In Murrayfield and in the Millennium Stadium, earlier this year, the muttering had begun again. Ireland had lost to Scotland and then Wales to all but present a clear path to eventual winners England.
As has been the case in Irish defeats over the past three or four years, many turned to Kearney as a fall guy. Not the only one but his name would often crop up.
He’s… not as good as he used to be… lost a yard of pace… has been found out… is too injury prone… can’t tackle for s***… he’s one of Joe’s pets.
Kearney has been playing Test rugby for a decade now and he has been at the very top of his game for most of it. As a fullback, and often the last line of defence, his mistakes are often magnified. He cops an unwieldy amount of grief and a slew of his good performances don’t get him as much credit in the bank as those of many of his teammates.
Kearney is well aware of the naysayers and so is Joe Schmidt. After the Leinster man played well in the 38-3 win over South Africa, Schmidt remarked that he had been openly questioned before helping Ireland to November 2016 victories over New Zealand and Australia.
Fact is, Schmidt had questioned Kearney too. In Soldier Field, minutes after Ireland had beaten the All Blacks, Kearney told us:
“Joe pulled me aside before the game and he said, ‘You need a big one today’.”
Kearney got off to an iffy start – missing a tackle as the All Blacks scored – but he responded with his best game in green since the same opponents got out of jail in November 2013. He is a big game player and he delivers much more often than not.
On Saturday night in Dublin, Kearney bloody well delivered.
He was back to his very best, with ball in hand, as he cut swathes across the Lansdowne Road pitch before jagging forward, targeting soft shoulders and gobbling up more ground. Most of his best attacking work was in a first half where Ireland knocked Los Pumas about the place.
He left a sea of Argentineans behind him on two occasions and had the Irish fans roaring.
He had been solid under the high ball and supported Jacob Stockdale, who was targeted with a few restarts, well. On a couple of occasions, after Stockdale was tackled, Kearney would hold off two men at the breakdown until the cavalry arrived.
The final flurry of first half action saw Kearney dart off on another fine carry. Breaking clear of tacklers and side-stepping at pace – it was a sight that many had feared they would not see again. Form, age, injuries and doubters be damned.
The second half of Ireland’s 28-19 victory saw Kearney claim a couple of high balls and one of them was at full stretch.
The 31-year-old was then required to do a fair share of defensive work as Argentina, in their final game of a long, long season, somehow rallied in the final half hour. The result never seemed in doubt but there were still bodies to thump into and ankles to scrag.
Kearney is credited, by ESPNscrum, as being successful with all seven of his attempted tackles. Juan Manuel Leguizamon scored in the corner despite the Ireland fullback trying to shunt him out of play but that was last-ditch stuff and Kearney was giving up almost two stone to the Pumas forward.
He hared back to winger Ramiro Moyano to the deck, in the closing stages. It should have been enough for the turnover but Andrew Conway was then penalised and, a minute later, Maoyano got his consolation try.
Ireland were clearly the better side but no-one likes standing under your own posts just before the final whistle. It was no surprise, once that whistle sounded, to see Kearney embraced by teammates Adam Byrne and Jacob Stockdale. The back three had performed excellently and their elder statesman had guided and encouraged, and set examples, all the way.
Questions were asked about Kearney re-claiming that 15 jersey heading into Ireland’s November internationals. They will be asked again, no doubt, ahead of the 2018 Six Nations but Kearney will not loosen his grip and he will not let up.
He gave another reminder that he is a truly accomplished fullback on the world stage tonight and that is a sight everyone should be happy to see.
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