Emmet Moloney writes for the 'The Irish Farmers Journal' and is a former sports columnist with 'The Kerryman'.

Declan Kidney’s decision to select Jonathan Sexton at out-half for the match against the Springboks this Saturday is a huge vote of confidence in the Leinster No 10. Emmet Moloney writes...

Members of the rugby media are thrilled with themselves. They have the seeds of an out-half debate and they are watering furiously. But Declan Kidney won’t be feeding this frenzy. He’ll do his own thing and at his pace, no-one else’s. Picking Johnny Sexton on Tuesday was typical Kidney.

Those of us with long memories will remember the Ollie Campbell-Tony Ward debate of the late ’70s and early ’80s. Back then we lived in two-channel land and Ireland played about five or six matches a year. When you were picked on the Irish team, you stayed on the field for 80 minutes. There were no subs for tactical purposes or any of that lark. It was an innocent time.

Ward was the pin-up boy of Irish rugby back in the days when an out-half’s sole duties were of the kicking variety. Ward could kick with the best of them. He didn’t need to run the ball and, when he did, had a bad habit of running across his back line. But no matter, he was even European player of the year in his breakthrough season of 1978 and played with the Lions in 1980. Then came Campbell. Most clear-thinking rugby commentators will acknowledge his greatness. He was better than Ward; it was just Ward’s misfortune to be around at the same time. Campbell could do everything: kick, run and even tackle.

He was a Lions number 10 and if he was playing today, neither O’Gara nor Sexton would get a look in. In the modern era, he was easily Ireland’s best out-half. But the country was divided when he was picked ahead of Tony Ward.

The late Dermot Morgan came on The Late Late Show to do a sketch all about the great debate. It began with Morgan shouting “Ollie, Ollie, Ollie; Ward, Ward, Ward,” etc. It was all good fun but once Campbell played a few games, that ended any debate.

Now it is the ’80s all over again (in more ways than one). Back then, both Ward and Campbell were at the peak of their powers, but today we have a young gun on the up and the veteran in his way. Sexton will have his supporters in Leinster and many of them in the media, but in their eagerness to do down Ronan O’Gara, these guys could end up stunting Sexton’s chances.

By picking him for Saturday, Declan Kidney is telling us he thinks he is ready for such a challenge in only his second international. Sexton is 24 but hasn’t played a hell of a lot of top-class rugby. The Boks are the best he has faced. But Kidney believes and that’s enough for me.

Let’s hope Sexton delivers. He’s there for a couple of reasons but his defence must be a major factor in his selection. By covering his channel defensively, Sexton frees up David Wallace and the rest of the back row at set pieces. Far too often these guys have to stay near O’Gara as the opposition attack him. While they will probably come after Johnny early on, they’ll find a big, bold and strong young fella.

PITFALLS

Kidney will be aware of the pitfalls. We can only hope young Johnny is as well. He has a very healthy streak of arrogance to his game – something all good out-halves have. With his first touch last Saturday, he ran the ball from his own 22. Only Johnny knows the answer, but I suspect he had decided before the game he would do that. It worked and good luck to him.

Back in the ’80s, Ollie Campbell’s class meant Ward didn’t win many caps. Tony even found time to play soccer and win a cup medal with Limerick in 1981 – imagine that today!

In the professional game we have now, O’Gara will see plenty of time on the pitch. In the Six Nations, when the squad system is crucial, he will get his chances to win back his place and could even start against Scotland or Italy. Meanwhile, Munster will be relying on him and he will not be riding off into the sunset just yet.

O’Gara is made of strong stuff. To start writing his sporting obituary would be foolish and premature. He’ll be back and he’ll give it one huge rattle to get the jersey. But for now, Declan has made the tough and shock decision. And this is no experiment either. Not against these guys. He has had this in mind, I would guess, for some time.

Declan Kidney, the master of the one-off fixture, has been looking at this game for months now. This is the one. This is the one to win; the one we want. We owe these fellas. There is bad blood between the teams – they’ll deny it, but it’s there. While the professional game doesn’t allow for dust-ups like we used to get, there will be a physical edge to this match. I expect Ireland to give everything and more. And I expect them to win.

The Boks aren’t enjoying their tour to date and let France push them around the place a fortnight ago. To add insult to injury, their second string lost to English and Welsh club sides. For proud South Africans, that was hard to take. They will want the Grand Slam champions’ scalp so they, too, will be at full pelt.

SCOREs TO SETTLE

O’Gara has a serious score to settle if he gets on the field; so too Paul O’Connell, who was attacked by the South African press for his perceived captaincy flaws during the Lions tour. And then Bok captain John Smit threw further fuel on the fire by suggesting “a senior Irish player” put the kibosh on his drinks’ invitation to the Lions during the test series. For senior Irish player, see Paul O’Connell, who as captain of the Lions was most likely to have made that call. Look for Paul to lead from the front early and throw himself into Smit if he gets a chance.

It’s all brewing up nicely for a tempestuous game of rugby. And if somebody puts a foot in touch or has difficulty in grounding a ball, we can always go to the video referee to sort it out. Good idea that. Wonder if it will catch on?…

To catch Emmet's latest column, get 'The Irish Farmers' Journal' every Thursday...