Friends and foes all set for a high-octane battle

It is always the same when Leinster face old foes Munster. Regardless of which side holds the bragging rights, there is always something said to stoke the fires and Munster head coach Rob Penney did that when he suggested his players would be facing the Six Nations champions at the Aviva Stadium tonight.

It has given the headline writers and chatroom contributors plenty to get their teeth into but for all the talk of pro-Leinster bias in Joe Schmidt’s Ireland selections, there can be few gripes from elsewhere when those players supposed unfairly favoured over others delivered some long-awaited silverware.

Penney’s words were not meant to be incendiary, merely a reminder of the current state of play between the two provinces, even if he did a disservice to Munster’s contribution to Ireland’s Six Nations success. His players involved in that momentous victory in France were three of the stars of the show, captain Paul O’Connell, flanker Peter O’Mahony and scrum-half Conor Murray, whose incisive play at Stade de France was crucial in unlocking the French defence.

Leinster, though, are the top dogs in terms of recent trophies and their current league standing, two points ahead of Munster at the head of the RaboDirect Pro12 standings heading into this top of the table clash.

With that Leinster dominance of the Ireland team also comes consequences and Blues boss Matt O’Connor will have to do without mainstays Cian Healy, Jack McGrath and Marty Moore from his front row permutations alone, as well as back rower Rhys Ruddock and wing Dave Kearney. Yet it says much for Leinster’s strength in depth that O’Connor is still able to field a starting XV all of whom are Irish internationals with an All Black, Jimmy Gopperth, and a Springbok, Zane Kirchner, as well as three Six Nations winners – Seán Cronin, Isaac Boss and Jordi Murphy – on the bench.

It presents a stiff challenge for Munster, their biggest of the season so far, but it is a much-needed examination of the province’s readiness for an even bigger test ahead with Toulouse visiting Limerick in seven days for the Heineken Cup quarter-final Penney’s side were rusty and off the pace last week in disposing of Treviso on a terrible night for rugby at Thomond Park last Saturday and they will need to up their intensity and standards by some measure tonight if they are to upset the odds and beat the champions in their backyard to complete a first double of their interpro rivals since 2008-09, the season they last managed a win in Dublin, beating Leinster 18-0 at the RDS.

And that is why all the talk will be meaningless come 7pm.

The pace will be too hot, the intensity too high and the collisions too heavy for anyone to stop to consider whether they deserved a place in the Ireland team ahead of the guy on the other side. There is too much at stake for both provinces, both tonight and in anticipation of their respective European clashes next week, to be caught up in things they have no control over other than to play to their potential.

“To be honest,” said Munster No.8 James Coughlan this week, “the majority won’t be thinking about Joe (Schmidt) on Saturday night, we’ll be thinking about making sure that we beat Leinster and what we can do next.

“If you get caught up on what other people are thinking then you lose focus on what you’re supposed to be doing.”

Schmidt will have an impact on this game, make no mistake, because he has now coached a large number of the players taking the field during his first season as Ireland coach.

Now Munster players, including unused Irish squad men such as Coughlan, Simon Zebo and Felix Jones, are talking about the focus, attention to detail and work ethic required to be successful Test players. Those are not new attributes for Munster players but come with a fresh emphasis from a coach they need to impress in addition to the one closer to home.

It levels the playing field more than somewhat and makes tonight’s game even more likely to go to the wire before being decided by a single lapse in concentration, a work of genius or a nerveless kick. For all the talk of dominance by one province over another, this could go either way, giving us yet another reason to shut up for 80 minutes and relish this encounter between friends and rivals.