Derby duels

 Last five Leinster v Munster league encounters

Saturday, March 31st, 2012

Munster 9 Leinster 18 (Thomond Park)

As a spectacle it teetered towards the pedantic, primarily attributable to an endless succession of collapsed scrums for which Marcus Horan and Mike Ross would eventually see yellow. There were no tries but Leinster, led by Jamie Heaslip and Gordon D’Arcy, were full value for their win; it ended a run of consecutive defeats in Limerick. Both teams would go on to lose to the Ospreys in the knock-out stage.

Scoring sequence: 9 mins: Sexton pen 0-3; 28: O’Gara pen 3-3; 31: Sexton pen 3-6; 35: Sexton pen 3-9; (half-time: 3-9); 46: O’Gara pen 6-9; 54: O’Gara pen 9-9; 60: Sexton pen 9-12; 70: McFadden pen 9-15; 75: Madigan drop goal 9-18.

MUNSTER: F Jones; J Murphy, K Earls, L Mafi, S Zebo; R O’Gara (capt), T O’Leary; M Horan, D Varley, BJ Botha; D O’Callaghan, M O’Driscoll; Dave O’Callaghan, P O’Mahony, J Coughlan. Replacements: W du Preez for Horan (44 mins), M Sherry for Varley (51 mins), T O’Donnell for O’Callaghan (56 mins), D Williams for O’Leary (65 mins), D Barnes for Earls (67 mins). Not used: S Archer, B Holland, I Keatley. Sin binned: Horan (43 mins).

LEINSTER: R Kearney; I Nacewa, B O’Driscoll, G D’Arcy, L Fitzgerald; J Sexton, E Reddan; H van der Merwe, S Cronin, M Ross, B Thorn, D Toner, K McLaughlin, S Jennings, J Heaslip (capt). Replacements: F McFadden for D’Arcy (34-37 and 65 mins), J Hagan for Ross (44-56 and 77 mins), C Healy for van der Meurwe (54 mins), L Cullen for Thorn, S O’Brien for McLaughlin (both 55 mins), R Strauss for Cronin (59 mins), I Madigan for Sexton, I Boss for Reddan (64 mins). Sin binned: Ross (44-54 mins).

Referee: Nigel Owens (WRU).

Friday, November 14th, 2011

Leinster 24 Munster 19 (Aviva Stadium)

This match was dominated by the unsympathetic whistle of French referee Pascal Gauzere, whose interpretation of the breakdown frustrated players and supporters alike. Munster lost Keith Earls to injury on two minutes and thereafter spent a frustrating evening chasing Leinster. The visitors’ indiscipline saw Jonathan Sexton land seven penalties but Munster managed to rescue a losing bonus point three minutes from time when their scrum forced a penalty try.

Scoring sequence: 5 mins: O’Gara pen 0-3; 9 mins: Sexton pen 3-3; 14: Sexton pen 6-3; 20: O’Gara pen 6-6; 22: Sexton pen 9-6; 29: Sexton pen 12-6; 34: O’Gara pen 12-9; 39: Sexton pen 15-9; (half-time 15-9); 43: O’Gara pen 15-12; 45: Sexton pen 18-12; 56: Kearney drop goal 21-12; 61: Sexton pen 24-12; 77: penalty try, O’Gara con 24-19.

LEINSTER: R Kearney; I Nacewa, F McFadden, G D’Arcy, L Fitzgerald; J Sexton, I Boss; C Healy, R Strauss, M Ross, L Cullen (capt), D Toner, S O’Brien, S Jennings, J Heaslip. Replacements: H van der Merwe for Healy (55), E Reddan for Boss (58), R Ruddock for Jennings (63), J Hagan for Ross, K McLaughlin for Toner, E O’Malley for D’Arcy (all 73). Not used: S Cronin, I Madigan. Sinbinned: Heaslip (69-79).