WITH the week that's in it Stateside it is probably fitting to discuss the impact a change in leadership can make in the world of sport.

As Americans headed to the polls on Tuesday, the new Irish rugby team coach Declan Kidney was sitting down for the first time at the top table in the five star Fitzpatrick Castle hotel out in Killiney.

On one of the last occasions that an Ireland rugby boss sat down at this table Eddie O'Sullivan was still the man in the hot seat, but even Eddie knows how quickly the mood changes when it comes to our national team.

Less than eight months after Ireland's Six Nations campaign and the O'Sullivan era came to an end, our Eddie is back in the market place for employment.

In his place Kidney, the man who masterminded both Munster's Heineken Cup triumphs, is counting down to Saturday and his debut as Ireland coach.

Little Canada, no more than whipping boys in international rugby terms, will provide the opposition at the new look Thomond Park this weekend, now officially called Thomond Park Stadium incidentally.

The game is important for Irish rugby for a number of reasons, one of them being the fact that crucial World Cup ranking points are at stake down in Limerick.

The Irish need to win the autumn internationals to boost their seeding for the next World Cup, a pivotal tournament ahead of us in 2011 considering how badly the 2007 version went in France.

They also need to send out a message ahead of the new Six Nations season, a message of intent as far as their new coach and his ways are concerned.

Ireland's golden generation are coming to the end of a cycle that has delivered much in terms of promise, but only a couple of Triple Crowns in reality.

The fact that Brian O'Driscoll, Ronan O'Gara et al have yet to win the championship must be of concern to them when they close their front doors at night.

They flattered to deceive on more than one occasion under O'Sullivan, no more so than when the disastrous World Cup performance in France last year set the alarm bells ringing for Eddie's future as boss.

Now they have a new man in charge, a man who only recently transformed Munster from mere hopefuls to true champions in European terms.

How Kidney operates within an Ireland context will probably determine if O'Driscoll, O'Gara and company end their professional careers with a coveted Six Nations and/or Grand Slam to their names.

There is much to suggest that a change in personnel at the business end of things can make a huge difference in the world of professional sport.

As we speak Ireland's other heroes are enjoying a renaissance under Giovanni Trapattoni, yet to experience defeat as our international soccer team manager with a team which is essentially the same as the one Steve Staunton left behind when he was shafted by the FAI.

Over in England and still in the world of association football Tottenham fans will gladly tell you about the arrival of Harry Houdini, otherwise known as Harry Redknapp, as their new gaffer.

In the space of a week Redknapp has secured wins against Bolton and Liverpool and a draw against Arsenal, some return from a team that was rooted to the bottom of the Premier League when he succeeded Juande Ramos in a shock appointment.

Up in Newcastle the former Ireland international Joe Kinnear has just dragged the hapless United up to 14th in the Premier League table thanks to back to back wins against West Brom and high flying Aston Villa. Not bad for a caretaker boss.

Even in the GAA world there are countless Dublin fans out there who will cling to the hope that the appointment of Pat Gilroy as their new manager in succession to Paul Caffrey will guarantee them an All-Ireland title next summer.

New managers and coaches always bring new hope with them. That's the mantra that Ireland rugby fans will cling to ahead of Saturday's game against Canada and mouth watering clashes with New Zealand and Argentina on the following two weekends.

Can Kidney deliver? Only time will tell, but the omens were good in Killiney's luxurious Fitzpatrick's Castle Hotel on Tuesday.

To say the very least he has spruced up the Irish side ahead of the Canada game, giving youth its head in a match that Ireland should win comfortably.

Keith Earls, the exciting Munster back, comes in for his first cap at full-back at a ground not five miles from his Limerick birthplace.

Rob Kearney and Tommy Bowe get their chance on the wings and the brilliant Luke Fitzgerald, still only 21, will partner Brian O'Driscoll in the center.

Kidney has been brave in his selection for the pack as well, handing starts to Tony Buckley, Shane Jennings and Stephen Ferris as he experiments ahead of the more demanding clashes to come.

Doubtless the global impact of the change in Irish rugby leadership will be less important that the race for the White House, but for some of us it will be just as interesting. Roll on Saturday.

Sideline Views

SOCCER: Sunderland lost 5-0 at Chelsea on Saturday just in case you didn't hear, but manager Roy Keane has yet to hear the last of their big loss. Keano was sent off at halftime after exchanging frank views with the referee Martin Atkinson over the legality of some of the official's decisions. Keane has now been charged with improper conduct by the English FA and could face a lengthy sideline ban. It's no consolation to Keane, but his protests in relation to Nicolas Anelka's first goal were legitimate - the hat-trick hero was definitely offside in the build-up to the goal, but it is doubtful those prosecuting Keane will take that into account.

HURLING: Club ties still rule in the GAA world. On Friday morning the Wexford footballer Ciaran Lyng was told by Irish manager Sean Boylan that he wasn't going to feature in the match day squad for the final Compromise Rules test against the Aussies. Within 36 hours Lyng was back home in Wexford in time to play his part in St. Martin's county hurling final win over Oulart the Ballagh, their first championship in nine years. Lyng, whose brother Diarmuid flew home from a wedding in Mexico to make the game, said the traveling and the jet lag was all worth it to lift that county title!

ATHLETICS: The man who once ruled the boards at Madison Square Gardens is to be honored in his hometown on Saturday, November 15, when Eamonn Coghlan is induced into the Hall of Fame at the National Athletics Awards. The 1983 world 5,000 meter champion now earns his crust as a fundraiser for Crumlin Children's Hospital, and his recent biography has just been nominated for Ireland's Sports Book of the Year for 2008. Fittingly so too as it is a very good read from the one time Chairman of the Boards.

GAA: Glad to report that the GAA manager who apparently head butted a substitute from the opposition team Clonoe in the recent Tyrone county final has been suspended for 72 weeks for his idiotic behavior. Better still, Dromore's Noel McGinn, a former county star, has accepted his punishment as well he might. He should have been banned for life!

MOTOR RACING: It's not my favorite sport, but fair play to Lewis Hamilton for his dramatic finish in the Brazilian Grand Prix on Sunday when a last gasp fifth place ensured he became the youngest ever world champion by just a point from Felippe Massa. The sport still bores me to death, but at least the season's finale was full of incident and made for great television.

Heroes Of the Week

SEAN Boylan, his Ireland team and their Australian opponents brought dignity and grace back to the Compromise Rules series in Melbourne on Friday night. Ireland won the series, but that didn't matter as the horrific memories of Aussie violence in Croke Park two years ago were finally banished. I don't think the sport has much of a future, but at least the players emerged with credit over the last two weeks.

Idiots Of the Week

THE Cork county hurling team are threatening to go on strike again because they don't want to play for Gerard McCarthy. There's a simple answer to this problem for the aging players who won't play for the legendary McCarthy - don't. Retire and let the youngsters who want to play for Cork wear the red jerseys. Another strike will gain little sympathy outside of the Rebel County no matter how strongly the rebel Rebels feel about it.