IRELAND’S tour to New Zealand and Australia has an ominous look to it.
With the amount of injuries it’s really going to test the strength in depth of Declan Kidney’s squad.
For the likes of Jamie Heaslip and co that went on the Lions tour to South Africa last June it has been an incredibly tough 12 months and I am sure they are looking forward to their four-week holiday after the tour before they start preparing for the World Cup back in New Zealand again in October 12 months.
While it wasn’t Kidney’s first choice side that lost to the Barbarians in a very entertaining match in Thomond Park on Friday night he will have been very disappointed to lose the game as it won’t do anything for confidence levels which already are lower than at this point last season.
This tour is taking place for one reason only. Money. In order to be able to entice the big three southern hemisphere teams over here in November we need to return the favour every June so their unions can get the gate money and the TV cash.
With two matches in New Zealand, a test against the All Blacks on Saturday and then a fixture against the New Zealand Maori next week it could be a case of last man standing by the time they pitch up to play the Wallabies.
Rory Best, Stephen Ferris, Paul O’Connell, Sean O’Brien, Kevin McLaughlin and Keith Earls had already been ruled out but following Friday’s match Fergus McFadden, Jerry Flannery and Shane Horgan were also forced to pull out due to illness or injury.
Johnny Sexton made the flight but is struggling with an infection in his jaw following his recent operation there and may yet be ruled out.
One man’s misfortune is another man’s opportunity and for the likes of John Fogarty this tour is a great opportunity to get his first cap and make a name for himself.
The only good thing is that this will be New Zealand’s first game together in a while and hopefully they will be rusty.
I can’t see Ireland getting any wins from the three matches but the management will be hoping a couple of players come through as serious contenders for starting places and there are no serious injuries.
For the Leinster lads not on tour they have all gone on their holidays except for Stan Wright who needed an operation on his ankle and will fly back to the Cook Islands next week.
With me not having to be back for the start of pre-season training this year we will take a holiday later in the summer. I have been working on a part-time basis with the Wexford footballers and am looking forward to going to Croke Park with them on Sunday for their Leinster championship clash with the Dubs.
They will be the underdogs for sure but as Louth, Monaghan, Sligo and Westmeath showed over the weekend it’s all about who plays best on the day that matters.