We have witnessed his thought processes through Heineken Cup victories and a Grand Slam, but still that wily man of Irish rugby, Declan Kidney, shocked us all with his selection of Johnny Sexton to wear the number 10 shirt against the World Champions, South Africa, on Saturday.

Of course, it makes perfect sense — Sexton had a delightful debut against Fiji and is the man on form. Still, to those of us who have known Kidney for a long time, it is one of the biggest decisions he has ever made and a big surprise. Kidney is a loyal man and when he first selected Tomas O’Leary ahead of Peter Stringer at scrumhalf, it raised a few eyebrows, and now the second half of that partnership that served Munster and Ireland so well has been moved aside to make way for the heir apparent.

It is no coincidence that, going into these matches, the big area of debate was the outhalf selection. Sexton has performed consistently well since his cameo appearance in Leinster’s Heineken Cup semi-final victory over Munster last season.

Not only has this form been maintained, since then his performances have improved further. I watched him come off the bench for Ireland ‘A’ in the Churchill Cup during the summer, and he oozed experience and confidence. While most around him were as you would expect — young players battling hard to make a positive impression — Sexton came on and ran the show. His all-round game in the final set up a fabulous victory over the England Saxons.

Nonetheless, it has to be acknowledged that despite issues earlier in the season, Ronan O’Gara repaid Kidney’s vote of confidence with an assured performance against Australia a fortnight ago. So much so, that most rugby supporters, myself included, expected ROG to get the nod this weekend.

This must have been an agonising decision for the Irish coach, maybe even more so on human grounds than rugby-playing reasons. Kidney will have been aware of ROG’s trauma during the summer with the British and Irish Lions. This selection has effectively robbed him of his shot at redemption.

In all likelihood now there will be little or no chance of catharsis being achieved on the pitch against South Africa.

Or maybe there will — Ireland can win this match, and what odds would you get on ROG and Stringer coming on in the last 15 minutes to combine to seal an Irish victory in the dying minutes with a penalty or drop goal? ROG has been used to controversy in his career, and who knows, maybe he will have the last laugh after all.

Never get into a poker game with Declan Kidney, because you will not be able to tell what is on his mind. In this case, with the selection of Johnny Sexton, I believe that he has picked the player with all the aces.