Basically, it says that Foley may get the full-time defence coaching role IF Declan Kidney gets a n extension to beyond the next world cup.
This depends on our result vs the Argies on Saturday but, if we win, the suggestion is that the IRFU may well consider extending his contract for another two years!!!
Anything in the Indo written by Conor George (like this article) should carry a health warning.
Conor George seems to be the replacement for the unlamented Hugh Farrelly as the Indo's Munster fan in residence.
In the last week he was written puff pieces bigging up Earls, POM, slagged off Ross and Heaslip and now it is Foley's turn to get the red tinted ink.
George has come to the Indo from one of the Cork papers, unsurprisingly.
I agree, Neil. He has decided who the best players are (in his opinion) and his job is to find places for them on the pitch, whether or not they have demonstrated any ability to actually fill those slots.
Arguably, for some positions, he hasn't had a lot of choice. At fullback, for example, with Kearney injured, the other FBs are Gavin Duffy (never quite there), Felix Jones (just back from injury), Denis Hurley (a good provincial player) and Robbie Henshaw (promising but very inexperienced). So he really had no option but to move someone. The trouble is that he moved a player with not a shred of evidence that he could play there (Zebo) instead of one with some kind of track record (Earls). He did so because he has accepted Earls own opinion that he is the second best 13 in Ireland and he thinks that Zebo is so good he has to be on the team somewhere. There was little, if any, evidence from the SA match that he is correct in his beliefs but the one sure thing is that he won't change his mind and he doesn't accept the evidence from the Fiji match.
Having said that, I think the major trouble is with his insistence that Ireland play a type of rugby that the good national sides abandoned years ago.
The thought that they may be even thinking of giving him a contract extension fills me with great apprehension, to say the least. I hope you're right about this fellow Conor George, Mike. What he has written may well be claptrap but the question remains as to where it came from. It seems so out of left field that it's hard to think he made it up.
George's piece in the Indo was mainly promoting Foley as a candidate for full time Ireland defence coach. I didn't see anything implying that he had insider info that Deccie's contract may be extended.. it just says "only if Declan Kidney stays on as head coach" but "results could force a change".
George may have insider info from Munster on Foley's relationship with Penney saying "[Foley] is believed to be finding life difficult in Munster as he adjusts to working under Rob Penney" hence the article bigging up the ligind.
Neil
I do think it could be player based bias that some are on the outside looking in
Explain why Strauss considered it necessary to learn and sing the Irish National Anthem ?
While there are several players who refuse to sing Irelands call
In my book the team sing both or none which is hard on the lads from Ulster because it's no longer sung in English ( I can recall being in Landsdowne Road and hearing it sung in English in either the fifties or sixties thus singing it in Irish is a rather recent innovation )
It was of course first written in English and translated into Irish.
And for the record this is not an anti Anthem post rather a post about the effect of the Anthem when sung or not sung by the players and there is according to Wikipedia some doubt if the words are actually part of the anthem since the State has actual no legal right to the words . ( Its hard to sing something which glorifies the Murderers of your friends and neighbours Protestant and Catholic)
I fear that at the moment there is an odour of resentment at the inclusion of Ulster Players on the Irish team and they are seen as easy fall guys for failure whether this is player instigated or coach related I have no idea .
Within this carapace of skepticism there lives an optimist
mikerob wrote:George's piece in the Indo was mainly promoting Foley as a candidate for full time Ireland defence coach. I didn't see anything implying that he had insider info that Deccie's contract may be extended.. it just says "only if Declan Kidney stays on as head coach" but "results could force a change".
George may have insider info from Munster on Foley's relationship with Penney saying "[Foley] is believed to be finding life difficult in Munster as he adjusts to working under Rob Penney" hence the article bigging up the ligind.
Munster man has difficulty in a lesser role.
Instant promotion to more important role, probable pay raise too
rumncoke wrote:Neil
I do think it could be player based bias that some are on the outside looking in
Explain why Strauss considered it necessary to learn and sing the Irish National Anthem ?
While there are several players who refuse to sing Irelands call
As I saw it, Stauss sang both Amhran na bhFiann and Ireland's Call, so surely, the less paranoid conspiracy theory is that Strauss, playing for Ireland, learned to sing the national anthems of the team he represented and should be lauded for doing so? In your terms, Rory Best and Stephen Ferris are both on the 'inside'; Best sings neither anthem, Ferris belts out Ireland's Call, only. Hardly in keeping with these anthems related notions. If there is the sort of player-based bias you suggest, then the buck stops at Kidney.
A lot of sportsmen like to keep their focus and just zone out of all that oul nonsense.I'm asuming Rory is one of those. Others seem to take something from it. Singing or not singing doesn't necessarily mean anything.
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The hoary old chestnut of the anthems should be entirely left out of this discussion.
It has nothing whatsoever to do with the team's performance.
The problem for the Irish team is that the pallor of training under Kidney descends on them once they hit camp and have to forget about all the good things they have been doing at provincial level.
Kidney lives in a time warp circa March, 2009, which occasionally lifts at moments of massive potential embarrassment such as the Australia game in the RWC. The players are momentarily galvanised by their backs to the wall, produce a huge performance and then decline into apathy again. Kidney has no capacity to move on with changes in the game and continues this static way of playing that might as well be from the stone age such has been the development of rugby since his last H Cup success.
I have a feeling that there might be a big performance coming on as it is really the last throw of the dice for their master tomorrow.
Dublin4 wrote:The hoary old chestnut of the anthems should be entirely left out of this discussion.
It has nothing whatsoever to do with the team's performance.
The problem for the Irish team is that the pallor of training under Kidney descends on them once they hit camp and have to forget about all the good things they have been doing at provincial level.
Kidney lives in a time warp circa March, 2009, which occasionally lifts at moments of massive potential embarrassment such as the Australia game in the RWC. The players are momentarily galvanised by their backs to the wall, produce a huge performance and then decline into apathy again. Kidney has no capacity to move on with changes in the game and continues this static way of playing that might as well be from the stone age such has been the development of rugby since his last H Cup success.
I have a feeling that there might be a big performance coming on as it is really the last throw of the dice for their master tomorrow.
Not forgetting the old tribal rivalry of playing England, when many players front up and actually play, seemingly as a more of a stick it to the English notion.
Bang on Dublin4.
As I constantly state we have the players to play like this but we lack the consistancy to back it up.
Why does it take to have our backs against the wall to play like that.
Kidney is far from out of the woods as we have seen this all before .
We need to see that level in each game before he can be fully reprieved.
He threw the dice a bit with Gilroys selection over Trimble even though it was a no brainer for me and got reward.
All the clues are there.
The big problem here is that it results in guys, no matter how well they place for their provinces, just not really being considered for international rugby. Dan Tuohy comes to mind, here; it seems clear that, regardless of what he does in an Ulster shirt, Tuohy isn't regarded as good enough for international rugby. Kidney's selections rank Tuohy as the fifth best lock in Ireland, whilst his form labels him, probably, as the best, for example.
I would have currently Touhy ranked 4th behind Ryan, McCarthy and DOC. All three have been excellent over the past 3 games, Touhy was rather poor by comparison against Fiji.
I believe the result backs up everything that has been wrong with Kidney.
He's stuck to his guns and kept under performing players for far to long, instead of attempting to build depth and competition for places.
I'd love to bring in a non Irish coach that can harness the players from some of the top teams in Europe to play the game as they do for their club sides.
Why take O'Gara on the bench today? What was he adding to the side right now?
Why spring Henderson from the bench for 8minutes when the game was over long before that and would've gave Hendo valuable experience.
Kidney is just far to conservative as a coach and the game has moved on.
I'm hoping he isn't in charge for the 6 nations but highly doubtful that he'll be fired.
