No stopping Munster march as Lions mauled

Munster 30 Leinster 6

Yesterday, at Lansdowne Road, they battered their Irish brethren, Leinster, into submission with a quality all-round performance and reaped the inevitable dividend of a third final appearance in six years.

They qualified to meet French dynamos Biarritz with a degree to spare, and if the final scoreline may have been slightly flattering, the victory was totally deserved.

It prompted Leinster coach Michael Cheika to hail Munster as probable champions, saying “they are certainly good enough to beat Biarritz”, but the marauding Reds will take nothing for granted, even after this superb win. Munster counterpart Declan Kidney vowed: “We will continue to take it one step at a time.”

Leinster were left awestruck by the intensity of the Munster challenge, from the opening minute when the home side conceded possession from the kick-off. Munster went in at half time 16-3 ahead and then went on to squeeze life out of Leinster.

The main damage was up front, where Paul O’Connell was superb, but the blitz was maintained, and the exercise completed by a hugely-aware back division led superbly by half backs Peter Stringer and Ronan O’Gara.

Munster recovered from the loss of John Kelly after just 11 minutes and managed to brilliantly contain the twin threat from Leinster midfielders Brian O’Driscoll and Gordon D’Arcy. To be fair, they hardly got the possession their skills required from a well-beaten Leinster pack.

But O’Gara was my man of the match. He contributed 20 points to bring his Heineken Cup tally past 750 points, and he answered his critics by outshining Felipe Contepomi, the man expected to crush the Munster challenge.

Contepomi was, well, Contepomi; threatening brilliance, in one moment, losing the plot the next. The fact he had an off day with his goalkicking highlighted the difference between the two number 10s.

O’Gara celebrated his late, crucial, try, by jumping the barriers at the south terrace end to be mobbed by Munster supporters. He admitted later: “I overreacted, but it was a spur of the moment thing. I knew where the bulk of the Munster people were and it was something off the cuff.”

For a man who very nearly didn’t make the match - he was out of action for over two weeks with a hamstring and knee injury - it was a triumphant return. “I never experienced anything like the build-up to this match in my life. Last week, I was worried about making the game; yesterday I didn’t feel I could eat anything and the nerves were in shreds. We’re just all so pleased to have got over this game, because it was the biggest game, in the Irish context, of our careers. We maybe shouldn’t have won by so much, but I felt we deserved to win.”

Nobody would argue with that. Compared to Saturday’s first semi final between Biarritz and Bath, this was a stunner. Leinster won the toss, elected to play against the breeze and Munster breezed into a 10-point lead inside 10 minutes.

O’Gara kicked a penalty after two minutes and then converted a try from Denis Leamy seven minutes later. It all came from a Munster lineout steal from O’Connell, a penalty to touch from the out half and another lineout win, the pack driving forward to give Leamy his opportunity.

Contepomi kicked a penalty after 19 minutes but O’Gara was back on track a few minutes later to reestablish Munster’s 10-point advantage. He stretched the lead out to 13 in the 27th minute; astonishing because Leinster had been awarded a penalty that was easily within Contepomi’s range. Unfortunately for Leinster, they were called back after a spat between Leamy and the Argentinian. Leamy won the penalty, and O’Gara made them pay.

Both out halves missed subsequent penalty chances as the first half came to a close with Munster enjoying a 16-3 advantage.

Munster started the second half well, but still sent shivers through the fans’ spines when Jerry Flannery and then David Wallace lost the ball in contact. Contepomi had an opportunity to narrow the gap but struck an upright with a long range penalty, and Munster stormed back, denied a try only when they conceded a penalty in a ruck close to the Leinster line.

The Munster pack, though, remained in control; they looked capable of extending the lead but then lapsed into snooze mode. Inexplicably, Leinster refused to take a straightforward penalty, but took another to cut the gap to 10. But Contepomi, who made that kick, then missed a further chance to bring his side back to seven in the 73rd minute.

Munster, with Federico Pucciariello in the sin-bin, breathed easily. It got better two minutes later when O’Gara slipped a tackle by Malcolm O’Kelly for a magnificent individual try that he converted himself, and the barmy army went ballistic when Trevor Halstead hauled himself 70 metres to score a further try after he intercepted a pass from Guy Easterby. O’Gara converted to put the icing on the cake.

The one complaint was from captain Anthony Foley. “It worried me a bit that we scored two tries when I was off the pitch,” he said, referring to the fact he had to retire to make way for a substitute prop, Frankie Roche, in those crucial last minutes.

LEINSTER: G. Dempsey, S. Horgan, B. O’Driscoll (captain), G. D’Arcy, D. Hickie, F. Contepomi, G. Easterby, R. Corrigan, B. Blaney, W. Green, B. Williams, M. O’Kelly, C. Jowitt, J. Heaslip, K. Gleeson.

Replacements: E. Miller for Jowitt (56), R. McCormack for Corrigan (injured, 73).

MUNSTER: S. Payne, A. Horgan, J. Kelly, T. Halstead, I. Dowling. R. O’Gara, P. Stringer, F. Pucciariello, J. Flannery, J. Hayes, D. O’Callaghan, P. O’Connell, D. Leamy, A. Foley (captain), D. Wallace.

Replacements: R. Henderson for Kelly (injured, 11), T. O’Leary for Henderson (65), F. Roche for Foley (75).

Referee: J. Jutge (France).