Leinster flex muscles to expose Munster

GOODBYE Munster, hello Leinster.

For the fourth successive meeting between the sides, Leinster bullied, controlled and subjugated their southern rivals to such an extent that no argument remains about which is the dominant force in the Irish game.

Leinster are miles ahead as Munster have the appearance of a side that has shot its bolt, many of its star men old and arguably past their sell-by date as top-class rugby players, its newcomers still short of the required standard.

All of which may appear too complimentary to Leinster and overly dismissive of Munster.

Time will tell but right now it’s the boys in blue who are the dominant force having ruled the roost through every second of Saturday night’s one-sided but massively entertaining second half.

Leinster’s faults and shortcomings may have been exposed in Europe but not as glaringly as those of Munster.

And when it comes to the meetings of the two, it seems these days that there can be only one outcome. As a unit Leinster are in a different league. On Saturday, they proved they have the capacity to move up a gear when required and that was best demonstrated by a superb second half display.

There was a time when a Leinster team that fell 6-3 behind within 17 seconds of the restart and playing into a strong wind would have folded. No longer. Instead, they took the game to Munster with a sense of confidence and skill scoring a magnificent try and were denied another by a despairing and illegal tackle by Tomás O’Leary on Cian Healy.

As a unit, they had all the answers, individually they had the players who by their example inspired those around them. Number eight Jamie Heaslip was a glowing example. For some time we have appreciated that he is something special. But with every game, Heaslip continues to add to his reputation.

Through no fault of his, Leinster were pinned back for much of their wind assisted first half. When the going might have got tougher against the elements, Heaslip emerged as a colossus, a serious, powerfully fit athlete who is almost impossible to knock when he gets up a head of steam and invariably puts possession to the best possible use.

Nobody appreciated his contribution better than his captain Shane Jennings who compared him to another legendary back-row forward, the Australian Rocky Elsom who played such a pivotal role in last year’s Heineken Cup win.

“It’s like having Rocky back again,” said Jennings. “Jamie’s been fantastic. If we want someone to carry ball and make the yards, he’s doing it for us. He deserves all the credit he gets and if he keeps playing like that, we’ll go places.”

Jennings was equally adamant that this was no one-man show and that this is a well rounded Leinster side.

Half-backs Eoin Reddan and Jonny Sexton, who played a key role in the game’s only try, were outstanding, and so, too, try scorer Rob Kearney at full-back and the ever dangerous Isa Nacewa on the wing. Nathan Hines and Malcolm O’Kelly shone in the absence of skipper Leo Cullen while the front-row and especially hooker John Fogarty enjoyed a triumphant series of scrums against their creaking Munster opponents.

After this latest decidedly moderate performances and on the evidence of Saturday’s game, the gulf between the sides has grown ever wider. Who are the Ladyboys now, demanded a raucous fan of his Munster neighbours?

Fair question, little answer. That said, Leinster fans, understandably agog at the facility with which they are now dismissing their greatest rivals, should be careful of what they wish for. The manner in which they relentlessly booed a sportsman of Tomás O’Leary’s character after he had made an accidentally dangerous tackle on Cian Healy once again demonstrated that too many fans on either side of the spectrum need to step back a little and take a grip on things.

While Michael Cheika and Leinster move on to greater things, Munster’s season is over and they are left with a myriad of problems. The dismal failure of their set piece against Biarritz and again on Saturday night when they didn’t even go close to stealing a Leinster line-out throw and were frequently embarrassed at scrum time, will impose a deal of pressure on Lawrie Fisher. Something has gone wrong in that all-important area and Munster supporters need reassuring as to where the fault rests.

LEINSTER: R. Kearney; S. Horgan, B. O’Driscoll, G. D’Arcy, I. Nacewa; J. Sexton, E. Reddan; C. Healy, J. Fogarty, S. Wright, N. Hines, M. O’Kelly, K. McLaughlin, S, Jennings capt, J. Heaslip.

Replacements: C.J.van der Linde for Wright (47); R. Strauss for Fogarty (82); T. Hogan for Hines (88); Wright for Healy (85).

MUNSTER: P. Warwick; D. Howlett, J. de Villiers, K. Earls, L. Mafi; R. O’Gara capt, T. O’Leary; M. Horan, D. Varley, J. Hayes, D. O’Callaghan, M. O’Leary, A. Quinlan, N. Ronan, N. Williams.

Replacements: D. Willians for Wallace (56); D. Ryan for Hayes (61); D. Hurley for de Villiers (68); P. Stringer for O’Leary (72); J. Coughlan for Ronan (69).

Referee: Nigel Owens (Wales).