USA v Ireland preview: Eddie O'Sullivan and Declan Kidney, Irish rugby's two most successful coaches of the professional era, will go head to head in Santa Clara, California on Sunday as a youthful Ireland wind up their summer tour against O'Sullivan's USA Eagles.
Only 14 months have passed since O’Sullivan resigned as Ireland head coach after seven years at the helm.
A new regime was called for and Kidney, having won two Heineken Cups with Munster, enjoyed a dream first season in charge — first securing a second seeding for the 2011 Rugby World Cup draw and then ending a 61-year wait for the Grand Slam.
The Cork-born pair’s paths have criss-crossed over the years, most notably between 2002 and 2004 when Kidney was assistant coach to O’Sullivan in the Ireland set-up.
Speculation was rife they did not see eye to eye but a working relationship was very much maintained and Kidney was quick to praise the efforts of his predecessor when Ireland lifted the Six Nations title in March.
Appointed as USA coach in March, O’Sullivan has been assembling a squad for Tests against Ireland and Wales (June 6th), the Churchill Cup tournament and most importantly two Rugby World Cup qualifier matches against arch rivals Canada on July 4th and 11th.
Pleasantries are sure to be exchanged, particularly between O’Sullivan and the more experienced Ireland players like tour captain Rory Best, but the new American supremo will adopt a business-like approach for the Setanta Challenge Cup
“It will be a big ask for us to win those games (against Canada) but it would be great if we could because it would put us directly into the Rugby World Cup. So it’s really something to work towards,” he said.
“It’s very important for us to get these games against Ireland and Wales. They’ll be tough games and it will be exactly what we need to get our heads set for the World Cup qualifiers.
“So they’re of huge value to us in that respect and they will give us a good indicator of where we are in terms of our preparations.”
O’Sullivan’s preparations have been hit by player withdrawals. Thirteen players are unavailable, including last year’s captain Todd Clever and experienced campaigners Paul Emerick and Kort Schubert.
Meanwhile, Connacht captain John Muldoon is determined to help Ireland end their tour on a high after a lacklustre display in last weekend’s 25-6 win over Canada.
He made his senior debut in that game but hampered by a short amount of preparation time and new combinations around the pitch, Ireland struggled for the first hour.
Muldoon said: “I think we always expected Canada to come out and be very strong. They are a very physical, very strong side in that respect and were very aggressive for the first 20 to 25 minutes.
“I think with the time period that we had together, we struggled especially in the first half to get some patterns together and to get a strong foothold in the game.
“But once we knuckled down in the second half things began to come together and hopefully with that attitude this weekend we can do the same.”
The Portumna native, voted Connacht’s Senior Player of the Year, will line out once again with Niall Ronan and Denis Leamy in the back row.
Kidney has made just one change to the side that beat Canada, moving Mike Ross in on the tighthead side of the scrum for his first senior start. Tom Court makes way and Tony Buckley switches to loosehead prop.
“Looking at the USA this weekend they’re another big, strong physical team. I think rugby in the USA is really starting to grow with a lot more numbers playing and they’re getting better and better as every year goes by,” Muldoon added.
“Of course with Eddie there as their coach, they will be well prepared and he will know a lot of the Irish players so I’m sure his team will be well briefed on us.
“The heat will no doubt be a big factor and although it’s the same for both of the teams, I suppose we are not as used to the conditions so it will be a tough game for everybody involved.
“I think work-rate will be really important just as it was last week and in the second half when we upped it a bit as the combinations got used to each other, things began to flow a bit better for us.
“With another week’s training, people know each other a little bit better and hopefully that will help us through.”
USA v Ireland, Santa Clara, California
Kick-off 9pm Irish time (Sunday), Live on Setanta Ireland
USA: C Wyles (Saracens); J Boyd (Dallas Harlequins), J Sifa (Middleton), R Suniula (Pearl City), K Swiryn (Old Puget Sound Beach); M Hercus (Sunshine Coast Stingrays),
M Petri (New York Athletic Club); M MacDonald (Leeds Carnegie), C Biller (California), W Johnson (Oxford University); J Van Der Giessen (Denver Barbarians), H Smith (Saracens); L Stanfill (New York Athletic Club), P Dahl (Belmont Shore), N Johnson (Denver Barbarians)
Replacements: J Welch (Belmont Shore), M Moeakiola (Park City Haggis), C Mackay (Counties Manukau), JJ Gagiani (Univ of Cape Town), T Usasz (Nottingham), A Malifa (Belmont Shore), A Tuilevuka (Provo Steelers)
Ireland: G Duffy (Connacht); B Murphy (Munster), D Cave (Ulster), I Whitten (Ulster), I Dowling (Munster); I Keatly (Connacht), P Stringer (Munster); T Buckley (Munster), R Best (Ulster), M Ross (Harlequins), B Casey (London Irish), M O'Driscoll (Munster), J Muldoon (Connacht), N Ronan (Munster), D Leamy (Munster).
Replacements: S Cronin (Connacht), T Court (Ulster), R Caldwell (Ulster), D Ryan (Munster), E Redden (Wasps), N O'Conor (Ulster), D Hurley (Munster)
