PAT WHELAN, the Ireland manager, said last night he was sorry to see Murray Kidd resign his position.

"He has put an awful lot of effort into his work as Ireland coach and I am sorry to see him go," said Whelan.

"He was a very successful coach with Garryowen and proved his coaching pedigree with Garryowen. Unfortunately, the Irish team has not met with the same success but that does not detract from the effort he put in."

Whelan said he will meet IRFU officials today to discuss the matter and that the Ireland team to meet France would be selected at the weekend.

"I will have to see what the IRFU will do about appointing a coach and take it from there. I have no doubt but the union have contingency plans in place which will become obvious in the next couple of days."

He would not elaborate on a likely successor to Kidd.