Why Munster can’t lose

LEINSTER’S galactico backs against Munster’s mighty forward pack: that’s the popular perception of tomorrow’s massive Heineken Cup semi-final at Lansdowne Road, but could it ever be that simple?

Skill and class always have their place on the great sporting occasions, and on the evidence of their quarter-final win in Toulouse, Leinster posses those ingredients in abundance. More than that, the team so cruelly and often unfairly labelled “the lady boys” demonstrated the grit, spirit and determination to withstand the inevitable Toulouse rally until it was too late to influence the outcome.

Munster, on the same day, struggled to beat Perpignan at Lansdowne Road, when the visitors had two of their players dispatched to the bin. As Paul O’Connell agreed this week: “If they hadn’t been so indisciplined and hadn’t conceded so many penalties, it could have been a different outcome.”