Kidney yesterday announced his party to face Canada and the United States later this month, missing Ireland’s Lions plus several Leinster players involved in the Heineken Cup final on May 23.

Kidney has no doubt the tour will be a great opportunity for some of the Gland Slam winners’ fringe players to impress.

He said: "When we confirmed the tour back in January we knew some of the provinces would be involved in European finals and that we'd also be without any players selected by the Lions.

"We thus felt that it would be a chance to work closely with a larger pool than we would normally do during the season and for players to come through at this level.

"We are continuing to try and build a squad and this tour is a real chance for guys to stake a claim for the November internationals and next year's Six Nations.

"We obviously want to win both games but it's a balancing act trying to do that while exposing players and new combinations to Test level."