The visit of France may bring Kidney a stay of execution, writes Ryan Cullen
The build up to Sunday’s encounter at Murrayfield was dominated by a deafening din outlining the need for Kidney to get his selection spot on. After a chastening defeat against England, all Ireland needed was a boring victory to right the ship – a successful base from which they could build for the visit of France in the next round of fixtures. At the same time as restoring some degree of confidence this would also serve to keep Ireland in the championship hunt, slim though their chances would be.
The selection announced by the Irish management for the game with Scotland certainly came as a shock to many then, myself included, as the experience of Ronan O’Gara was shunned in order to give a chance to Ulster’s Paddy Jackson. At centre, more experienced options were overlooked in favour of another young Ulster flier Luke Marshall. Tom Court’s perceived strength at the scrum, and greater experience, saw him drafted in at loosehead, whilst Donnacha O’Callaghan replaced Mike McCarthy in the second row. A balance, it was thought, had been struck between experience and youth.
If you look at the bare statistics of Sunday’s game, it’s hard to argue this balance wasn’t struck. Ireland dominated Scotland, denying them possession and territory and limited their try scoring potential for the vast majority of the game. Ireland also made several searing line breaks in the first half, opening up the Scots and creating simple one out passing opportunities which would have resulted in tries. For large parts of the game it seemed as if Scotland was simply incapable of getting out of their own half. Yet, as we found out against England, statistics are simply an indication of the shape of a game – not the deciding factors.
The lack of clinical edge demonstrated by Ireland was astounding at times. Whilst Luke Marshall certainly deserves some praise for his overall performance, which made for a very solid debut, he certainly butchered one clear opportunity to set Craig Gilroy away in the corner. His faux pas, however, was considerably more forgivable than the one we saw from Keith Earls who, in a moment of apparent madness, thought it would be better to try and take on fullback Stuart Hogg rather than execute the simple two on one created after his break. Had Ireland taken these they would probably have had the game sewn up by half time.
Unfortunately for Paddy Jackson, Ireland’s failure to take their try scoring opportunities threw greater pressure onto the few kicks at goal he attempted. As Ulster fans will know, Jackson is still growing into his role as first team fly half with his province. He is susceptible to nervous moments and his place kicking tends to be the first thing to go when the pressure comes on. This wasn’t something Declan Kidney could have been unaware of and with hindsight it certainly doesn’t reflect well on him. As Jackson sliced his first effort at goal, Kidney must have started to wonder about the wisdom of his choice of standoff.
Jackson’s overall game management was actually quite acceptable despite his place kicking woes. He passed nicely in the main, stood flat and helped create the Marshall breaks and defended well. If he kicked his goals, and of course made touch with that penalty, then we would probably be saying it was an accomplished debut. International rugby doesn’t provide such margins for error though.
It would be unfair and untrue to place all the blame at Jackson’s feet however. Of the pack only Sean O’Brien comes out with his reputation enhanced. Rory Best had one of his worst days in a green shirt as he was central to the shambolic lineout performance. The scrum creaked throughout and the backrow, O’Brien aside, simply didn’t get over the gain line often enough, even though their work at the breakdown was exemplary. Heaslip is clearly not at the top of his form currently which has lead to his position as captain being instantly undermined. With Ireland desperate in the last ten minutes it looked like the whole team was looking to number 13 for guidance – not number 8.
The backs in general performed acceptably, line break cock ups aside, with Luke Marshall impressing, and proving me wrong, and Craig Gilroy producing his best performance since his debut. The Ulsterman was a commanding presence in the air, strong in defence and scored a try probably nobody else on the pitch would have, pirouetting away from the defence and dotting down from an unlikely position for a relatively diminutive winger. Why Declan Kidney thought he, and not Keith Earls, should be replaced by Luke Fitzgerald is more than a little baffling. Ronan O’Gara certainly didn’t cover himself in glory when he was introduced but given the situation, we can forgive a proven veteran for his moment of madness.
Whether the Irish public will be so forgiving towards Declan Kidney will be probably be decided at the Aviva when France comes to town. Victory over the French may be enough to provide Kidney with a stay of execution provided it is backed up with a good performance and victory in Rome. It would be a surprise if anything else is good enough. There have been many disgruntled fans on message boards suggesting that defeat to France may be preferable if it means Declan Kidney is moved on. I tend to take a similar view to Alan Quinlan here – anybody who actively wants their team to lose to prove themselves right is getting carried away with their own opinion. It certainly doesn’t help the players if the fans aren’t right behind the team and the setup.
That is not to say we can’t be critical – Kidney certainly deserves the criticism he is getting and he should continue to get it if he doesn’t plot a quick recovery. But all should keep in mind that everybody wants the same thing. Kidney has been doing what he has believed is best for Irish rugby and has brought it some of its greatest days. Surely he is due a bit more respect than some people are giving him at the moment.
England’s victory over France was another demonstration of the home side’s ability to grind out a victory despite not bringing their ‘A’ game on to the paddock. For long periods of the game England simply looked second best against a French side with much more shape and threat than in previous rounds. France looked potential winners in the first half after Wesley Fofana’s sparkling individual try and their strong set piece performance. The second half, however, was a different story as St Andre couldn’t help but tinker and came unstuck by doing so. Changing his half backs and the front row saw the balance shift away from his team and in favour of Stuart Lancaster’s men, who were steered home impressively by Toby Flood. For mine, Flood is a better player than Owen Farrell, much more likely to unlock a defence and also a strong goal kicker, so there was no surprise he was a boost of the bench. He wasn’t the only one mind as England once again demonstrated the benefits gained by blooding a squad, not just a First XV. They march on to Cardiff as Italy will surely be little more than a speed bump.
In Rome, Wales produced another strong performance to brush aside an Italian side that has reverted to type. Wales were exceptional at the set piece and entirely controlled the game as Dan Biggar put in his best performance to date. Italy, shorn of Sergio Parisse, huffed and puffed but never really looked a danger to Rob Howley’s men for whom Alex Cuthbert produced his best performance of the championship yet, although he is always a far superior player going forward rather than defending, and Lee Halfpenny was again imperious in difficult conditions. Sadly for Italy it’s hard to identify many players who performed well. Without the galvanising effect of their captain they couldn’t cope with the Welsh size and intensity and probably confirmed their true standing in the championship as a mediocre sixth side.
For England, Scotland and Wales the championship is still very much alive with two huge weekends of rugby still to come. For the others, pride is all that can be salvaged now.
P.S. What a shame it was to hear that Stephen Ferris has been ruled out for the rest of the season. A huge player for club and country, the blindside flanker was a likely Lion also and would have fully deserved to tour after his misfortune on the last trip. The Lions aside, if ever Ulster and Ireland could have done with the Ulsterman’s huge impact it’s probably now.
My name is Ryan Cullen and I am a 25 year old Ulster season ticket holder. I was introduced to the game around 15 years ago and have loved it ever since. I have an interest in pretty much all sports though so don’t be surprised to see a few football (Liverpool), Golfing and Racing interests (to name but a few) thrown in from time to time.
