Smal backing ‘Little killer’ to cut loose
With head coach Declan Kidney set to stand down most if not all of the starting XV that faced South Africa at the Aviva Stadium last Saturday and eager to assess his less experienced players, 23-year-old Limerickman Kilcoyne is poised to form a front row with Leinster pair Sean Cronin and Michael Bent in the weekend’s non-cap match.
Others set to feature include Ulster 20-year-old back row Iain Henderson and outside centre Darren Cave while Smal reported that of the more senior members, wing Tommy Bowe was nursing a dead leg but was on course to face Argentina in 10 days while Eoin Reddan was responding well to treatment on a bruised ankle.
Kilcoyne made a fleeting appearance in the 16-12 defeat against the Springboks, replacing Cian Healy for three minutes to earn his first Ireland cap while the Leinster loosehead left the field for a concussion assessment.
While that provided little opportunity to shine the forward in the first year of a Munster development contract signed after two years in the provincial academy, has made a big impression on forwards coach Smal during his time in the Ireland camp.
“I am very excited by him,” Smal said yesterday. “He is still cutting his teeth in the squad I think, but the last two weeks he has been working really hard. He is an exciting little player.
“You know what his nickname is? His nickname is Killer. That’s what you experience with him, in the runs, in the practice, the way he does things. He looks like a little killer. He is a great little player.
“We also have (Munster tighthead prop) Stephen Archer with us now, they are both exciting little players.”
With New Zealand-born Michael Bent set to build on an impressive nine-minute debut as a replacement tighthead for Mike Ross against the Boks, the Irish camp look to have unearthed a proven scrummaging option at number three for the homegrown Archer and Ulster’s Declan Fitzpatrick to rival in the coming years.
Smal also believes Kilcoyne will improve his scrummaging on the other corner of the front row and said both he and Ireland scrum coach Greg Feek had already seen improvements in that side of his game in the last fortnight at Carton House.
“Yes, definitely. Greg specifically knows as well, because he scrums against Leinster with Munster, so he knows where the weaknesses are and we feel we can work on those.”
Despite the defeat to his native South Africa, stretching Ireland’s losing run of games to six matches, five of them Test matches, Smal remains optimistic that Kidney’s squad can turn things around and fulfil their ambition to leave a lasting legacy on Irish rugby.
“This is a special group, a different group to what we have had in the past. They’ve got a different ambition and they also want to create their own legacy as they have said themselves. With good players coming in and out with injuries, new guys coming in with (those) injuries and the excitement and ambition they have to create their own legacy is quite important. That’s what I’m experiencing at the moment and there’s a lot of positive energy around at the moment.”
That positivity is borne out of the way Smal has seen the squad cope with the loss through injury of six frontline Test starters — Brian O’Driscoll, Rob Kearney, Rory Best, Stephen Ferris, Sean O’Brien and Paul O’Connell.
“I think these weeks for me have been the most challenging two weeks that we have had, for me specifically, with the Irish team,” Smal said.
“In terms of injuries that we had, the practice of certain lineouts, it was with Stephen Ferris in the first week and then he was gone and then the next one was Paul and we had to adjust.
“A little of the combinations put pressure on us a little bit. If we can get a little more forward momentum, be aggressive in our ball carriers, get their team-mates to be aggressive in their clear outs, quick ball and we’ll start creating go-forward ball.
“Like I say, it was a challenge but it was very exciting working with these younger players. It’s lovely to see players with a lot of ambition. They want to go somewhere and they’re not afraid of playing against the best in the world and then you’re half way there.”
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