‘Contepomi? I’ll have a drink with him afterwards’

FOR Denis Leamy, the burning desire to beat Leinster dates back to the time he first pulled on a Munster shirt in a Schools inter-provincial back in the late 1990s.

A 3-3 draw was in keeping with the bitterly cold, wet Musgrave Park day that it was. Twelve months later, though, he was a member of an outstanding Munster side that prevailed 21-3 at Templeville Road.

It was always a big deal for the lads from down the country to go up to the Pale and put one over on the city slickers, so as a highly-promising, rugby-mad kid from a rural part of Co Tipperary, this was pretty special by any standards.