'That would be massive' - Jack O'Donoghue sets sights on Munster URC double over Leinster
DOUBLE VISION: Munster's Jack O'Donoghue has set his sights on another win over Leinster. Pic: ©INPHO/Geraint Nicholas.
Munster supporters will not need reminding their team has beaten Leinster once already this season but Jack O’Donoghue knows landing a precious URC double over the defending champions at Thomond Park on Saturday is another challenge altogether.
The back-rower was part of a Munster side which delivered a commanding 31-14 victory over their derby rivals at Croke Park on October 18, a win which, despite the protestations from inside the southern province’s camp this week that this match-up is just another fixture, was celebrated with gusto on the pitch at the full-time whistle.
The try bonus-point was well deserved against a stacked but undercooked Leinster side and Leo Cullen’s team are still not yet this season resembling the unit which has made this game something of a foregone conclusion in recent years.
And that includes Thomond Park, where the last home victory against the boys in blue was in December 2018.
So the thought that the quality gap has been bridged and a first league double over Leinster since 2014-15 is next on the horizon for head coach Clayton McMillan’s maiden campaign at the Munster helm was understandably treated warily by the 31-year-old when he faced the media in Limerick on Monday.
“I wasn't aware of that stat,” O’Donoghue said in reference to that decade without a home and away double.
“Yeah, look, that would be massive. I think we'd like to try and win every game. Just because we beat them once doesn't necessarily mean we're going to beat them again.
“We're going to have to be on our A-game because they're going to be coming down all guns blazing. I think we'll relish the challenge and we're really going to enjoy the occasion. But for us, it's about putting in the performance for 80 minutes, doing the hard graft and hopefully coming out the right side of it.”
Yet the optimism coursing through Munster supporters that this an opportune moment for the inbalance between the province to be further redressed is palpable as McMillan’s squad prepare for the sell-out home derby this weekend. And O’Donoghue acknowledges that spirit has been encouraged by Munster’s victory at GAA headquarters 10 weeks ago.
“I think it gives us belief. They're probably not going to give us much credit for it. Speaking after that, they probably said they didn't really perform and that we kind of shocked them. But we played some great rugby and that's the confidence and belief that we will take into this weekend.”
A victory this Christmas would cement the belief that the Munster-Leinster rivalry is back on an even keel though the Waterford man was at pains to remind people of another significant victory on the road to the 2023 URC title, their 16-15 win delivered via a Jack Crowley drop goal sending them to the Grand Final in Cape Town.
“I still think the rivalry is definitely there, I don't think it ever went away,” O’Donoghue said.
“Unfortunately, we probably came out the wrong side of a couple of results, but we have beaten them.
“We went up to the Aviva and beat them in the URC semi-final and we went to Croke Park just there recently and we came out victorious.
“But I think what we are probably looking at is Thomond Park, them coming down to us, it being a home game for us. Although it's a massive derby, we're looking at making Thomond Park special for us and that's building on last week. But we're under no illusions, we have a massive test ahead of us this weekend.”
Munster are slowly regathering the momentum with which they started life under incoming boss McMillan following back-to-back losses to URC rivals the Stormers and the Champions Cup pool humbling by Bath.
A European pool win with a bonus point against Gloucester at Pairc ui Chaoimh was followed by another five league points at Ospreys in Bridgend last Saturday and O’Donoghue insisted this URC round eight match-up was just five more points to play for.
“For us, it's just another game. Yes, it is a derby and I think from the outside, you can build it up to be the special occasion, to be a World Cup final but for us, the same five points are an offer this weekend as they were last weekend and that's something that we speak about as not letting ourselves get ahead of ourselves or play the occasion.
“It’s just 80 minutes of rugby, going out there, beating them at home is something that we're going to try and do, just like last weekend when we went to the Ospreys and tried to beat them in Bridgend.
“That's our goal, that's what we set out to do, we don't put them on a pedestal, we don't put any team on a pedestal, it's just going out for 80 minutes of rugby and trying to back our performance.”
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