You’re always very cautious to predict before a big game like this but you’d have to think Ireland are favourites going into it.”
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