Kierann Marmion: Interprovincial intensity stems from rivalry for Irish places

Connacht scrum-half Kieran Marmion says interprovincial ties tend to become more heated than other PRO12 league games because players are facing rivals for an international shirt.

Marmion is eyeing up tomorrow’s interpro clash with Leinster as the perfect opportunity to lay down a marker ahead of the Six Nations.

“I really look forward to these games. It’s great to match up against the other Irish scrum-halves so I am looking forward to that, and hopefully I can take my chance.

“These matches are a bit more heated. Players know that they are playing against guys who are in competition with them for Irish places. So these games have more intensity than some of the other PRO12 games.” The 23-year-old missed out on Ireland’s World Cup squad, having won the last of his four caps in a brief run against Wales in a World Cup warm-up at the Millennium Stadium.

And as Joe Schmidt’s Ireland squad convene for their first training camp since the World Cup on Sunday with less than six weeks to their Six Nations opener at home to Wales, Marmion knows this is a big opportunity to impress.

“I will be trying to aim for the Six Nations this year. But all I can do is just perform as best I can for Connacht and hopefully I might make the squad,” he said.

“Obviously it was a disappointing result against Ulster. It was tough after the three weeks out but it was good to get 80 minutes under my belt,” he said.

Marmion, who has chalked up 89 appearances since his Connacht debut in the 2012-13 season, and scored 15 tries, recently extended his contract at the Sportsground by another two years, and he believes the province has what it takes to end Leinster’s five-match winning run in the competition.

“Last year we beat Leinster at home and then lost away. We are a better team now and we are capable of going there and getting the victory.

“We watched their game against Munster and we have done analysis on them. They have their own style of play and have had a solid defence all year. We looked at that, and are trying to work out ways that we can break that down and score tries.

“We just need to be more clinical against Leinster. Like what we did against Ulster, but make sure that we are accurate with all of the stuff like passing and kicking.

We need to take the opportunities when they come,” added Marmion.