DECLAN KIDNEY’S list of front-line casualties continued yesterday when Paul O’Connell was forced to concede his race against time. The charismatic secondrow will not make the plane to New Zealand where Ireland will face the All Blacks in three Test matches.
O’Connell had travelled to London for the rehab process on his injured knee and hoped to follow the squad out but failed to progress to the level required.
O’Connell’s name would have been at the top of Kidney’s list to be included especially after the withdrawal of Stephen Ferris because of the calf injury he picked up in the Heineken Cup final against Leinster.
The physical presence and leadership qualities of these two will be badly missed and it makes Kidney’s already mountainous task of beating New Zealand for the first time even more difficult.
The Munster captain suffered the injury on May 5th against Ulster and was given a four-to six-week recovery period, the upper limit for which was due to end on June 16th, the day of the second Test in Christchurch.
The 32-year-old also missed the second half of Ireland’s Six Nations campaign with a knee injury and only returned to competitive play in early April, which meant he had barely gotten back to full match fitness before the second set back.
“There’s nothing sinister in the decision,” said a Munster official. “Being the sort of competitive player Paul is, if he went out to New Zealand he would want to have played and not sit around watching. It’s about player welfare.”
Connacht forward Mike McCarthy had already been added to the Ireland squad as cover for the back five. The squad of 30 players will arrive in Auckland this evening.
The IRFU and the Irish Rugby Union Players Association (IRUPA) have, meanwhile, announced a partnership agreement, which will see both organisations working more closely together on initiatives including a commitment from the IRFU to actively and financially support a range of IRUPA driven initiatives.
It also includes expansion of the Player Services Programme and the introduction of a regulation scheme for player agents, allowing for greater transparency and security for players.
The Services Programme is particularly important as it provides off-field support for players in career development, personal development and financial structuring.
“Developing stronger services for the players was certainly one of the key goals that the IRUPA executive identified last year as part of the longer term strategy for the organisation,” said IRUPA chairman Brian O’Driscoll.
“A big part of that was obviously building a stronger relationship with the IRFU, as there is no doubt that working together can only benefit both the players and the game in Ireland. The new agreement is an incredibly positive step and hopefully it can provide a road map for player welfare into the future.”
IRISH SQUAD:D Cave (Ulster), G D'Arcy (Leinster), K Earls (Munster), R Kearney (Leinster), P Marshall (Ulster), F McFadden (Leinster), C Murray (Munster), B O'Driscoll (Leinster, capt), R O'Gara (Munster), E Reddan (Leinster), J Sexton (Leinster), A Trimble (Ulster), S Zebo (Munster); R Best (Ulster), S Cronin (Leinster), D Fitzpatrick (Ulster), C Healy (Leinster), J Heaslip (Leinster), C Henry (Ulster), R Loughney (Connacht), K McLaughlin (Leinster), M McCarthy (Connacht), S O'Brien (Leinster), D O'Callaghan (Munster), P O'Mahony (Munster), M Ross (Leinster), D Ryan (Munster), M Sherry (Munster), D Tuohy (Ulster), B Wilkinson (Connacht).
