Kidney offers hope to fringe contenders

RUGBY:World Cup warm-up Ireland v Scotland, tomorrow, Murrayfield, 2.15 THE VALUE of Ireland's expanded four-Test programme in readiness for the 2011 World Cup was underlined yesterday when Declan Kidney showed his hand for the opening assignment against Scotland.

In addition to affording valuable game time to some of the rustier components of the squad, the degree to which opportunity knocks for several of the fringe contenders strongly suggests some World Cup squad places are still very much up for grabs.

In making 13 changes from the team which beat England last time out in the Six Nations rarely can Kidney have picked a more experimental side. In addition to affording the anticipated comebacks for Rob Kearney (sidelined since November), Tomás O’Leary (out effectively since last February) and replacement hooker Jerry Flannery (hors de combat to all intents and purposes for 18 months), Kidney has granted a debut to the Connacht 29-year-old Mike McCarthy at blindside.

With Donnacha Ryan partnering Leo Cullen, who will become Ireland’s 100th Test captain in leading his country for the first time, and Kevin McLaughlin on the bench, the management are clearly still taking a very close look at the merits of the various locks-cum-backrowers. That trio appear to be competing for one spot.

There is another uncapped player in Felix Healy on the bench in the ultra competitive outside backs, and in addition to Kearney, Andrew Trimble and Luke Fitzgerald especially could do with confident outings on the wing, while opportunity also knocks for Fergus McFadden alongside Paddy Wallace in the absence of Brian O’Driscoll and Gordon D’Arcy.

Hence, new combinations abound, in the back three, in midfield, in the secondrow and most obviously in the backrow, where the debutant McCarthy is joined by Denis Leamy and Niall Ronan, something of a bolter in the absence of Shane Jennings (still to resume full contact) given he wasn’t in the original 43-man squad. O’Leary and Jonny Sexton have started six Tests, while the frontrow have played at A level together.

With only two more Tests away and at home to France, either side of a match against Connacht, Kidney admitted: “There’s no fairness, because there’s no such thing as saying we’ve five games, with the Connacht game, and that’s 400 minutes and you try to divide it out evenly.

“But that doesn’t happen, because you have to give combinations a chance to work, you have to get some fellas who were out longer than others a bit more match time to try and get match fit. And the difficulty is in telling fellas where they stand already. It’s not just a last-minute affair.”

Regarding Ronan’s selection, Kidney said: “We had 43 but we brought Niall in because once we assessed the end-of-season injuries we just felt it was more prudent to back up our numbers at seven, because with the way games are falling you don’t want to overplay a guy, so it was just prudent to call in Niall.”

Cullen spoke of the “huge privilege” bestowed upon him. “I’ve been knocking around for quite a while, I’ve had some ups and downs particularly in the international phase of my career, and I really appreciate it when I get to play for Ireland. There’s been plenty of years when I’ve watched the team from afar and yeah it’s a strange feeling to be honest. To get the opportunity to lead team out will be a special day for me.”

Winning was still the priority come kick-off (2.15) tomorrow, but Kidney admitted that in contrast to, say, a Six Nations game, they will be concentrating 99 per cent on their own performance rather than the opposition’s.

That said, he is fully aware the Scots have “a huge ability to hang onto the ball”, citing Ireland’s hard-pressed three tries to nil but 21-18 win there last February. “If they do that possession game, side to side, that will challenge us.

“It goes without saying their forwards will be shrewd . . . their lineout has been excellent, their scrum is strong, and to state the obvious Scotland’s rucking is always a tester at the breakdown. That’s probably the key area coming into this season to try and get right.”

Expanding on this, he added: “The game has become a bit more fluid and the ball is in more play more. Statistically you have 17-20 lineouts, 14 scrums and 120 breakdowns. So it was just an observation on the game in general. Just watching the first round or two of the Tri-Nations, and how the season ended last year in the Heineken Cup. That’s one of the areas we’ll be trying to get right . . . But if your breakdown work isn’t right against Scotland, it can be a long day.”