Declan Kidney is one of the most respected and decorated coaches in Ireland and has previously coached the Ireland Schools and Under-19 teams.
Most notably, he coached the Irish Under-19s to victory in the 1998 FIRA World Championship in France - that Irish side included current senior internationals Brian O'Driscoll, Donncha O'Callaghan and Paddy Wallace.
Kidney continued up the coaching ladder when he took the position of head coach with Munster, bringing them to their first Heineken Cup final in 2000.
Munster reached their second final in 2002 and following that, Kidney took a role as assistant coach to the Ireland senior team, working with them during the 2003 Rugby World Cup.
The Corkman then coached Leinster for one season, bringing them to the quarter-finals of the Heineken Cup in 2005 before returning to Munster. His success continued with his home province where he guided the team to victory in the competition in 2006, with that memorable final win over Biarritz at the Millennium Stadium.
In 2008 Kidney repeated the feat guiding Munster through one of the toughest pools, an away qurter final and semi final and then an incredible win over French powerhouses Toulouse.
In 2009 Declan took over the role of Head Coach for the Ireland team and guided the squad to a famous Grand Slam, Ireland's first since 1948.
