O'Driscoll: Kidney just the ticket

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Kidney, the Munster director of rugby, has guided the club to four Heineken Cup finals - winning the trophy in 2006 - and also coached the Ireland Under-19s to World Cup glory in 1998.

O'Driscoll said: "Declan has the CV to match the criteria for any international coach. He has had success with the national team at age level, he has had great success with Munster and he has been assistant coach under Eddie O'Sullivan back in the 2003 World Cup. He ticks all the boxes."

He added: "From what the guys at Munster say, he has taken a little bit of a step back from the coaching role and he is the man who now puts it all together.

"He knows how to get the best out of his players and his coaches. If he does that with Ireland hopefully we can get back to the heights we hit 18 months ago."

Due to his Heineken Cup commitments with Munster, Kidney will not take up his new post until after Ireland return from the summer tour to New Zealand and Australia.

The Irish Rugby Football Union plan to appoint an interim management team for the trip, which begins with a fixture against the Barbarians in Gloucester on May 27.

Unusually, Kidney will play no part in the squad selection or preparation for the tour.

Ireland A coach Michael Bradley is widely expected to take charge, and O'Driscoll admits it is not the ideal scenario.

"Ideally you would want the coach to be in as soon as possible," he said. "I think Declan realised his focus is on Munster at the moment and he can't give any time to Ireland. It does give him the chance to see things from the outside before he does come and join the squad."