A wind of change blew through Irish rugby today as Declan Kidney made the most significant decision of his tenure as national coach. Kidney is often regarded as a conservative selector but dropping his faithful Munster fly-half Ronan O'Gara in favour of Leinster's Jonathan Sexton for this weekend's Test against South Africa at Croke Park would suggest otherwise.
On paper the 24-year-old Sexton has all the credentials to fill the No10 jersey, having kicked seven goals from seven attempts on his Test debut against Fiji last weekend and helped steer Leinster to last season's Heineken Cup. Kidney and O'Gara, however, go way back to Presentation Brothers College in Cork and, until now, have effectively been joined at the hip.
Kidney's rationale, however, makes sense. O'Gara will be 33 next March and there is no guarantee he will be Ireland's first choice at the 2011 World Cup. "I thought Ronan played well against Australia but as a side we need to grow," said Kidney. "If I don't find out about Jonathan now, you could still be wondering come February. We'll know more after Saturday. I know Ronan will be disappointed but I can't play everyone all the time. Ronan's been a perfect pro; he's taken it on the chin."
While there has been a view in Ireland for some time that O'Gara's position might be under threat, it will still feel strange to see an Irish team kick off a big game without him. The last time he was omitted for purely merit-based selectorial reasons was at the 2003 World Cup when David Humphreys was preferred against Argentina in Adelaide by Eddie O'Sullivan.
Since then O'Gara has been instrumental in Munster's double European Cup success, not to mention last season's Six Nations grand slam, but Kidney says the inclusion of Sexton is not a gamble.
"It's not just a case of rotating for the sake of rotating," he says. "We have a squad and we need to give fellas opportunities. You don't always get it right, in fact you're lucky to get it right 50 per cent of the time. But it's important we find out as much as we can about ourselves between now and the Six Nations and I need to see how Jonny will go. I wouldn't risk an Irish team. We have a chance to play the world champions in our own backyard, so you don't take risks." Ireland will be looking to stretch their unbeaten run to 11 games and complete a calendar year without a single defeat.
The rest of the Irish starting XV are predictable enough, with Cian Healy back at loosehead and Paddy Wallace preferred at inside-centre to Gordon D'Arcy. O'Gara's long-time half-back partner, Peter Stringer, also finds himself on the bench, as does the back-row Denis Leamy assuming he passes a fitness test on his injured ankle. South Africa have delayed their team announcement until Thursday but the Irish captain, Brian O'Driscoll, is wary of suggestions that the Springboks are a declining force.
"Maybe certain sections of the media are trying to wind up South Africa," said O'Driscoll, brushing aside the notion that defeats by France, Leicester and Saracens are indicative of a below-par touring team. "They're not doing us any favours by saying that." He also denied reports of lingering bad blood following the Lions' narrow series defeat by the Springboks. "There's always a competitive edge but there's certainly no leftovers from the tour," said O'Driscoll. "That's done and dusted."
Ireland Kearney (Leinster); Bowe (Ospreys), O'Driscoll (Leinster, capt), P Wallace (Ulster), Earls (Munster); Sexton (Leinster), O'Leary (Munster); Healy (Leinster), Flannery (Munster), Hayes (Munster), O'Callaghan (Munster), O'Connell (Munster), Ferris (Ulster), D Wallace (Munster), Heaslip (Leinster). Replacements Cronin (Connacht), Buckley (Munster), Cullen (Leinster), Leamy (Munster), Stringer (Leinster), O'Gara (Munster), D'Arcy (Leinster).
