Wary Jennings says old foes Munster still have fear factor

Shane Jennings has heard all the talk about how Munster have been rebuilding, how they are not the same team that once struck fear into the hearts of opponents throughout Europe and he shakes his head in disbelief.

The Leinster flanker has been rucking and mauling against his southern cousins since September 2003, when he first snatched eight minutes of a Celtic League game against a Munster back row of Jim Williams, Alan Quinlan and Anthony Foley.

He has faced the red jersey 16 times, winning on nine occasions and falling short on seven. He has been part of teams that have beaten Munster by one point and by 30, and he has been on the receiving end of losing margins stretching from six points to 18.

If anyone knows Munster, it is Jennings.

“I can’t understand all the talk that Munster were rebuilding and they weren’t the team they had been for a couple of years,” he said.

“Anybody who has ever played against Munster will understand how difficult they are to play against with their physicality and the talent they have in the squad.

“It is very naive of people to say that they are not the team they were. They are tough as nails every year, always fiercely competitive at the breakdown and with talent out wide. They still have the basics of a very good side. That’s the level we want to be at so it is a good test for us.”

This Saturday, he will face the old foe for their now annual get-to at the Aviva Stadium having overcome an ankle injury and it will be a far cry from his first taste of the rivalry when 6,000 punters were shoehorned into Donnybrook.

Other things have changed since, too. Of the 44 players on duty that evening, only five remain active with the two clubs: Jennings, Gordon D’Arcy, Leo Cullen, Donncha O’Callaghan and Eoin Reddan who wore red that night but whose allegiances now lie in the blue corner.

In all that time, Munster’s back row has always been counted as one of the side’s core strengths but injury and age has robbed the province of stalwarts such as Denis Leamy, David Wallace and Alan Quinlan in recent times.

The men following in their wake have much to live up to but Jennings, who played alongside Niall Ronan with Leinster and James Coughlan at underage levels for Ireland, believes some things don’t change even if the faces do.

“That process [of change] just happens. For years, guys like Denis and Wally and Quinny and Anthony Foley had their positions pretty solid but it is these new guys’ opportunity now. Guys like Niall [Ronan] who was up at Leinster. We know how good he is.

“They have evolved into a good back row but they still play the same that the likes of Leams and those guys did years ago. They are confrontational and physical at the breakdown and have a very good skill level, whether it is in the line or out in the loose.”

It is a game of considerable import for both sides given their respective defeats last weekend but Leinster have found this particular Lansdowne Road fixture to their liking with victories the last two years leading to bigger and better things.

This time 24 months ago, Joe Schmidt’s side used their home win over Munster as a springboard for a run of six unbeaten games while last season’s 24-19 win kickstarted a sequence of 16 games without defeat.

Now here they are again, moving their furnishings across Ballsbridge from the RDS once again to accommodate their close kin, and with Schmidt admitting he has never felt under as much pressure to get things operating smoothly.

“There have been issues where we haven’t had availability of players and injuries, but these things happen and that’s no excuse,” said Jennings.

“It’s something we knew was going to happen coming into the season.

“We haven’t played as well as we should, we haven’t done things in games as well we could have and need to improve. And on a personal side, players have to take responsibility and not let this happen because, as much as Joe feels under pressure, the players are under pressure because no-one wants to do well as much as us.”