Kidney and McNaughton to Travel to New Zealand and Australia

New Ireland Coach Declan Kidney and Ireland Manager Paul McNaughton will travel to New Zealand and Australia to watch Ireland play during their two match summer tour.

Both will be there in a purely observational role to watch the Ireland team perform in the games in Wellington and Melbourne and will also use the visit to gain first hand knowledge of the implementation of the new Experimental Law Variations (ELV’s).

Kidney and McNaughton plan to meet with several Super 14 coaches to review the new laws and their effects on the game ahead of the introduction of a selection of the ELV’s for next season in the Northern Hemisphere.

Ireland Manager Paul McNaughton said, “Both Declan and I felt that the tour was an opportunity to talk to coaches who had first hand experience with regard to the ELV’s ahead of our matches in November, which will be played under the new variations”.

“It also very importantly allowed us to watch the Ireland team play in both of their games from an external viewpoint and to get a good look at the players in what will be two very testing games against quality teams”.