Season will crank up a notch this weekend
The three meetings of the sides last season and their respective achievements in the Heineken Cup and Magners League have only served to whet the public’s appetite for more of the same. Leinster fans are getting used to the idea of edging their southern cousins and they won the corresponding game last year in Dublin 13-9, keeping Munster tryless for the sixth successive meeting.
Even when they lost the next game at Thomond Park by 24-23, they had many solid reasons for making light of it. Not only did they score the only try of the game through Shane Horgan, with Munster relying on a magical kicking contribution by the nerveless Ronan O‘Gara, they also had their minds on the following week’s Heineken Cup final against Northampton Saints.
However, Munster had tasted a rare dish and craved more of the same. They had run away with the league section by 12 points and enjoyed home advantage in the decider. This time, they left nothing to chance.
Doug Howlett ended the try drought early, Keith Earls claimed another and as they piled on the pressure towards the end, John Hayes forced the Leinster pack to collapse once too often within touching distance of their own line. The resultant penalty try saw Munster home by 19-9.
While they celebrated fittingly, Leinster didn’t feel too disappointed given their magnificent recovery in the Heineken Cup seven days earlier. McGahan fittingly saluted the latest Thomond Park clash by describing it as “a fantastic game and a fantastic advert for the Magners League”.
McGahan and Joe Schmidt haven’t had their World Cup stars back for as long as they would have liked, even if they took advantage of the weekend matches against Aironi and Edinburgh to reacquaint themselves with the game plans of their respective sides. Of the two, Leinster were the more impressive in winning away against Edinburgh by 36-28 with a 23-point contribution from Jonny Sexton. Munster’s failure to score a try against Aironi even when the Italians were reduced to 14 men suggests they still lack cutting edge in midfield. Once again, they relied on O’Gara’s kicking.
I was interested to note the way Paul O’Connell reacted to a question on his arrival back in Shannon Airport about whether he was looking forward to a rest after his World Cup exertions. He was adamant: “No, not at all, I still need more game time and I’m looking forward to getting it as soon as possible.”
As good as his word, O’Connell was back in the red jersey on Friday night.
A whole host of other World Cup players lined out and much the same applied with Leinster. The teams now have their sights set on Friday and the start of the Heineken Cup a week later with Leinster travelling to Montpellier and Munster hosting Northampton.
Leinster look to be in a slightly happier position and even early in the week must have a good idea about the starting line-up. McGahan, on the other hand, has to make up his mind in several places.
Last year, he tried something like 12 different centre partnerships without ever seeming sure of his best options. He could give Australian newcomer Will Chambers his head or stick with the Lifeimi Mafi-Danny Barnes axis that functioned well towards the end of last season.
It’s anybody’s guess with the front and back rows as David Wallace’s absence is a particularly serious blow.
Most interest in the Leinster line-up will focus on whether Brian O’Driscoll and Gordon D’Arcy will start once again in the centre or if the younger Eoin O’Malley and Fergus McFadden will get the nod.
Six rounds of the Rabo Direct Pro 12 have already been completed with Ospreys out in front on 24 points from six matches. They are immediately followed by Munster and Leinster, both with four wins from six and together on 18 points. That lends added spice to Saturday’s game — as if it was really necessary.
Apart from the burning desire for a win on both sides, there are the usual head-to-head confrontations to ensure the total concentration of players and fans right to the end.
The most obvious is the latest out-half head-to-head between O’Gara and Sexton and the scrum-half duel between Conor Murray and Eoin Reddan. It will be fascinating, too, to see how Munster’s South African imports Wian Du Preez and BJ Botha cope with Cian Healy and Mike Ross.
