In her latest HoR2 offering, Kate McEvoy explores the Irish captaincy decision and how the media handled it…
I have mixed feelings about Declan Kidney. A graph of his recent popularity would probably resemble the path of a powerful avalanche, but, much like his oft-controversial selection the much-maligned Radge, deciding he's a bad coach is ahistorical. There's no point listing his manifold achievements, feel free to remind yourself of them if you like. He has brought many shiny things to these shores & I thank him for that. However in recent years, his successes, to stick with a theme of mountain-related metaphors have plateaued.
And when he does the things that he does that has everyone manically pointing at the Kidney Clock, I fall more into the “I'm not angry, I'm disappointed” category. Ok, sometimes I'm angry. He often acts like a man who has grown stale & conservative by being kept in a role for too long. Often, I find his selections conservative, his tactics flawed and these great white hope performances in a sea of mediocrity deeply frustrating. However, there are two things that frustrate me more. There appears to be flaws in the overall management structure of the IRFU that are often glossed over in favour of baying for Kidney's blood. The second is the one that's more relevant today – the complicity of the mainstream rugby media, particularly in print, in following the agenda set by Kidney.
I'm not a fan of being contrary for the sake of it, or as my mother would phrase it, looking for a row. This is something pundits such as George Hook, Stephen Jones or Conor George can be guilty of. I'm not looking for grand-standing in my analysis or deliberately generating controversy to increase traffic. I'm not a fan of link-bait. What we seem to be largely missing in this country is a healthy opposition to critique the Irish management & players. Critique does not always mean criticize but we need to move away from this idea of towing to the party line.
However I was extremely surprised at the reaction, or more accurately over-reaction of the media to the announcement the Kidney has chosen to award the Irish captaincy for the upcoming 6 Nations to Jamie Heaslip. The real story is of course that he has chosen to award to to someone who is not Ireland's greatest every rugby player, and by some distance most successful captain, Brian O'Driscoll.
That's really the crux of the matter here. Kidney has chosen his captain. This is his right and his responsibility as coach of our national rugby team. A texter into Off The Ball when the news broke this week claimed that it was up to BOD to decide when to relinquish the captaincy, and it would preferably be when he hung up his playing boots for good. That seems to sum up the prevalent mood across the media. People were wading in left, right & centre to put the boot in on Kidney's decision and accuse him of destroying the legacy of one of Ireland's greatest sporting heroes.
Well here's the thing. Despite my deep and abiding love for one of the world's greatest centres (that would be O'Driscoll for those not paying attention at the back) he does not have carte blanche on the Irish captaincy. If anybody did it would be him but, in my opinion, that doesn't apply to anyone. Once more with feeling, nobody has an automatic right to the captaincy of the Irish rugby team. Not even Brian O'Driscoll. He does not decide when to give it up. He does not get to give it back. It is the decision of the man who has been appointed to coach the national side. Part of this package of responsibility is to chose who will skipper his team.
It's safe to say that this was not handled particularly well. In his press conference on the issue, Kidney was evasive even by his standards. He seemed unsure and this sense of blood in the matter seemed to inflame the response by commentators. The usually even-handed Shane Horgan was close to apoplectic, Reggie Corrigan “couldn't think of a worse decision”, Hook used the opportunity to push his “Sexton for captain” agenda. The end of the latter's article had a more sensible suggestion (I know as I'm shocked as you are). Perhaps as a mark of respect this decision could have been separated from the team announcement. Could that have made a difference? Not sure on that front.
Some of the naysayers have played with O'Driscoll, even followed his captaincy themselves. Others, much like ourselves, have invested in an icon, been awed by his skills and dumb-struck by his regenerative capabilities. He's won 3 Heineken Cups in 4 years with Leinster. Funny thing is, he did that after relinquishing the captaincy to Leo Cullen. I don't remember such an execution squad being assembled in 2008. Is Jamie Heaslip being held responsible for not being Leo Cullen, as well as not being Brian O'Driscoll? Seems harsh.
Now, to look at the reasons behind the decision. It would probably be more accurate to say at what I think the reasons behind the decisions might be, since Kidney, and the rest of his team, did a great job of half-articulating them. The general synopsis of much of the media reaction has been “there is no reason for this decision”. I beg to differ.
Firstly, Brian O'Driscoll is 34 tomorrow. (Happy Birthday Bri-Bri! The card's in the post). He has started to look at his life beyond the pitch. He's involved in the Ultimate Rugby app (which is great by the way, highly recommended), IKON Talent Agency and a number of other projects. Surely it would be remiss, even negligent of Kidney not to similarly prepare his house for life without Brian?
I don't necessarily buy this RWC cycle business. I don't think it's necessary Heaslip starts preparing to captain the national side in their top competition two and half years out. There's a lot of life to be lived and playing to be done before that. I do think having a captain who's not Brian O'Driscoll for this 6 Nations while still being able to avail of his leadership and playing skills on the pitch is a positive move for the development of Irish rugby, if not for Brian himself.
Secondly, Brian O'Driscoll is 34 tomorrow. (I got a gift receipt, so you can return the present if you don't like it). As mentioned, we've been amazed by his capability to come back from injury with Wolverine-like speed. This is something that's been cited often in the past few days as evidence of Kidney's foolishness to drop him as captain, despite his injury problems and lack of game-time this season. While I admire the way O'Driscoll can cope physically & mentally with being sidelined and return to playing with unbelievable haste, I've always viewed that was a sort of bonus. I don't think it's something you can or should bank on. It does a disservice to the player and to the team. Even if that player is Brian O'Driscoll.
There's also a lot of outrage that Kidney has damaged Brian O'Driscoll's chances at the Lions' captaincy. A script appears to be doing the rounds that says O'Driscoll is supposed to continue as Irish captain in what is believed to be his final season as a player. He will then captain the Lions and lead them to a tour victory over Australia in what will be the final achievement in a long and storied career. Don't get me wrong, I have precious little objection to this version of events. It sounds great. But at this point, it's just a bed-time story. Or it would be if I had kids. Because I would tell it over and over again.
Alan Quinlan pointed out this week that the issue with decisions, especially key and/or controversial ones is that we don't know how they're going to going to turn out. This may or may not turn out to be a good choice. But there are logical reasons behind it. I find it strange that this is the issue in Kidney's reign that is receiving this kind of scrutiny. That issue is not that Jamie Heaslip is captain, but that Brian O'Driscoll is not. Side-note: I feel Rory Best is a bit hard-done by here. As mentioned I don't think we need to be picking our captain for 2015 now and Heaslip did not wow me at the autumn internationals.
In summary, it is not Kidney's job to protect the legacy of Brian O'Driscoll. It is his job to do what is best for the Irish rugby team. It seems to me that he has done his best to that in this case. He has made a difficult and unpopular decision. That's what he's supposed to do and what he is often criticized for not doing. The needs of the team come above that of an individual player, even our greatest individual player. The idea that he's being insulted and disrespected is inaccurate and frankly, unhelpful.
We need a rugby media that will critique rather than criticize decisions made. There's been balance largely missing from Irish rugby journalism for quite some time, it's just usually with Kidney rather than against him. I'm surprised this is the issue that's swung the balance. And finally, I'm opposed to idea that O'Driscoll's legacy is viewed as needing protecting. For me it's already set in stone.
Kate McEvoy : Munster fan in a sea of Leinster blue. Raised on a strict diet of Bective Rangers. Earliest childhood memory is stud marks in the muck. Former hooker for a father & a mother with an eye for a forward pass bordering on freakish . Often to be found down Monkstown RFC/ A & E on account of the exploits of the better half. Best rugby memory, Toulouse main square, May 24th 2008. Epitaph will read “Knew a lot about rugby for a girl.” Can be found tweeting optimistically at @ImKateMc
