Ireland 'starting from scratch' again
Declan Kidney today attempted to diffuse expectation over Ireland’s prospects this autumn by claiming they will be starting from scratch against Australia.
The Grand Slam champions have enjoyed a near-perfect opening to Kidney’s reign, winning all but one of their 10 matches under the former Munster coach.
Losing to New Zealand last November is the only blemish on his record and Ireland have been installed favourites for their opening autumn international at Croke Park tomorrow.
But Kidney insists last season’s heroics count for nothing and is imploring his side to throw everything at the Wallabies.
“This is our first match of the season so I view our record as being zero from zero. This is the start of a whole new season,” he said.
“This time last year there was a little bit of doom and gloom. Now people need to be realistic in their expectations.
“Our ambition is to be able to sit in the dressing room knowing we gave it our best shot.
“That doesn’t fit into any tactical or technical text books.
“It could be windy and wet, so we may have to role up our sleeves. If you do that then everything tends to fall into place.
“We’ll try and add on little bits to last year but we’re not trying to take over from where we were last year. It doesn’t work that way.”
Other than debutant prop Cian Healy, there is a settled look to an Ireland side that Kidney admitted earlier in the week had not been selected on form.
In contrast, the Wallabies have lost big names such as Stirling Mortlock, Berrick Barnes and Nathan Sharpe to the treatment room.
They have lost twice on their last three visits to Dublin but Kidney is respectful of a team he believes adapts brilliantly as a match unfolds.
“Like all Australia teams they play for the whole 80 minutes,” he said.
“They’re a clever team in that they change tactically and can come at you with four or five different approaches.
“Defensively they’re very smart and don’t give up many tries.
“The Tri-Nations teams play each other each year so they’ve learnt a lot from each other because they each have different styles.”
Kidney eased any doubt over the fitness of Jerry Flannery by confirming the Munster hooker will start tomorrow.
Flannery has been troubled by a calf injury so John Fogarty was called up yesterday as a precautionary measure.
“Jerry is good and trained well this morning. He’s fit and was always in the plan but yesterday it was prudent to bring John in,” said Kidney.
