Time to give youth a chance

Another Six Nations campaign, another defeat in Paris. Is it just me or is this becoming an all too familiar bi-annual event?

This Irish team was supposed to be different, they were supposed to be able to travel to Paris on valentine’s weekend and break French hearts. But alas, it was not meant to be. The Grand Slam will not be defended successfully this year.

But the players, in general, cannot be faulted. They came up against an extremely good French team who had a point to prove playing at home. They tackled, ran and fought much harder than their Irish counterparts and it showed in the final result.

Following an inept display against the All-Blacks last November the French team were under serious pressure from the home crowd to deliver a win. Especially because they were playing the reigning Grand Slam champions on home soil, and the French have become particularly good at beating the reigning Grand Slam champions over the years.

There are, however, a few things which need to be addressed within the Irish camp after such a comprehensive beating. Clearly we are not sitting at the top table of rugby as we thought we were. France, New Zealand, Australia and South Africa are all ahead of us in terms of experience and preparation when it comes to the big games.

Until this is looked at in detail by the Irish management then we will always be lagging behind the top tier teams.

Changes also need to be made to the team. After England won the World Cup in 2003 they went downhill rapidly due to the age of their squad, they may have still had good players in the squad but the lack of youth coming through coupled with the ageing squad led to the rapid decline. Currently I fear that this Ireland team could go the same way.

While there is much more youth coming through this Irish squad then there was with the English squad, it is not being used correctly. Ronan O’Gara, John Hayes and Tomas O’Leary are no longer able to cut it at the very top in international rugby.
O’Gara and Hayes are getting on in years and while they may hold some valuable experience, which cannot be discounted, their years are catching up on them on the field of play. While O’Leary just is not a good enough Scrum-Half at this level. Personally I have never seen a Scrum-Half to needlessly kick the ball straight to the opposition as much as he does.

Players like Leinster’s Jonathon Sexton, Eoin Reddan and Tom Court of Ulster need to be guaranteed starters for the remainder of the Six Nations if Ireland is going to have any chance of doing well in the World Cup in 2011.

These players need serious game time between now and then. And as good as test matches against New Zealand, South Africa and Australia in June/November can be, they are no substitute for a competitive outing like they will get against France, England or Wales.

The more competitive games these players get, the more prepared they will be for the World Cup and the better chance Ireland has of being successful. Remember, if Ireland beat Australia in the group stages then they should top the group, thus avoiding New Zealand in the quarter-finals.

So Declan Kidney and his coaching team need to look at the upcoming games against England, Wales and Scotland and introduce youth if he wants to salvage this Six Nations campaign. Victory against England will breed great confidence and could lead to victories at home against Wales and Scotland.

Defeat, however, could be detrimental to the 2010 Six Nations campaign, but in the long run it will become a learning curve for younger players. Remember, like losing to France in Paris, there is no shame in being beaten by England in Twickenham. Most teams come away from there beaten and broken.

So I call on Declan Kidney to give youth a chance, let’s see what they can do in a competitive test match. For the sake of doing well in 18 months, let’s start now!