Make or break for Leinster’s lion hearts

MURRAYFIELD isn’t where they would have chosen to meet their destiny – they’ve had too many unnerving moments at Scottish headquarters for their liking – but it’s the stadium in which Leinster intend to put their many demons to rest in this evening’s Heineken Cup final against Leicester.

And I believe they will do so.

Having defended heroically to hold off Harlequins in the quarter-final at The Stoop, Leinster then played out of their skins to pulverise their greatest rivals, champions Munster in a massive upset in the Croke Park semi-final.

Surely, after those two outstanding performances, they couldn’t fall at the final hurdle?

If they become the third Irish province to collect European club rugby’s greatest accolade then skipper Leo Cullen and his players will forever be remembered in the annals of Leinster and Irish rugby.

However, should they come up short against the Leicester Tigers, all the old doubts and reservations about the heart and soul of the Leinster team will raise their ugly head once again and the repercussions could be harmful to the future of the game in the province.

They are riding the crest of the wave with a fan base superior even to that of the Tigers. When it was announced early this week that 1,500 tickets were being returned to ERC for resale, the cynics immediately felt it must have been Leinster who hadn’t been able to use their full allocation. Instead, it was Leicester who were found wanting and the Irish side had enjoyed an early psychological boost.

Edinburgh wasn’t exactly awash in blue yesterday but there was a lot more of it than the green, red and white of the Tigers! Nor has it done them any harm that the entire starting XV had their feet up last weekend whereas the Tigers were involved in a fierce final of the Guinness Premiership against London Irish which ended 10-9 in their favour.

Seven days previously, they came through another testing semi-final with Bath and before that they had the extra time thriller against the Cardiff Blues which was decided by the most unsatisfactory method of a penalty shoot-out.

Tigers or not, they wouldn’t be human if they weren’t just a little exhausted after all that and much of what went before.

On top of that, they go into the game without their England out-half Toby Flood and All Black centre Aaron Mauger with the great hearted Martin Corry unable to find a spot on the bench having battled his way back to fitness.

True, Leinster are without Felipe Contepomi while the anticipated scrummaging lift promised by the signing of the Springbok World Cup winning prop CJ van der Linde never got off the ground because of a toe injury.

But 21 year-old Cian Healy has belied his youth with a succession of thundering performances at loose head and another of the emerging contingent, Jonathan Sexton, demonstrated that he was made of the right stuff by successfully replacing Contepomi with most of an hour still to play against Munster.

Some will argue that the momentum favours the Tigers after all they have done in recent times. But I’m not so sure it is anything to surpass what Michael Cheika’s side managed against both Harlequins and Munster.

In those games, they emphatically shrugged off the ‘Ladyboys tag’ and I suspect an inherent dread that defeat today would see all the old familiars slurs re-visited will see them again play above themselves once again.

Forward supremacy is invariably essential for success. Leinster are unlikely to enjoy any edge up front – indeed I suspect Cheika would accept a 45/55 ratio of possession – but they surely have the edge in the middle of the field where in-form Brian O’Driscoll and Gordon D’Arcy will surely carry too much guile and strength for Danny Hipkiss and Ayoola Erinle.

Nor have Leinster anything to fear on the wings where Luke Fitzgerald looks a class ahead of all others and Shane Horgan was outstanding against Munster.

Leicester have relegated Kildare man Johne Murphy to the reserve bench to make way for the fit again Alesana Tuilagi and retained Frenchman Jean Dupuy at scrum-half ahead of Ellis. Which, of course, means that Lions-to-be Ellis and Robert Kearney must be satisfied with places on the bench.

A question mark remains over Leinster full-back Isa Nacewa no matter how well he performed against Munster with Leicester looking to their own Leinster man, Geordan Murphy, to give them the edge in this particular area.

So much, though, will depend on Jonathan Sexton – one of only two non-capped players in the Leinster side along with Healy – fares in his first start in a Heineken Cup match at this level.

Cheika is much reassured by how well he performed in the hour or so he played as Contepomi’s replacement against Munster and is satisfied he will again deliver this evening.

“It was always a target of ours for him to become our no 1 playmaker”, said the Aussie. “He is quite relaxed compared to what maybe I would have seen a year or two ago.

“He knows his game very well, he’s quite composed really.”

Cheika sees the game “as a great opportunity for not just Sexton but everyone else as well to prove what they are made of. The whole team is relatively untried at this level, bar Leo Cullen and Shane Jennings who, ironically enough, were in the Leicester team beaten in the final a couple of years. So that puts Jonathan on level par with the rest of us, I suppose. I know the other boys have played Test footy before but this is a new experience for us as a team.”

Is that a good or a bad thing? Only time will tell. But people like Brian O’Driscoll, Shane Horgan, Leo Cullen, Malcolm O’Kelly, to name but four keymen, realise they may never again have a chance like this. Others, like the massive Rocky Elsom, Bernard Jackman and Chris Whitaker know for sure that they won’t.

So the stakes could hardly be higher. And it will all be decided by how well Leinster cope in the heat of battle. They have serious questions to answer but this time, I am confident that they won’t be found wanting.