Ferocious Reds win all the major battles

Munster 28 Leinster 13 Munster finally instilled some Christmas cheer into their campaign by beating arch rivals Leinster in front of a sell-out Thomond Park crowd last night.

Defeating Matt O’Connor’s boys in blue would have been a sweet enough experience in isolation, but Munster’s victory completed a first league double over Leinster since 2008-09 and stopped a three-game losing streak that had seen them lose back to back European games to Clermont Auvergne and then blow a winning position against Guinness Pro12 leadership rivals Glasgow in Scotstoun. And all with both side’s Ireland frontliners watching from the stands, rested under the national team’s player welfare programme while many of those that did start spent part of the week with Joe Schmidt at Ireland training camp.

Other teams, head coach Anthony Foley speculated, might have withdrawn “into their shell” in the wake of three straight defeats. “It seemed to go the opposite for the boys,” he added, no doubt with some pride.