FEW PLAYERS BETTER sum up the intense competition for very few places in Ireland’s national team during a period of massive success.
In a different era, a player of Dave Kilcoyne’s quality and power would surely have amassed a great deal more than 25 caps over the six years since his Test debut.
Unfortunately, the Munster man has been the man to miss out due to the exceptionally high bar set for Irish looseheads by Cian Healy and Jack McGrath, who both also earned Lions gear on the back of their exploits in green.
Given how regularly he appears in squads and one-off Tests it seems incredible that Saturday marked Kilcoyne’s first Six Nations appearance under Joe Schmidt
Before that, he last sampled the Championship away to Italy in 2013. Three weeks earlier, Kilcoyne was also in the squad when Declan Kidney’s side lost to Scotland in Murrayfield.
“It was a very tough day,” says the prop, “it was a bad day for Irish rugby, hopefully we will have better memories this week.”
While those of us outside the camp may feel the confidence blow delivered by England carries a danger of deflating Ireland, ‘Killer’ speaks with the innate hunger of a man who has relentlessly chased this honour. He has waited close to six full years for a taste of Six Nations rugby and he is determined to enjoy his next bite.
It’s bittersweet. You are delighted to be back in the mix, in such a big game, but (the defeat to England) really soured it. You want to be back in on an Irish winning side. Unfortunately last week we came out with the wrong result.
“I would say it just made me incredibly hungry. You want to be part of a winning Irish team, or an Irish team full stop. International rugby is the highest accolade and you want to be playing it. It created extreme hunger and you relish that.”
Although the focus required for this week’s Test will not allow his mind drift forward beyond the end of the Six Nations, Murrayfield is an important location for the Limerick man in the medium term as it will also be the venue for Munster’s Heineken Champions Cup quarter-final at the tail end of March.
Laying down a marker and getting into the habit of winning on that turf would be handy intangible have in his favour. For now, though, the blinkers are on and only one result matters, a win to keep Ireland in contention for the Six Nations title and take some of the heat off after Saturday’s crushing loss toc England.
“That’s the beauty of this group. We tend to look forward. It’s about getting a win in Scotland and taking it from there. It’s about fixing the wrongs from last week and delivering this week.
It’s a Six Nations game for Ireland, so there is always massive pressure”
”(England) is the first team Ireland has lost to in quite a while. It was sombre, downbeat mood after the game. At the same time, you have the luxury in rugby with a quick turnaround. We were honest with ourselves, but you have to dust yourself down quickly. Now it is all about preparing for Scotland.
“It’s an incredible stadium and the Scottish are proud supporters, quite like the Irish and really rally in behind their team. They will have a whole country behind them. It’s going to be a very tough Test.”
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He should be rediscovering his form & fitness with Munster not with the national team. Shouldn’t be a separate rule for him no matter how good he is at his best. Just lowers squad standards….
@ℝ: Who should be in the squad ahead of him, do you think? Marmion is barely back from injury and McGrath is still out for a few more weeks.
@Conor Matthews: Cooney and Blade, the two form Irish scrumhalves by a country mile… and especially for the Italy game. The pace the pair play is perfect for an ireland game to run Italy ragged, and test their fringe defences as unlike Murray both delight at sniping runs at defences. Cooney may be light on Caps but he has loads of experience having played for three provinces and excelled at all…
Yep, no sympathy for Murray or Sexton, thats 2 games they havent performed. Get in the queue and earn your places again boys. And this is why Joe should be rotating the squad more often. Like it was mentioned above, get your game time at the provinces…..and then bring that game to the national team, if youre good enough. Class is permanent, Joe says, yeah but who puts BOD (no disrespect meant) in at 13 these days. Form…form…form
@Trev: sexton was poor v England but he was running the game v Scotland until he got injured. We’d have won by 30 if he’d have stayed on.
@Chris Mc: complete tosh. Apart from the assist to stockdale sexton was bang average. Kicking out of hand was poor and his kick from the tee was embarrassing. He wasn’t as poor as Murray but don’t kid yourself if you think he’s in any better form. Last decent shift sexton put in was against NZ for club and country.
@Chris Mc: yes he got injured, is that your or my fault? No. As the saying goes……youre only as good as your last game. He’s had 2 now, & so has Murray. There is plenty of class waiting in the wings (but thats another discussion)…
Just re-read the headline, that is just pish! Either he can play at the highest level or…he cant. Simple until he gets back up there. But do not waste international minutes on him on the off-chance that he is going to take another 10 or so games to rediscover his form. Same with Sexton….Joe its time to start cracking the whip!!!
@Trev: I think Joe Schmidt will start Sexton and Murray.I also think he should
I’d really like to see the other players get a chance to prove their worth under pressure. What is going to happen in the RWC if a key member gets injured? The tournament is beyond Ireland realistically, so give Carbery etc starting roles. We don’t want a repeat of player burnout before the finals stages
Murray’s been way off it the last number of games ever since Exeter visited Limerick. Hope he rediscovers but can’t be at the expense of Ireland.