AFTER-MATCH REACTION: Gavin Cummiskeyhears Jamie Heaslip's and Declan Kidney's thoughts at the Aviva Stadium yesterday
DECLAN KIDNEY has always spoken about players taking responsibility for the game plan on the field, in the heat of battle, as if the ultimate coaching achievement would be to make himself redundant. They are not there yet, but the reaction to the past months seems to be that Ireland are getting there.
On that premise, pack leader Jamie Heaslip, a man who was not part of the Leinster leadership group 12 months ago, never mind Ireland’s, was asked about the progress of Irish rugby since defeat to South Africa at the beginning of November.
“Over the last couple of games we learned a lot, alright,” said Heaslip, standing in for the injured Brian O’Driscoll at the post-match conference.
“We have found a pattern the players like, we have got a good blend and we can adapt according to each team. We have found our feet but we have only won two games out of four so we are not too happy with that. We definitely have to look back at where we can improve on it.
“I was delighted we won,” Heaslip was keen to stress. “Granted, it did get a little loose at times but we did tie it down eventually. Some of the decisions we made as a team regarding how to manage the game went a bit awry but that’s where we will learn.
“The lads were very happy with the win. There are a couple of tins in there and the boys got stuck in.”
So, Kidney and his management will hole themselves away for the next two months, analyse the past four games and present the team with the means to improve ahead of a gruelling Six Nations campaign.
Kidney: “One of our goals this month was to win every match. We didn’t. We came up short in two of them so we have to take a serious look at that. But the other was to build a squad. We have been doing that and today was a good sign of that. You can build all you like at training but fellas have to prove it to themselves with a tough game.
“Especially in the frontrow. We need them all to be building up experience. We need John Hayes playing because that is what would keep him ticking over very nicely. We have a few fellas to come back from injury: Jerry (Flannery), Rory (Best), Marcus (Horan) and we need the lads today along with Tom Court and Mike Ross playing regularly because for frontrows they just need game time.”
But this simply cannot happen at provincial level especially at Munster and Leinster as there are five props from the Southern Hemisphere on contract. Still, Kidney is content with the progress of the Irish scrum.
“We put pressure on to scrummage as eight rather than three or front five. In hindsight, when you look back to those scrums at our line, that gave us an inner belief and we got as much out of the scrums as we gave away.
“It takes a while for things to come together and it is nice now at the end of a series that we are certainly not the finished article with where we want to be with scrummaging but certainly it was a good stepping stone to where we want to get to.”
