Kidney will not forget Buckley

IRELAND TRAINING CAMP:DECLAN KIDNEY suggested yesterday the IRFU had hoped to keep Tony Buckley in Ireland, but indicated it wouldn't be a case of "out of sight, out of mind" for the departing Munster prop now he has decided to play his rugby with Sale from next season on.

“Obviously I would prefer if all the Irish players were at home because it gives you a better chance to prepare, especially when we do camps outside the IRB regulation window,” said the Ireland chief coach, who hinted he had been willing to facilitate any attempts to keep the 21-times capped international at home.

Asked whether the IRFU were only prepared to offer him a one-year contract, he answered, “I’m not sure that that’s true”, before going on to explain his stance on Buckley’s imminent departure.

“When it comes to contractual negotiations as a coach you don’t get involved because it can put you in an awkward situation,” he said.

“All the bodies would have known that we would have liked him (Buckley) to stay. There are different factors, the player, the province and the union, and you’re hoping that they would be able to put a deal together to keep as many players home as possible.

“Sometimes it’s just not possible to keep everyone at home. If that choice was for Tony, he has to make the decision that’s right for him and his family. We’ll keep a good eye on him, and if he’s the best Irish qualified prop playing, then he’ll still play for Ireland.”

Kidney did point out, however, that Buckley will need to hit the heights at Edgeley Park if he is to keep himself in contention for future Ireland selection.

“It has never worked against a guy if he goes abroad, but the truth is that in an average year I’ll see a province play eight or nine times per year live, plus the other games on TV.

“We might get to see Sale once or twice. So obviously the onus is on the players abroad to show themselves to good effect. You keep more of an eye on TV, but there’s nothing like seeing a player live.”

Kidney and the rest of the Ireland managements team were in Cork yesterday as the 15 players who started against France last weekend were put through their paces at the grounds of Presentation Brothers College.

There were no fresh injury concerns arising from Sunday’s defeat, but the outlook isn’t looking quite so good for Stephen Ferris, who will miss Ireland’s next game against Scotland, and could well miss the remainder of the tournament.

Sidelined with a knee injury, the Ulster backrower is recovering at a slow pace, and will meet with a surgeon in two weeks to determine the best course of action.

There was better news for Tommy Bowe, however, who was named in the Ospreys side scheduled to play Treviso tomorrow having recovered from his knee injury. Should he come through unscathed, he will be welcomed back into the Ireland squad for next week’s trip to Murrayfield.

“Tommy is obviously a top player but I’m more than happy with the way Fergus (McFadden) and Keith (Earls) have done on the wings,” offered Kidney.

In other injury news, John Hayes is running again after a calf problem, while the update regarding long-term casualty Geordan Murphy is he will play before the end of the season if everything goes according to plan.

The Leicester fullback underwent surgery on a dislocated ankle sustained last month, and his potential return will be dictated by whether the metal plate inserted into his foot is removed before the end of the season.

Meanwhile, Kidney admitted that last week’s defeat to France had cut deep and was likely to remain a salted wound, but dismissed speculation that changes to his side were now inevitable.

“I don’t think there is anything inevitable about it,” he said. “I was happy with several aspects of our performance last week. We got a bit of continuity from the week before, but then we have to give the guys who are out playing with their provinces this weekend every respect too. They might bring something which might give us that little bit of a spark.”

One possible change could be at outside centre, after Gordon D’Arcy was criticised for missing the tackle that led to France’s try on Sunday, and the player admitted yesterday he was nervous about holding his place for the Scotland game.

“Obviously I will be nervous like everyone else, especially after you lose and you’re wondering whether the coach is going to make changes or not,” said D’Arcy.

“You can absolutely do your own head in and I’m sure I’ll be doing my head in the night before the selection. But there’s nothing I can do at this stage, there’s no match that I can get back out there and play.

“If somebody who wasn’t involved against France plays well this weekend and puts their hand up, well then there’s nothing I can do about that. So I just hope I’ll be involved in some way.

“If I get to start, I’ll make sure that like I did after the Italy game, I step up and don’t make the basic mistakes that I did.

“I made one mistake against France, unfortunately it was a costly one. But I thought I played well apart from that so I’ll just have to wait and see what happens.”