THE IRFU PROUDLY announced last week that thousands of tickets had been snapped up for the November Test match against South Africa.
After witnessing Ireland get well and truly skittled in Hamilton on Saturday, one wonders how many supporters are regretting their purchase.
No matter how good the Springboks prove to be in five months time, they will not reach the stupendous levels of performance that the All Blacks achieved in two out of three Steinlager Series matches.
The revamped Lansdowne Road is not a fortress yet but Ireland will surely be more consistently competitive for the November series of Tests.
The return of Stephen Ferris, Tommy Bowe and Paul O’Connell will see to that but what Irish players, involved in the New Zealand, tour may feature in the starting 15 to face the South Africans?
Certainties
It takes a special type of effort to emerge from a 124-29 aggregate beating over three matches with credit.
However, Cian Healy, Sean O’Brien and Donnacha Ryan all performed admirably, but by no means perfectly, in each game.
Rob Kearney and Jonathan Sexton showed glimpses of their worth and Jamie Heaslip’s performance in the second Test was his finest outing for Ireland since the Wales match in February.
Conor Murray, as long as he practices his box kicks over the summer, will only benefit from a tour that featured his first international try.
Mike Ross will not be an international for many years more but he remains the best option at tighthead, while Rory Best should retain the number two jersey despite the challenges of Sean Cronin and the soon-to-be naturalised Richardt Strauss.
Rory Best prepares for a challenge from Aaron Cruden. (©INPHO/Billy Stickland)
Using Best on the wings as an attacking option has been well worked out by opponents at this stage.
Gordon D’Arcy showed his defensive worth in his only outing and Brian O’Driscoll, uncharacteristically poor in Hamilton, will return for what will most likely be his final season in green – ending up, he hopes, with a Lions tour to Australia.
Bowe, Ferris and O’Connell will all feature if fit.
Probables
Eoin Reddan has earned the faith of his provincial coach, Joe Schmidt but may have to settle for a prolonged role as experienced back-up to Murray. Declan Kidney certainly seems to have an aversion to pairing Sexton and Reddan together from the start of matches.
Peter O’Mahony’s best contribution came off the bench in the Christchurch defeat. He should lose out to a fit again Heaslip in November.
Kevin McLaughlin was excellent in that same match but may have to content himself with a replacements spot. His lock experience is an added bonus.
Israel Dagg leaves Keith Earls in his wake. (©INPHO/Billy Stickland)
Keith Earls, as predicted on TheScore.ie in May, has suffered for his flexibility. He bravely opted to remain on tour after copping a nasty shoulder injury but, after getting clattered en-route to a Hosea Gear try, he may regret his willingness.
Earls faces a battle with Andrew Trimble for the left wing slot as he will not be in the centre, barring injuries, for at least another year.
When will we see you again?
Fergus McFadden had two shocking outings in New Zealand but should be given a chance at inside centre sooner rather than later. He may have to bide his time for another opportunity.
Darren Cave must feel pretty low after being overlooked for a run-out at centre. Another gutsy season for Ulster may help but he appears to be down the pecking order. Ditto for Chris Henry, who finds himself far away from a position in the back-row.
Paddy Wallace should not feature for Ireland again soon but he must be given some credit for keeping up a personal training schedule and hauling himself down to New Zealand at short notice. Likewise Gavin Duffy, who never looked likely of making the matchdays 22s.
Dan Tuohy, like a lot of his teammates, was good in Christchurch and sub-standard otherwise. Declan Fitzpatrick has overtaken Tom Court as prop back-up, while Ronan Loughney can only improve from another tough Heineken Cup campaign.
Simon Zebo was dropped without a trace after the first Test, where he looked great in attack and poor in defence.
As for Ronan O’Gara – he may not want to go out on a four-match losing streak but his hand may be forced, especially with the emergence of Paddy Jackson. Donnacha O’Callaghan may not be far behind.
New faces?
Apart from a selection aberration before the first Test, Kidney will not make too many sweeping changes. The return of stalwarts such as O’Connell and Ferris should see to that.
Jackson and Strauss (mentioned already) are certainly in with a shout while Craig Gilroy must be given a chance on the wing in one of the three November matches.
Devin Toner, now that Brad Thorn is off to win more trophies abroad, needs a strong start for Leinster to stand a chance while James Downey could win a first cap if he batters his way to a few tries for Munster.
Dave Kearney may jump the queue, ahead of McFadden and Trimble, to take a spot on the replacement’s bench.
Good news though, TheScore.ie and its snazzy microphone are heading back to Ireland and a summer of refreshing rain.
How anyone can still support Declan kidney at this point is worrying, 6 wins from 17 games is inexcusable. A new coach, preferably one who is foreign with no bias to any province, would take the team in a new direction. We need the next Joe Schmidt and we need him now.
Not Declan Kidney… hopefully!!
I think we really need a new coach. Kidney has given great service to Irish rugby but has not delivered anything. The 2009 Grand Slam was virtually inherited from Eddie O’Sullivan and nothing at all since then. International Coach needed with no connection to Irish rugby.
Why not? O’Shea or Schmidt would be great coaches for the senior team.
A bit early to promote Mike Ruddock? A Grand Slam winner in 05 with Wales, no provincial ‘loyalties’ to speak of and he is already involved in the Irish setup as U20 coach. It seems like a no-brainer in all honesty.
Why Paddy Jackson ? Ulster wouldn’t let him play in under 20 RWC . JJ Hanrahan got player of the tournament at no 10 – he should be there before Jackson
Ulster screwed that one up. Humphrey’s has made some shocking decisions as director of rugby in Ulster.
Would you make the same comment Elrat, if Hanrahan wasn’t from Munster?
he didnt play because ulster are making him their no 1 10 next year?
Mike Ross is a tighthead, and yes, I did send a tip/correction before work this morning!
Kidney’s record since the game changed post-HEC 2008 is actually pretty poor. Even in 2009 Ireland passed the least of any team in the 6N. He ignored Ross until it was forced on him, ignored Fitzpatrick until it was forced on him, won’t play Sexton & Reddan together, has overseen huge losses to England & NZ in his most recent games….I could go on but does anyone seriously think Leinster would lose 60-0 to NZ?
Cheers Chuck.
In fairness Ulster are still ignoring Fitzpatrick..
Some of the players have been listening to Kidney since he was a schoolteacher coach in Pres. Cork. What can he say or do that the players haven’t heard before.Selections are New approach badly needed. Thanks for ’09.
It’s too early for him but I hope Conor O’Shea continues to improve as a manager and brings his expertise eventually into the Irish team. nnKidney was so excellent for Munster I’m not sure what has gone wrong with his management of the Irish team. I’d love to see a change but we all know we’re stuck with our soccer and rugby managers for another 2 years.
Kidney did fantastic with Munster. However the game changed and left him behind. Simples
BOD is past it,i know this comment is not going to go down well,but lets be realistic,his reputation has gone before his actual performances,he was good in the 2nd tests,but there wasn’t a Irish player who wasn’t…In the 1st and 3rd test he was brutal,stupid offloads,missed tackles,miserable switches etc..I think it would be unfair to Jonathon Davies who has been fantastic for Wales if BOD got the Lions 13 jersey..Time for some more Irish 13s to be given a proper chance
Stand up and fight. 31/10/1978
Sit down and be quiet. 25/06/2012
@paulryannlol
1. Kidney has to gon2. Players like toner gilroy cave Jackson and madigan need to be brought through. n3. Each Provence should have to play an Irish qualified player in each position for a certain amount of competitive game time. (if you take that Leinster use at least six frontrow players for most of their games to say they can’t have an overseas tighthead just because Munster and ulster have one is silly as long as they have to give an Irish prop an set amout of game time aswell I don’t see the problem. n
Im still pissed off about the 60-0. This just shouldn’t happen in the professional era. I remember Wales shipping 90 points against NZ in the armature days and I’ve hated the Fern ever since. nMy thoughts on the Irish hammering is simply this. nNo player ever goes on the pitch to give less than 100%. nBlame for this fiasco is on the weeks preparation and to those who were controlling it. nThe players can be held accountable for certain aspects of the game, falling off tackles and skill proficiency during the game although you could attribute this yet again to preparation. nPhysically we came off second best in the collision area was that through tiredness of the brain! Mentally we looked lethargic. nIt’s the mental perpetration I would put under scrutiny. nI truly believe that Kidney is a good Director but falls short on coaching ability and tactical awareness on a continuity scale. nWe need a clear out, whether that is the coaches or kidney at this juncture would it matter? possibly not. nWe purposely didn’t take a young inexperienced squad to NZ because we feared a whopping! Well that plan didn’t work!nAlthough 3 players got capped in NZ only Toughy earned it the others got theirs through injury and in Zebo’s case a brain freeze by the selectors. So yet again we have gone on Tour and not blooded the up and coming talent that we see in the Heineken and Rabo. Yet they screw up PW holiday in Portugal based on he’s the best passing 12 we have!nKidney said he was picked to coach Ireland and he hasn’t finished the job yet. He started on a high by winning the Grand Slam and has achieved nothing since. In reality that was Eddies trophy. So it’s a sliding scale I’d look at this stat really hard. nThe NZ press were asking why can’t Ireland replicate what they do in the Heineken cup! It’s very simple really theres 2 reasons some of our best talent aren’t Irish qualified and our selectors the clowns didn’t take the so called inexperienced available talent with them. nPDR
Martin Johnson
How about BOD to 12 and Bowe at 13 ??nThe squad doesn’t need motivation, they’ve plenty of that. They just need a competent decision maker, that will blend current and new blood over the next 3 yrs, pre RWC
Madigan and Zebo are the next big things in Irish rugby, surely.