Leinster coach worried about bragging rights

MUNSTER and Leinster face off in Musgrave Park on Friday knowing that the victor will sit proudly atop the Magners League table for the guts of a month but that’s less important to Michael Cheika than bragging rights.

Munster’s superior points difference see them stand one place above their provincial counterparts in third spot with only Cardiff and Llanelli — neither of whom features this weekend — better off.

Only two other games take place on Friday after which the Celtic competition will go into hibernation until the festive season so, barring a draw, one or other of the Irish rivals will be top of the tree at Christmas.

“When it comes to derby games, you tend to forget about external factors like going to the top of the table and things like that,” said the Leinster coach yesterday. “There’s a lot of rugby to be played between now and the end of the season. Friday night will be a big enough challenge in itself.”

Leinster have been given a double boost for the fixture as both Gordon D’Arcy and Stephen Keogh have recovered from injury and are in contention. They are joined in the extended squad by both Ollie le Roux and Jamie Heaslip who missed last weekend’s 26-19 victory over the Ospreys in Swansea.

The two provinces have enjoyed some memorable clashes in recent years in this competition though Leinster have routinely failed to trouble their southern counterparts away from home.

This time, they are bringing as many as 2,000 supporters with them to Musgrave Park and they will need all the vocal encouragement they can get against a Munster team that has found its stride of late.

“Donncha Ryan is a very good player and it will be very hard to leave him out after his performance last weekend,” said the Leinster coach. “Even though Alan Quinlan will be unavailable, they’ve got experienced players like Anthony Foley and Niall Ronan to come into the team. We know Niall and Kieran Lewis well and I’m sure they’re both excited by the chance to play against Leinster.

“Munster have experience right throughout their team and I have been particularly impressed by the two centres — Rua Tipoki and (Lifeimi) Mafi. I’ve seen a fair bit of Tipoki and he has a brilliant sidestep and is a real threat. He looks to have settled into the Munster culture really well and they’re both sure to test our defence.”

Though they bombed two weeks ago in Toulouse, Leinster have since rebounded with the defeat of a depleted Ospreys side in the Liberty Stadium last weekend in a game where they made their own share of alterations.

Even then, their display left some room for improvement with Cheika pointing to a lack of control at the base of the scrum and an equal paucity in discipline as being two key areas that need addressing.

Musgrave Park isn’t the sort of arena to be repeating those errors though Leinster’s track record on the road this year lends itself to optimism.

“Our away form has improved this year and that was an area that we were keen to improve on. We know how difficult it is to win on the road and Friday will be a big, big challenge. We’ve got to keep our heads against a Munster side who are bang in-form by the looks of things.”

Leinster squad (v Munster) Forwards: J Gomez, C Healy, O le Roux, B Blaney, B Jackman, S Knoop, S Wright, L Cullen, C Jowitt, M O’Kelly, K Gleeson, S Jennings, S Keogh, J Heaslip.

Backs: C Keane, C Willis, F Contepomi, J Sexton, C Warner, G D’Arcy, B O’Driscoll, G Brown, L Fitzgerald, S Horgan, R Kearney.