Ronan keen to show true colours

IF there is any one player with a whole barrel-full of extra incentive in this evening’s big Magners League clash against Leinster in Thomond Park, it’s Munster flanker Niall Ronan.

It’s not just because Ronan is from Leinster, played with them for four years before transferring south – though that in itself will always add a little extra needle. Alright, rugby is a professional sport now, free movement and all that – it’s not as if Ronan were doing the utterly unthinkable and transferring to play gaelic football with Dublin from his native Meath, with whom he had two years as a minor.

Still, the Munster-Leinster rivalry has always been keen, and since the advent of professionalism, and in an apparent contradiction (the best players on both sides, the internationals, have formed strong and enduring friendships), that rivalry has developed an even sharper edge. So, for Niall Ronan, there’s that. But there’s more.

The last two meeting between the teams have ended in serious drubbings for Munster, and on each occasion the Munster pack was blitzed. The first of those beatings, a high-profile Heineken Cup semi-final in a packed Croke Park last May, came as a bolt from the blue, a 25-6 shellacking as the highly-favoured Reds were brought crashing back to earth; the second beating, and though it didn’t have the same profile, didn’t have anything like the same prize at stake, was worse.

Five months later, early October, Munster went to the RDS under no illusions now about the new-found power of Leinster. It was still only the early stages of the new Magners League season but there was so much honour – never to be underestimated in sport – at stake. Leinster were Heineken Cup champions, Munster the Magners League kingpins, memories of Croke Park still fresh; it was to be a clash of titans.

It ended 30-0, the only time in the professional era that Munster failed to score. Comprehensive? You could say that. Extra incentive? Well, what do you think? “It’s always a big occasion,” says Niall; “It’s a derby game, the whole country is watching. You want to win every game playing with Munster but it is a special occasion when you’re playing Leinster, the two biggest teams in the country. Obviously some of my friends are Leinster supporters, but my family will be down to support me.

“The last time we played we didn’t perform; as an individual I was disappointed and I think a lot of the squad felt the same way. Ultimately they won the battle that day; it’s up to us to turn that around this weekend, get the win. It’s a massive game. We want to redeem ourselves.”

There’s an extra problem for Niall and his fellow back-rowers this evening at the breakdown, however, and it has nothing to do with Leinster – it’s all to do with this new interpretation at the tackle area, which caused so many problems during the Six Nations.

Some referees – southern hemisphere especially – are consistent, blow the whistle immediately if the tackler doesn’t release the player, some consistently ignore the new interpretation; some are leaning first one way, then the other, perhaps forgetting themselves in mid-match.

Having got a yellow card for his troubles last time out, in the win over Glasgow last weekend, what is Niall’s own interpretation? “I know as much as you about it,” he admits; “It’s up in the air at the minute. It’s frustrating, you don’t know if you’re allowed poach the ball, contest for it. Your natural instinct is to grab the guy and go down with him – now you have to release him and then go. That’s the split second that can stop you from winning the ball. I don’t know how it’s going to be reffed in the Magners League, it’s still up in the air. You have to speak to the referee, see what his interpretation is going to be, take it from there. Other than that there’s nothing you can do, really – I think sometimes the ref doesn’t know himself what the rules are.”

One consolation, at least – it will be the same for both teams, and, says Niall, the breakdown will still be hotly contested. “They’re strong at the breakdown, their back row especially; we’ll concentrate on that, try to counteract them. It’s going to be a battle up front, same as always in a derby game; we have worked on that during the week, hopefully it will go well for us.”