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Autumn Tests: a Bright Future for Ireland by Michael Well he may not have much hair, smoke Havana cigars and he definitely isn't prone to fiery rhetoric, nonetheless, Declan Kidney has been a revolutionary figure in Irish rugby these past 12 months. The team which ended the 2007 world cup as the laughing stock of International rugby and barely improved that position in the following 6 nations is now well and truly re-born. Indeed the biggest problem the Irish coach faces now is an off field one; managing the expectations of the general public which can all too easily become unrealistic. A possible front row combination © Denis Kelleher This is not to suggest that everything is now perfect on the playing side though. Indeed the scrum was all too easily destroyed against both Australia and South Africa, which means that Gert Smal can't put his feet up just yet.  There were mitigating circumstances; as dynamic as Cian Healy is in the loose, he has now discovered that scrummaging at the test level is a step up from both Magners and HEC. To expect him to be up to speed at 22 years of age against far more experienced players is a tad unrealistic and to be fair press and public alike have readily acknowledged this. What is encouraging is his ability to remain a potent ball carrying force in broken play despite being under considerable pressure in the set piece. Of course, our recent failings at scrum-time cannot solely be put down to his presence on the loosehead side instead of the injured Marcus Horan.  At 36, John the 'bull' Hayes is far closer to the end of his career than the start and just maybe that has started to show in his recent performances. He may not be finished yet but finding a back-up must surely be the primary concern of management for the upcoming 6 nations championship. The forwards of France, Italy and Scotland in particular will see plenty to encourage them when they study the video of our latest matches. It is a sector that needs urgent attention. There are other areas of concern; despite having the lions share of possession and territory in the second half against South Africa, Ireland never really looked like turning that dominance into a significant points advantage. Of course, this can partly be put down to the 'professionalism' of the Springboks who were happy to concede penalties in order to prevent try scoring opportunities developing, a tactic which was highlighted by one incident late in the match when a combination of a high tackle by Pietersen on Bowe followed by a lazy runner spoilt Ireland's attempts to exploit an overlap. The Spingboks are not world and tri-nations champions for nothing although Mr Owens really ought to have spotted that most blatant piece of foul play. That said it would be wrong to exclusively blame  gamesmanship or the referee for our inability to create clear cut try scoring opportunities, more often wrong options were taken or ball handling let us down when a little more precision would have at least stretched the Springbok defence to the limit. Individually though the performance of our back 3 and kearney in particular can only make one feel confident about the future. Against Australia, Ireland had also struggled to come to terms with the physicality and speed of the Wallabies at the breakdown but appeared to have rectified this problem to such an extent that they dominated in this sector against the Springboks, producing several turnovers in the 2nd half. The calls for the introduction of a hypothetical ground-hog number 7 after the Oz match now seem a tad premature (although if someone can locate an Irish David Pocock or Brussow type backrow I'm sure Kidney would be happy to check them out). The key to retaining possession at the breakdown is far more technical than having one 'ground-hog' and requires a collective understanding between ball carrier and support runners which Ireland understandably lacked against the Aussies due to not having played a game together since the previous March. Against South Africa, Ireland's work at the breakdown was again a notable strength as it was during our march towards last springs Grand Slam. Earls in green © Denis Kelleher Another positive from the series would be the line-out. Out of touch, it's arguable that only the Springbok unit containing Matfield and Botha can presently be considered superior to the Irish unit on the international stage. O'Connell was simply imperious this autumn and he along with his trusty lieutenant O'Callaghan destroyed the Australians in this sector before even more impressively tormenting Matfield out of touch last Saturday. Of course, the return of Smit to hooker instead of the excellent Du Plessis and the absence of Bakies  'the Braun' Botha might explain the uncharacteristically shoddy Springbok performance. However anyone who can take on Matfield in the air and come out on top must be some operator. Another impressive series from the Munster captain. But without doubt, the most encouraging aspect of this series from an Irish point of view is the sudden explosion of credible alternatives in many positions on the team where previously the incumbent was unchallenged. The Irish coach has made no secret of his desire to create a big squad and give fringe players their chance to shine. The promotion of Sexton to the outhalf position for the South African match may have taken the headlines but the debuts of Healy, O'Brien and Cronin and the continuing development of Keith Earls are also critical for Ireland going forward towards 2011. Dealing with injuries or loss of form is now a critical component of any strategy designed to create a squad that can consistently compete for silverware. Anyone who thinks or hopes these promotions mean time is up for the older stewards like O'Gara, Horan etc. completely miss the point.  Kidney is far too shrewd to allow one monocracy to be replaced by another. Each player will know that if he performs for province or club, he will get his chance, a concept so alien to Irish rugby in the past that is perhaps understandable that many supporters will have trouble with the concept. So the future looks bright, yet there is still plenty to improve on. This will keep player and coach alike focussed for the difficult tasks ahead which is not a bad thing as it will mitigate against any complacency creeping in. Elsewhere, there is no doubt the Southern Hemisphere has continued to be a step ahead of their Northern counterparts but perhaps the most significant and dare I say sinister development of the Autumn series relative to the next World cup was the amazing outburst by IRB referee boss and ardent kiwi Paddy O'Brien against the Australian referee Mr Dickinson after New Zealands match against Italy. Despite nearly every objective commentator feeling that the Dickinson was extremely lenient to the kiwis during that match for not awarding a penalty try to the Italians after a succession of collapsed scrums on the NZ 5-meter line, Mr O'Brien in an unprecedented move (despite many matches with much more obvious and far less disputable refereeing errors) chose to single out Dickinson for criticism. His subsequent apology when challenged by the Australian Union did nothing to dispel the notion that this was a message being sent out to referees in advance of 2011 and New Zealand's quest for that elusive 'professional era' world title. Conspiracy theory perhaps but it seems little is being left to chance this time for the worlds top ranked team.  by Michael Perpignan V Munster tickets The Supporters Club received an allocation of 700 tickets for the Perpignan v Munster Heineken Cup Pool match in Stade Aime Giral on Sunday 20th December. Lotteries were opened last week for all Full Members and Associate Members with Combined Season Tickets. All members who entered any of the 3 lotteries will now be allocated a ticket. Due to the proximity to Christmas and some flights being cancelled by Ryanair the takeup of tickets is much lower than usual. Because of this we are now making the remaining tickets available on a sale basis to all members of the Supporters Club. Each member can purchase up to 4 tickets each. As any unsold tickets have to be returned to Perpignan shortly any tickets not purchased by members will go on public sale early next week. Tickets will be available to purchase from the 18th of November at 10am. To purchase please follow these steps; (please note that the Ticket Page has been redesigned) Log onto the Munster Supporters Club Website Click "Ticket Office" tab on left hand side, Click Ticket Account Login box and enter your ticket account ID and password Click Buy Tickets to upcoming events Click event and then Find Tickets Tickets are priced at 12, 22 and 32 euros. A standard 2.50 euro transaction fee will apply.