Leinster not engaging in blame game after Thomond Park loss

It may have been an evening marked by rancour but this latest meeting of Munster and Leinster was bookmarked with brief moments of levity on the part of the visitors despite their frustrations and a rare defeat.

It started with Cian Healy emerging on his own to a warm ovation from the home crowd on the occasion of his 200th cap for Leinster. So warm that it clearly caught the Irish prop by surprise if his wry grin was anything to go by.

And it ended with Leo Cullen somehow finding room for humour on the back of a 26-17 loss that had seen his side concede 14 penalties, lose Healy and Tadhg Furlong to the sinbin and James Lowe to a red card.

A native of Cork and a former Munster player, Frank Murphy was in an unenviable position as the match referee even if Alain Rolland, who had represented Leinster as a player long before officiating this rivalry, had paved that particular path years before.

Was it maybe something that should be avoided in future years?

“They’re professional so… you know… that’s not... What a question,” Cullen laughed. “Ah… I’m trying to make life easier, not harder.

“I played with Frank in Leicester! As you say, Alain Rolland or whoever else from Leinster refereed…

“We need to get more referees from Leinster so that’s a different question. We’re waiting for Johnny to retire!”

Jonathan Sexton was sitting beside his head coach when that joke landed and the laugh he met it with was in stark contrast to the peevish demeanour he displayed throughout a first-half which cost Leinster so dear.

Sexton paid tribute to his side’s ability to close the gap to six points after the break when down to 14 men, and rued an overthrow from one lineout when they were poised to strike again. But he accepted that they had just made it too hard on themselves before the break.

“It’s just about having that clear thought process in a red-hot environment. It’s a very special place to play and you can either rise to the challenge or you can walk out the gate. Some teams come here and get beaten no ends up but we didn’t do that.

“I’m proud of the lads for how we stuck in there but you can’t blame any one person for the cards because no-one went out to high tackle someone or no-one went out to take someone out in the air.”

Sexton had been replaced by Ciarán Frawley – whose intercepted pass ultimately decided the result – on the hour. Cullen confirmed that it was a pre-planned switch, that it was always the case that a callow bench would be chucked into the cauldron regardless of the score late on.

That said, it was a job to stick to it when the moment came:“It is because you want your experienced guys out there that have been through… not necessarily that scenario but they’ve been through so much in the game and they’re able to adapt easier,” Cullen said. “Having said that, Ciarán will be better for the experience and we stuck to the plan.

“We did question ourselves at the time but we stuck to the plan.

“We didn’t win the game but we’re still in the same situation in our conference as when we started the weekend which was a surprise to me.”