Schmidt hopes old foes will help Blues feel more like old selves

Leinster and Munster may be coming off the back of humbling defeats last weekend but Joe Schmidt believes form — or the lack of it — will account for little when the rivals clash at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday.

Never before in 18 seasons of professional rugby have these two provinces collided having both lost their preceding matches. The closest they came was in October of 1998 when Leinster were defeated by Stade Francais and Munster drew with Neath. Those two games were played away from home in the nascent Heineken Cup and both Schmidt and his counterpart Rob Penney will be hoping the faces of familiar foes will inspire their sides ahead of the European campaign after respective losses to Connacht and Ospreys.

“No matter what the preparations of the two teams coming into a fixture like this or no matter what the previous results this game gets people stirred and motivated and concentrated and that’s what we need this week,” said Schmidt.

Leinster have been here before in each of Schmidt’s previous two campaigns, seemingly undermined by early-season wobbles only to be re-empowered by the now annual fixture against the men in red at the plush surrounds of old Lansdowne Road. They have now won three and lost two of their opening five Pro12 fixtures but perhaps the most astounding statistic is a concession of 18 tries — just 10 fewer than in their full league campaign last season.

The constant musical chairs caused by a raft of injuries and the IRFU’s player management programme have contributed considerably to that but, even so, Schmidt admitted he was unhappy with the performance in Galway.

“It’s not the way we play,” said Mike Ross who, like Schmidt, was equally quick to compliment Connacht. “We’ve built up a certain level for ourselves over the last couple of years and we were far off that on Friday.”

And the remedy? “We just have to win our collisions, really,” said the Cork-born tight-head prop. “I mean we can’t keep going backwards, soaking tackles and expect to come out on top. It’s not the way it works.

“Rugby is a collision-winning sport and we need to do that on Saturday if we’re to beat Munster, otherwise we might as well not turn up.”

Schmidt has had to make wholesale changes for every game played this season due to the considerations mentioned above and that will certainly continue on Saturday evening for a mix of good reasons and bad.

The good news is that a host of Irish internationals — Brian O’Driscoll, Jonathan Sexton and Jamie Heaslip as well as potential Ireland recruit Richardt Straus — will return for consideration having been unused in Galway.

The bad news is that Schmidt will have to do without Rob Kearney, who injured his back against Connacht, Leo Cullen (arm), Isaac Boss (arm), lock Quinn Roux (shoulder) as well as longer-term absentees Sean O’Brien, Luke Fitzgerald and Dave Kearney. A decision on Gordon D’Arcy (bruised ribs) may be delayed until Friday. Shane Jennings should be available despite an ankle injury while Eoin Reddan (leg) may be back in the mix after missing the last two fixtures. “I hope Rob has got as many headaches as I have,” said Schmidt. “We’ll wait and see what we get up against us.”