Declan Kidney defends Irish tactics
Monday, 22 March 2010
Declan Kidney has defended Ireland's tactics after their bid to win the Triple Crown ended with Saturday's 23-20 RBS 6 Nations defeat by Scotland.
The Scots were subjected to a ferocious early onslaught as Ireland attempted to make a decisive start to their final match at Croke Park.
But the cavalier gameplan backfired amid a flurry of handling errors and Scotland established a 17-7 lead early in the second half before Dan Parks landed the winning penalty a minute from time.
'You'll never improve as a side unless you try things, but we weren't trying things for the sake of it,' said Kidney, Ireland's head coach.
'We knew we had to go after Scotland to try and beat them and it's vital that we keep trying these things because we won't beat anybody unless we do.
'First and foremost it was about winning and trying to get a result, but we tried things that didn't come off. The error count went against us.'
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It was a bitter conclusion to a Six Nations that Ireland started with such high hopes following their Grand Slam success last year.
Brian O'Driscoll and Tommy Bowe ran in controversial tries but neither score could prevent Scotland from registering a first victory of the championship that they richly deserved.
Kidney admits Ireland have left supporters disenchanted following the hype and expectation that greeted their final outing at Croke Park.
'We feel like we've let a lot of people down and that's not a nice feeling,' he said. 'It's hugely disappointing. I can't put into words the way we feel. Like everyone else we wanted to leave Croke Park on a good note.
'You want to win trophies but we didn't. These things happen in life. There were so many people depending on us - supporters and the whole country.
'It's a very disappointing place to be at the moment but these fellas are very resilient. We made mistakes, but we made mistakes trying things. Now we have to work on not making mistakes when the pressure is on.'
France succeeded Ireland as Grand Slam champions but Kidney insists the competition was tight throughout.
'France have had an exceptional year but any side can beat any other on any given day,' he said.
'That's the good thing about the Six Nations. Every match is a one-off and it didn't come off for us against Scotland.'
