Kidney: Wiser heads must prevail
Coach Declan Kidney insisted Ireland can rebound from the last minute loss against Wales in their Six Nations opener on Sunday and beat France in Paris next Saturday if they use their heads a bit more.
The 52-year-old – the IRB world coach of the year in 2009 after leading the Irish to the Grand Slam – confessed to being bitterly disappointed at the 23-21 defeat but said that things could be mended for the trip to Paris.
“I couldn’t give the lads more credit for their attitude in the Welsh match,” said Kidney, who saw his side outscored three tries to two and a Leigh Halfpenny penalty win it in the dying seconds.
“They were professional and diligent. They just have to be wiser in their choices and in their options defensively and offensively.
“Of course we have to freshen them up as they have a day less to do so than the French (who beat Italy on Saturday) but we must make sure their batteries are recharged so they can have Monday off.
“Otherwise there is little point taking them to Paris unless they are looking forward to the match and the challenge.”
Kidney, also a two-time European Cup winning coach with Munster, highlighted the areas where he saw his side needing to be sharper as they were run ragged by the rampant Welsh backs for much of the first-half.
“We’re a lot better than that,” bristled Kidney.
“We put ourselves under pressure because we defended for 60 percent of the match and that is asking for trouble and certainly will be if its repeated against the French.
“Our attack was alright, but then certain players should have used their heads more to pick the right option. The line-out both offensively and defensively went well and it was 50-50 on scrums.”
Kidney said he would not be taking any rash and hurried decisions about dropping players, though, he added that everyone including the players in the Ireland B side was ‘in the mix’ for Paris.
Irish captain Paul O’Connell, standing in for the tournament for talismanic centre Brian O’Driscoll who the Irish will be without for the first time since 1999, accepted that there was serious work to be done ahead of meeting a France side that showed moment of incisive attacking play against Italy.
“Defensively we have to work on things,” said the 32-year-old Munster lock.
“We conceded a lot of ground and yardage and that is not acceptable.
“France are great at taking their opportunities and that is something we have got to stop them doing.
“We defended really comfortably towards the end but then gave away a couple of penalties needlessly and that tells us we need to be more patient and get more width in our defence because we were caught down the blindside twice.
“We don’t have to try and force turnovers.”
However, the inestimable 83-times capped lock said that there were positive things to take away and repeat against the French.
“On the plus side we can take away and into the French match that we attacked well with the ball in hand.
“We have plenty of experience and these guys are well used to this sort of match. We’ll recover and be ready for France.”
AFP
