Ckeika under no illusions about Munster challenge

IT was warm and sunny at Old Belvedere yesterday and the weather seemed to reflect a happier, more composed, more determined atmosphere among the Leinster coaching set-up and players.

Their new Australian coach Michael Cheika spoke positively in the build-up to Sunday’s eagerly awaited Celtic League clash with Munster at Thomond Park. His assistant coaches, men of the calibre of scrummaging guru Roly Meates and former Irish supremo Gerry Murphy nodded their heads in agreement. You sense they believe this match could be the catalyst for the kind of season Leinster have been promising for many years but which invariably ended in a failure to produce their best.

Cheika opted not to reveal his hand yesterday, instead announcing a panel of 28 that didn’t include key men in new skipper Brian O’Driscoll and Malcolm O’Kelly, both still on the injured list, but otherwise interesting for the inclusion of Gordon D’Arcy and Eric Miller. D’Arcy came in for the final fifteen minutes in the impressive win over Ulster on Sunday last and may start while Miller was introduced in the second half and made a major contribution. So Leinster could hardly be travelling to Cork in a better frame of mind.