LAST UPDATE | 30 Jan 2022
IT’S REALLY NOT very long ago that Rob Kearney’s international career with Ireland was coming towards its conclusion and there was some doubt over who the next man to nail down the number 15 jersey would be.
Kearney’s last Ireland appearance came at the 2019 World Cup and back then, Hugo Keenan had only started seven senior games for Leinster.
In truth, Keenan was nowhere near the Ireland radar at that stage.
His Champions Cup debut didn’t arrive until September 2020 but his form meant he springboarded into the Ireland team the following month for their two rescheduled Six Nations games. Keenan simply hasn’t looked back since and he’s now an easy first-choice pick for head coach Andy Farrell.
“He has been unbelievably impressive, hasn’t he?” says Kearney, who will be part of Virgin Media’s panel for the Six Nations.
“I trained a lot with Hugo in Leinster coming to the end of my career and he’s really surprised me with how quickly he has taken to the role of number 15 in international rugby.
“It’s a difficult position and it does take a lot of time to learn how to be very good at it.
“But he has done it very quickly and I suppose the impressive thing for me is that there are very few weaknesses in his game and as a number 15, you are so isolated back there a lot of the time that if you do have any weaknesses, the opposition will very quickly find them.
“The level of detail that analysis is done to nowadays, teams are really good at scouting individual players and putting their poor skillset, if they have any, or weaknesses in their games, and at exposing them.
“So I’ve been very, very impressed with how well that he’s been playing and how quickly he has taken to international rugby in that position.”
While Keenan appears to be nailed-on at fullback in the team to face Wales next weekend, Ireland do have a big call to make in the back three with left wing James Lowe, so impressive in the autumn, missing due to a hamstring injury.
Kearney is of the mind that Andrew Conway will start again on one wing and says he wouldn’t be surprised to see Ulster man Robert Baloucoune getting the nod on the other side. However, Kearney points to one big issue in the Ireland back three.
“You’re down a left-footer now, that’s a significant enough point,” he says. “Ireland have used James Lowe a huge amount for his left foot on exits, which has given them a huge amount of relief out of their own 22.
“That does put more pressure on your nine and 10, especially when you know they’re both right-footers and you’re down in that left-hand corner trying to exit. It does make things a little bit more difficult.”
Kearney believes that the visit of the Welsh – who are the defending champions – is a fine chance for Ireland to get off to a winning start, given how Wayne Pivac’s team are missing several experienced figures like Alun Wyn Jones, Ken Owens, George North, and Justin Tipuric.
“Wales have surprised us a huge amount over the last number of years but I’d be surprised to see them up around the top table again,” says Kearney.
“I’d expect a relatively comfortable win for Ireland in that first game and that first game is always really important because it can just springboard your confidence into the rest of the tournament. If it goes wrong, you can be under pressure very quickly.
“I think it’s a really good opener for Ireland to have, particularly at home. You can see the difference a full Aviva made to the team against New Zealand in November and they haven’t really played in front of a full stadium again since. I think that will be a huge motivating factor for them.”
Kearney was impressed by Ireland’s form in autumn, highlighting their fluid attack, the breakdown work Paul O’Connell has influenced, and also their aggressive defence.
In his view, they are one of two standout teams in this year’s Six Nations.
“To be honest, I think the winner is probably going to come from France or Ireland,” says Kearney.
“The Scots are always running high a little bit in terms of what they think they can achieve, they had a good November but I don’t perceive them being up towards the top of the table.
“The English are going through a little bit of a transition period now, obviously Owen Farrell is going to be missing, they’ve brought George Ford back into the squad, Marcus Smith you have to imagine is going to start at number 10, so they’re going through their own period of transition as well.
“But I think from the outset, the French and Irish are the two favourites. Both teams are playing so well at the moment and are unlikely to have too many slip-ups. I don’t think we’re going to have a surprise winner.
“Ireland are going away to Paris, to a packed out Stade de France which is always another layer to the difficulty of winning over there.
“At the same time, if Ireland are playing as good rugby as they have done, this group of individuals and coaches together, there’s no reason why they shouldn’t be going there with a huge amount of confidence.”
