Kidney warns of Maori 'Test'
Declan Kidney admits he is treating the centenary match with New Zealand Maori in Rotorua as a Test match, despite changing his entire starting XV.
After being thumped 66-28 by the All Blacks last weekend Kidney has changed his entire line-up ahead of the final leg of the tour in Australia.
Experienced full-back Geordan Murphy will captain the side for the first time against the Maori, who play the second of the three games to mark their 100 years celebration.
The Maori warmed up for the Ireland match with a less than convincing 37-31 win over the Barbarians last weekend but with Hosea Gear and Luke McAlister in Jamie Joseph’s ranks they have plenty of quality.
“We do see it as a Test for us and they would have tidied off a lot of things from last week,” said Kidney.
“One match is worth five or six training sessions. They would have taken a look at the video so I’m sure they will seal off anything they thought they were vulnerable with.
“I read recently that Jamie (Joseph) was saying the Maori were getting the right balance right between throwing it around and going for the win.
“The way the game is now, you want players to go out and express themselves.
“We just have to learn from last Saturday night that, when we throw it around, we throw it to ourselves and not towards the opposition.”
Jonathan Sexton, Eoin Reddan, Dun Tuohy, Tom Court and John Fogarty have followed Murphy in stepping up from the bench from last weekend’s Test defeat.
And young Leinster flanker Rhys Ruddock, the son of former Wales boss Mike, will complete a whirlwind couple of weeks by making his senior bow after flying in from the IRB Junior World Championship in Argentina.
Teams:
New Zealand Maori: 15 Robbie Robinson, 14 Sean Maitland, 13 Dwayne Sweeney, 12 Luke McAlister, 11 Hosea Gear, 10 Stephen Brett, 9 Aaron Smith, 8 Colin Bourke, 7 Tanerau Latimer, 6 Liam Messam (captain), 5 Jarrad Hoeata, 4 Hayden Triggs, 3 Ben Afeaki, 2 Corey Flynn, 1 Bronson Murray.
Replacements: 16 Dane Coles, 17 Clint Newlands, 18 Romana Graham, 19 Karl Lowe, 20 Ruki Tipuna, 21 Willie Ripia, 22 Jackson Willison.
Ireland XV: 15 Geordan Murphy (captain), 14 Shane Horgan, 13 Gavin Duffy, 12 Paddy Wallace, 11 Johne Murphy, 10 Jonathan Sexton, 9 Eoin Reddan, 8 Chris Henry, 7 Niall Ronan, 6 Rhys Ruddock, 5 Dan Tuohy, 4 Ed O’Donoghue, 3 Tom Court, 2 John Fogarty, 1 Marcus Horan
Replacements: 16 Sean Cronin, 17 John Hayes, 18 Donncha O’Callaghan, 19 David Wallace, 20 Peter Stringer, 21 Ronan O’Gara, 22 Rob Kearney
Date: Friday, June 18
Venue: Rotorua International Stadium, Rotorua
Kick-off: 19.35 (07.35 GMT)
Referee: Mark Lawrence (South Africa)
