Munster old boys out to prove a point

Munster may have added motivation against Leinster, given their respective representations in Ireland’s Six Nations squad, but the desire to prove people wrong will work both ways at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday.

Mike Ross, Sean Cronin and Eoin Reddan were all once Munster players. All three were told there was no place for them at the province and Reddan admits that such a backdrop adds an extra edge to the week for him.

There was no talk of revenge, and he is not “going out there to take anyone’s head off”, but Reddan will pack his bag that bit earlier tomorrow night and his head will hit the pillow before the usual hour.

“In reality, they had very good players so we moved on and tried our hand elsewhere,” said the scrum-half, speaking as he helped promote the Irish Youth Foundation’s charity Ryder Cup-themed corporate golf event yesterday.

“For us, that makes this game important every year. It’s probably only important for that week but it’d be a lie to say it doesn’t come into your head.”

It was about this time nine years ago that Alan Gaffney asked Reddan to hang around with Munster until June. He knew what that meant. There was no place for him, and a life auditing in an accountancy firm beckoned.

A heavy landing, as he said himself.

Then, Warren Gatland called out of the blue from London Wasps — within hours — and told him he wanted the young Irishman to be first-choice nine with the then European champions. It was a no brainer.

“I was asking if he was sure. It wasn’t where I was mentally in my head. I said yes immediately. He was asking did I want to know about money or time but I said there is no issue, I’ll definitely go.

“There was no option for me anywhere else, they were reigning Heineken Cup champions. Matt Dawson was coming to a time where he was ready to help someone into that slot. It made perfect sense for me to go.”

He looks back now and realises his expectations at Munster were too high and that his level of performance too low, yet Gatland loved his upbeat tempo on the pitch. His stay in London lasted four years and, though there was the odd conversation with his old province about going back, they always seemed to have that piece of the jigsaw in place, with Tomás O’Leary succeeding Peter Stringer.

When he finally left Wasps it was for a Leinster side seeking a replacement for the retiring Chris Whitaker. He knew a lot of the players from his time with Ireland and liked how the province played their rugby too.

That was six years ago.

Mike Ross described himself as an honorary Leinster man this week and Reddan struck a similar chord when asked about where the boundaries lie on this interlocking occasion.

“I’m very, very proud of the team I play for and where I live in Dublin,” he explained. “It’s been amazing for myself and my wife since we got here. We’ve enjoyed it and she loves her job as well.

“That’s great, we’re happy. She’s from Limerick as well so we’ve very strong ties. It all adds to the weekend. A few of my mates will pull on a blue jersey for a few hours, a few won’t. My family will.”

Reddan’s roots aren’t the only reason he is qualified to gauge the Munster mindset this week. He knows what it is like to sit second in the queue for a green jersey, with Conor Murray the recognised number nine.

An injury absence during the first half of the Six Nations only solidified that hierarchy but the Leinster man returned to play most of the Italy game after Murray’s own enforced absence and then saw action briefly in the Stade de France.

He makes no bones about it: it’s hard sitting on the bench, but his mindset tells him to be grateful for every five-minute cameo, whether it comes away to Zebre or in front of 80,000 in Paris.

The external perception is that this weekend will give him the opportunity to square up to Murray and make a point in front of Joe Schmidt & Co. but Reddan echoed Rob Penney in stressing the importance of the collective.

“He’d definitely be someone to watch this weekend. But nines are tricky, you know. If you watch a nine too much and he’s smart, you’ll find other guys running through the hole when you think you’re doing a good job.

“Our job really is to find space for other people most of the time. I think we’ll have to watch him but there are a lot of guys on their team that if you take your eye off for a second, they’re the ones doing the damage.”