Kidney refuses to blame referee for scrum woes

REACTION:"IRELAND WERE relying on their set-pieces to dominate the game. I think they were quite surprised to see us come out there and front up at set-pieces. We were pretty happy with that." Samoa's proud captain and hooker Mahonri Schwalger was not talking about the lineout, as they barely contested Irish throws, so that means we are back on the thorny subject of Irish scrummaging.

The latest International Rugby Board edict with regards to the “crouch, touch, pause, engage” routine is causing Ireland more problems than most yet Declan Kidney refused to turn it back on referee Keith Brown’s first exposure to Test rugby or IRB tinkering midway through the November series. Last season the sport’s governing body changed the tackle law interpretations mid-Six Nations and the Irish management screamed murder.

“We have been told they were going to slow down the credence but if each one of you here said ‘crouch, touch, pause, engage’, nobody would say it at the exact same credence. It is going to be three seconds for some and six seconds for others. There is a human element as well in it.

“It was a big game for Keith and he came and did it under instructions. Sometimes maybe just let them at it. That’s what they used to do before. They used to get up off the ground and the ball was away. Am I getting too old for this?”

That Brown wasted almost seven minutes by following his superiors’ instructions to the letter of the law seems to have overshadowed the fact that for the second week running an Irish scrum, despite a brand new frontrow, was dismantled by Southern Hemisphere opposition.

Tom Court came on at tighthead prop against South Africa when Tony Buckley was injured but started at loosehead on Saturday. The 37-year-old John Hayes was back at tighthead against Samoa before Cian Healy came off the bench and Court was shifted again. Seán Cronin was a straight swap for Rory Best but only lasted 61 minutes before being relieved.

“Rugby is a confrontational game,” Kidney continued. “Everybody is going to try and get the upper hand from something. Sometimes the less rules you have the better.

“But this is one to try and slow it down for all the right reasons, safety, but there were a lot of collapsed scrums. Maybe it had a bit to do with it being a wet day, who knows? We can only work on what is in our control.”

Kidney also stated the Irish team announcement might not be tomorrow (it was later decided to defer it until Thursday) in order to deny New Zealand an unfair advantage ahead of Saturday’s definitive November Test match.

“I think they are announcing Thursday so we will have to see when we announce because there is an advantage in keeping it until Thursday with the variants in the way teams play. In the middle of a series, in the middle of a World Cup (year), let’s just see how we go.”

When asked if confidence levels have reverted back to what they were when he became head coach in 2008, Kidney adopted a surprised tone at the line of questioning. “I don’t think it is that bad at all,” he said.

Samoa had a week and a half to prepare for this match. Schwalger was asked if they could have won with more time?

“Could have. These top teams got more time. They got the money to do it and put their team together for three or four months, so, yeah probably.” Same old problems for Samoa, same old problems for Ireland.