Two under-fire coaches going head-to-head to save face; bound to be entertaining, writes Keego…
This week it is all mental.
Come to think of it, this whole 6 Nations has been mental.
Here we are with an injury ravaged team and a coach who appears to be either one step ahead of everyone or actually losing his marbles through the mammoth amount of stresses he is facing.
Before we start, I like Kidney. He is a great coach and a really good man manager. Or at least he has been until recently.
We all know the stories about Heaslip being given the captaincy. It was done over a phone call, which is far less that our greatest player deserves. The excuse that was given for changing captain made zero sense and has put extra pressure on Heaslip to lead, which may be causing him to try too hard which costs us penalties / yellows. We also know about the lack of apparent game plan against England. The senior players looking like they cannot call the game on the field as it is happening. We all know about O’Gara being left out of the squad, again via phone call (Kidney must have thousands of minutes left on his monthly Vodafone bill), and then the possibility of being called back if Jackson was injured. And lastly, there is McFadden playing on the wing when Jackson is starting his second game in green.
I think that covers most of it.
We are not THAT stupid. We know that McFadden is playing because he can kick. There was talk about him going to kicking practice in Lansdowne on Thursday. Why is he there? Ferg is a great player; he has been shafted by kKdney going all the way back to the New Zealand tour. He should have been called to play 12 instead of flying Paddy Wallace in from the beach. This was the start of the crazy decisions that have affected the team.
This game against France is all about what is between the ears of the coaches. St Andre appears to be hell bent on grabbing defeat from the jaws of victory by making mad decisions. Kidney appears to be throwing feces at the wall and hoping something sticks.
The main difference is that the French played well against England. Had the English frightened for the first time in this competition. Then he changed the 2 players that where running the show for them, that being Parra and Trin-Duc. This is one of the main things to be hopeful for Ireland. The players France have on the pitch are immense. Fofana and Bastareaud are so destructive I wouldn’t drive at them while in my jeep. Marshall and O’Driscoll have to have their wits about them. We know one of them will use cunning and experience to stop the opposition, the other is playing his second game in green. Is this a good idea?
The main issue for Ireland is that the coach has been backing himself into a corner for so long that he couldn’t name his team fully this week. He had waved goodbye to O’Gara and then the run of bad luck continued and Jackson had a hamstring niggle which was possibly going to affect his participation. It turns out that Kidney had some luck and Jackson will start.
Is Jackson the right man? Is Marshall the right man? Deccie had no choice but to name Jackson if he was fit. This is caused by him starting against Scotland, instead of playing him for the last 40 minutes in a less pressure point in the game. O’Gara would have kicked 3 of those opening kicks and set up a platform for the team, they would have scored at least 2 tries and Jackson would have been coming in to a winning team, a confident and relaxed team. This would have freed him up to play with confidence.
So with all that being said, can we win? I am not sure to be honest. If we can go 20 minutes without injuries and keeping the score close we can maybe dent the notoriously fickle French mentality.
We need to get our set piece right and have to stop the French 12 and 13 cutting us up. Hopefully the team can do it in spite of the coach.
I hope we can do it. There is no shame in losing while fighting in the game. There is shame in folding.
We definitely won’t fold.
Either Ireland by 3 or France by 103.
As usual, feel free to abuse/debate/question me on twitter @nkeegan and sure why not take a trip over to www.thedailyclothesline.com for more literary merriment?
Until next week….
Keego (@nkeegan): Blogger, former professional wrestler, sometime attempted rugby player (@TheThirsty3rds), professional procrastinator and attempted musician with a fondness for long walks on the bar, tea and the couch. Opinionated Leinster fan and constant gardener.
