Ireland’s loss to Scotland at Murrayfield has heaped yet more
pressure on Ireland head coach Declan Kidney. The knives were being sharpened
long before the 12-8 reversal in the Scottish capital, but calls for his head
will be louder now than ever.
Losing a game with 80% possession
is, of course, criminal. The blame however rests firmly at the players’
doorstep, not the coach’s. Poor execution, insipid leadership, blinkered
decision making and inaccurate goal kicking were the architects of Ireland’s
demise, not the guy sitting in the stand.
Many have called for the
‘ultra-conservative’ Kidney to ditch his so-called ‘favourites’ and to give the
youngsters a chance. It seems an oddly held opinion of Kidney in the first
place. If Peter Stringer and Shaun Payne ever viewed their former coach in such
light one would imagine they felt differently sitting on the bench in Kingsholm
in 2008.
Tomás O’ Leary (ironically the
beneficiary of Stringer’s demotion) and Luke Fitzgerald too might testify to
Kidney’s ability to abandon high-profile players in favour of less illustrious
replacements.
Either way the mud stuck. When the
Irish coach announced his selection last week it was greeted with disbelief.
Big calls at 1, 10 and 12 defied the perceived wisdom. He had given the naysayers
their wish and when it backfired they used it as a stick to beat him with.
Firstly the out-half situation
always had a ‘no-win’ feel about it. Had O’ Gara not performed poorly in the
England game and then abysmally for Munster against Scarlets last week there
would have been no call to be made; an away Six Nations game, against a team on
a high and with confidence ebbing from your own camp the experience of O’ Gara
was a no-brainer. As it turned out O’ Gara played himself out of the team to
the extent that he simply couldn’t be picked.
Paddy Jackson, despite the comfort
of Ruan Pienaar and a largely dominant pack in Ulster, has still managed to
underwhelm in recent months. He does however offer the next most experienced
alternative at Heineken Cup level. Ultimately this earned Jackson the starting
berth at the expense of an inexperienced Ian Keatley and Ian Madigan who,
although undoubtedly talented, is not a regular out-half in the big games for
his province. Keatley and Madigan’s inability to oust their respective
province’s number one out-half and make a strong case for inclusion in the
national squad is their own fault, not Kidney's.
Tom Court has been one of the
outstanding loose-heads in Europe this year; formidable at scrum time and
impressive in the loose. Dave Kilcoyne’s progression has been a joy to watch
this season but Court deserved his chance. Unfortunately like his Ulster
teammate at number ten Court struggled to grasp that opportunity on the pitch.
Luke Marshall, the third of the Ulster trio, was the most impressive in this
regard. Positive in attack and solid in defence his performance underlined his
growing stature in the game.
It was a match Ireland should have
won, but endeavoured to leave behind them. Court and Ross were both shown up in
the scrum at times. Rory Best’s missed line-out throws did little for the
cause. O’ Driscoll and Earls were both guilty of not giving a pass when
required and Rob Kearney continued his frustrating preference to go through
rather than over or around opposition players when counter-attacking. All have
to shoulder some of the blame. So too do Seán O Brien, Dave Kilcoyne and Jamie
Heaslip for giving away the penalties that ultimately handed the Scots the
initiative and the victory.
If there’s one decision Kidney
must be held to account for it’s his decision to install Heaslip as captain. So
far it has proven to be a very poor call. Heaslip has not only continued to
produce below par performances in a green jersey, he has appeared a reluctant
leader and a suspect decision-maker. Had Jackson been allowed to take the
relatively easy opportunity to kick three points early in the contest perhaps
confidence would have gone some way to easing the kicking woes that have been
evident in his game. The call to go to the corner was brave and at times, as in
the final minutes, is absolutely correct. Early on in an away Six Nations game
with a debutant out-half and the score-line level is, however, not the time.
Jackson’s captain did him no favours. If O’ Driscoll was to be removed from the
post Rory Best was the obvious choice to lead the side. The decision has
to count as a mark against the Irish coach.
The responsibility for this loss
however does not rest on Declan Kidney’s shoulders, rather stems from his
player’s inability to reach the levels of execution required at international
level. His players failed him, not the other way around.