Kidney gambles on youth against Fiji

Rugby:As expected, Ireland coach Declan Kidney has elected to give youth its fling when naming his Ireland XV side for Saturday's match against Fiji. A backline with an average age of just 23 will feature the uncapped Ulster trio of Luke Marshall (21), Craig Gilroy (21) and Paddy Jackson (20) while their provincial teammate Iain Henderson (20) is also in the starting line-up.

There is more nous up front where Mike Ross will once again at the coalface and the Leinster tighthead is joined in the pack by veterans Donncha O’Callaghan and skipper Jamie Heaslip. The bench also contains a wealth of experience, with Jonny Sexton and Cian Healy among those ready to be called upon should things go awry against the Pacific islanders.

In all, there are just three survivors from the side that lined out against South Africa last weekend with scrumhalf Conor Murray, Ross and Heaslip the only players retained. New Zealand-born prop Michael Bent, who made his Test debut against the Springboks despite arriving in Ireland only two weeks earlier, must settle for a place among the replacements after losing out to Ross.

“We know it will be a difficult test and this is a vote of confidence for the fellas we’ve picked,” Kidney said in Limerick this afternoon. “We know they’ll do a job and they’ve been training really well over the last two and a half weeks. We feel they deserve their go.”

Although this weekend’s match won’t count as an international – only matches played at the Aviva Stadium will have full Test status due to a long-term agreement with the sponsors – Kidney will welcome the opportunity to arrest a worrying Irish losing streak against a side Ireland have never lost to.

Asked about the spirit in the camp after the latest setback, the coach replied: “Nobody likes losing a match, but the spirit is actually really good. I couldn’t ask for any more of them, nobody has slacked off in training, it’s been brilliant, and the background in camp is the same as it always has been.

“Sure, nobody likes losing and there are too many good professionals there to just settle for playing matches and getting beaten.”

Jamie Heaslip echoed Kidney’s sentiments, saying: “This is the third week of a good camp. The lads have been going well in training and there’s a lot of excitement around. It’s a good place to be.

“We’ve looked at what we did right and what we done wrong against South Africa and then started focusing on Fiji. With Fiji we’ll have top focus on ourselves. They’re sevens world champions so they like an expansive game. At times the game can get a little bit fractured which they thrive on. We have to focus on ourselves, our structures and patterns.

“We have to concentrate on the basics because of the new faces and that’s what we’ve been doing this week. We hit the ground running on Monday and everyone’s been really focused. I can’t wait to get out there.”

Heaslip echoed Kidney’s sentiments, saying: “This is the third week of a good camp. The lads have been going well in training and there’s a lot of excitement around. It’s a good place to be.

“We’ve looked at what we did right and what we done wrong against South Africa and then started focusing on Fiji. With Fiji we’ll have top focus on ourselves. They’re sevens world champions so they like an expansive game. At times the game can get a little bit fractured which they thrive on. We have to focus on ourselves, our structures and patterns.

“We have to concentrate on the basics because of the new faces and that’s what we’ve been doing this week. We hit the ground running on Monday and everyone’s been really focused. I can’t wait to get out there.”

Ireland XV(v Fiji): 15 Denis Hurley (Munster); 14 Fergus McFadden (Leinster), 13 Darren Cave (Ulster), 12 Luke Marshall (Ulster), 11 Craig Gilroy (Ulster); 10 Paddy Jackson (Ulster), 9 C Murray; 1 David Kilcoyne (Munster), 2 Seán Cronin (Leinster), 3 Mike Ross (Leinster); 4 Donncha O'Callaghan (Munster), 5 Dan Tuohy (Ulster); 6 Iain Henderson (Ulster), 7 John Muldoon (Connacht), 8 Jamie Heaslip (Leinster, capt). Replacements:Richardt Strauss (Leinster), Cian Healy (Leinster), Michael Bent (Leinster), Donnacha Ryan (Munster), Chris Henry (Ulster), Paul Marshall (Ulster), Jonathan Sexton (Leinster), Simon Zebo (Munster).