'He's an international quality ten': Declan Kidney's take on the current form of exiled Ireland out-half Paddy Jackson
With Ireland continuing to struggle to find a long-term successor at Test level to veteran out-half Johnny Sexton, Declan Kidney has lauded the recent Gallagher Premiership form of Paddy Jackson who had his Ulster contract terminated by the IRFU in April 2018.
Handed a Test debut in 2013 by Kidney during his final season at the helm in Ireland, Jackson was the established back-up to Sexton until he was sacked by his employers despite being found not guilty of raping a young student at a house party in Belfast.
Jackson restarted his career with a difficult Top 14 season in France with relegated Perpignan but he was then snapped up by Kidney at London Irish and while it has taken him some time to find top form, he has been a pivotal reason why the Exiles club have recently climbed up the Premiership table with three wins and two comeback draws in their last six outings.
With Ireland struggling for options beneath Sexton, something that was very evident in the recent Guinness Six Nations loss to France where Billy Burns started and Ross Byrne provided bench back-up, Jackson’s name has cropped up in the ongoing debate.
Jackson is ineligible for Test squad selection due to playing his club rugby outside of the island of Ireland – the IRFU haven’t picked a non-Irish based player since Sexton was away at Racing during the 2015 Six Nations.
It was last June when popular prop Gary Halpin, who has now sadly passed away aged 55, featured in a RugbyPass throwback to the last Ireland team of the amateur era in 1995 https://t.co/6MgrerfLRg
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However, that stipulation hasn’t disguised the rich form he is currently enjoying in the Premiership at the age of 29, nearly four years after he won the last of his 25 caps in a June 2017 tour win over Japan. Choosing his words carefully about a player whose court case and subsequent exit from Ulster generated a massive media spotlight in 2018, Kidney said: “Paddy is a very good rugby player. We knew that and we wanted to bring in an out-half with experience.
“Both myself and Les (Kiss, his ex-Ulster boss and an Ireland assistant) knew him and we asked him to join us. He has joined in and I suppose he is not doing anything we didn’t think he was well capable of. It seems a very bland answer but you probably wouldn’t expect anything else from me on that particular topic.
“He is an international ten, he is an international quality ten. That is not in dispute. He is just in his prime and he is playing accordingly, I think,” continued Kidney. “He is a good player, yeah, but there is nothing he is doing that I didn’t think he was capable of doing.
“There was probably a couple of other areas he can add to his bow then too. I think his playing was truncated. He was at full-back a lot when he was at Perpignan and then when he was with us as well then too, we had Stephen Myler with us and we had a bit of 15/10 but there is a longer run there now at 10 and he is getting into the grove of that there more and more each game. I’m afraid that is as close to the beach that I will get to you.”
RugbyPass Offload EP 19 with Dan Lydiate ?
Christina, Dylan and Jamie are joined by Welsh and British & Irish Lion back-row Dan Lydiate this week!
We review all the Guinness Six Nations action, refereeing decisions & the France rugby situation.
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Comments on RugbyPass
“While Sotutu should start at No.8 for the All Blacks against England, but it’s only in that arena that he can prove just how good he really is.” And that my friends is where simply hasnt shone despite multiple opportunities. Even in this performance you can see what did him in in the test arena..he almost always still runs at the opposition almost ramrod upright making him easier to stop than it should be.
1 Go to commentsShould have been 0-0 and a message from SR CEO to both teams - “don’t worry about turning up next year”.
3 Go to commentsGreat work Owen Franks. A great of this team, scoring his first try for the Crusaders since 2010.He was beaming, justifiably. A fine win, he and the rest did the job up front.
1 Go to commentsDanny Care. Lang in die tand.
1 Go to commentsBig empty stadium does nothing for atmosphere but munster are playing well with solid performance
1 Go to commentsYes, Fiji can win the World Cup! With that belief plus their christian faith🙏 and hard work it is achievable. Great article. Ian Duncan Fiji resident 1981-84
2 Go to commentsInteresting comments about Touch. England’s hosting the Touch World Cup this year and the numbers have exploded since their last World Cup in 2019, something like 70% more teams and 40 nations taking part. And England Touch have made a big thing about how many universities are in their BUCS University Touch Championship as well as Sport England membership. Can only see this growing even more domestically as more people become aware of it
10 Go to comments“Cortez Ratima is light years ahead of anyone on current form, while TJ Perenara has also skyrocketed into contention following the unfortunate injury to the talented Cam Roigard.” At last some sanity. Hitherto so many pundits have been wittering on about Finlay Christie to the point one wondered if they were observing a FC in a parallel universe where the FC they saw wasnt just the mediocre Shayne Philpott project of Fosters hapless AB reign in the real world. Ratima, Perenara and Fakatava are the ONLY logical 9s for Razor now Roigard is crocked.
3 Go to commentsThis game was just as painful as the Hurricanes game. It was real fork-in-the-eye stuff.
3 Go to commentsNow if they could just fire the Crusaders ground PA guy who likes to play his dance music and just loves the sound of his own voice the entire game, even when play is going on. And I thought their brass band thing of a few years ago was bad.
5 Go to commentsUnfortunately when you lose by far the two form players this season in Roigard and Aumua, you're left replacing two game changing Tanks with a couple of pea-shooters. Which is also about the speed of TJs pass.
4 Go to commentsBit rich coming from the guy with zero loyalty to anyone or any team, including happily taking a players place in a league world cup squad because well, SBW wanted to play in it and thus an already named player got told he was no longer going. And airing stuff like this, which may or may not be true, doesn't exactly say you're a stand up guy either SBW. Just looking to keep his name in lights as usual.
38 Go to commentsTamati Tua. …the Taniwha NPC midfielder. Ollie Sapsford, Hawkes Bay NPC midfielder…doing well
4 Go to commentsFiji deserve to be in the rugby championship, fans love seeing the Fijian national team play, the Fijian Drua is a wonderful idea but the players can still be stolen to play for NZ and AUS…
2 Go to commentsThe first concern for this afternoon are wheather forecast…
1 Go to commentsWhy cant I watch Rugby games please?
1 Go to commentsBeautiful shot from Finau, end of story. Gutted for Shaun Stevenson though.
4 Go to commentsThe Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
1 Go to commentsWasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
4 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
4 Go to comments