RUGBY:AS WORLD Cup hangover cures go, this is the ultimate hairy lemon. There may be no Brian O'Driscoll but even this fixture can withstand the absence of the great one, and with Leinster welcoming back another five of their World Cup contingent, as do Munster with Donncha O'Callaghan, all told 19 of those who were brothers in arms for much of the previous four months will resume their annual spats circa 8pm tonight. Just what the doctor ordered.
O’Driscoll has, officially, “been given an extra week to recover from the “stinger” he suffered during the World Cup”, though it looked a helluva lot more than a stinger, with the Ireland captain at times seemingly playing with one arm. But everyone else who finished that campaign three weeks ago so anti-climactically is now back in harness, as Gordon D’Arcy, the backrow trio of Jamie Heaslip, Shane Jennings and Seán O’Brien as well as prop Cian Healy all make their seasonal returns for Leinster.
This is going to be interesting alright. As both camps have stressed all week, there’s no better way to fast-track their preparations for next week’s resumption of European matters than this mother of all RaboDirect Pro 12 derbies, with each set to learn plenty about themselves over the course of the 80 minutes.
The World Cup ensures both will be rustier than normal, collectively if not individually, and so there may be a few more errors than is customary, and not all attacking movement will flow like honey. Nonetheless, the forecast is for some relief from the rain this evening and, no less than in last May’s League final in Limerick, the rivalry and huge sense of occasion will again demand another clash of savage and gripping intensity.
On the face of it, Leinster look arguably the stronger, if marginally.
They have 11 of those 19 starters on duty from the World Cup, along with Seán Cronin and Eoin Reddan on the bench. The long-term loss of David Wallace has also perhaps left a bigger void than O’Driscoll’s absence, for it will be the first of these meetings in League or Europe not featuring Wallace or the retired Alan Quinlan and Anthony Foley.
Next week will mark the first time ever Munster will go into a Heineken Cup game without any of the trio. By contrast, Dominic Ryan cannot even make a Leinster bench featuring Kevin McLaughlin and Rhys Ruddock as back-up to their World Cup trio.
Admittedly, the tight five exchanges dictate much of a backrow’s impact, and here Munster’s gnarled unit looks even more grizzled with the advent of BJ Botha as figurehead and leader of their scrum. Furthermore, the departure of Nathan Hines leaves Devin Toner with big shoes to fill, all the more so against a Paul O’Connell at the height of his considerable powers.
Nonetheless, the presence of Healy, Richardt Strauss and O’Brien would appear to give Leinster a real edge in go-forward ballast up front.
Beyond the fascinating duel at halfback, which is very much an “on-the-night” affair, and allowing for the similarly balanced Kiwi/Irish clashes on both wings, there is also a case for thinking Leinster may have a slightly more proven and sharper cutting edge,
Time was when Munster were in the ascendancy, before they tended to trade home wins. That was prior to a shift in power to Leinster that was reflected in five successive wins, but Munster have arrested that run in the last two meetings and last time handsomely ended a six-match tryless run against Leinster.
Furthermore, the curious way this fixture threw up misleadingly lop-sided scorelines has abated, and the last five have been fairly close-run affairs, with only a point in it in two of them.
In the 21 league and Heineken Cup clashes, beginning with the inaugural league final of December 2001, Leinster still hold a slight edge with 11 wins, but nothing illustrates the rejuvenation in Irish rugby quite like this fixture’s growth.
It’s funny to think it was usually scheduled when the respective front-liners were not available, with the games being played in Donnybrook and Musgrave Park as recently as the 03-04 and 04-05 seasons.
They’ve long since outgrown those venues.
Indeed, this latest instalment will be the fourth to be played in front of 50,000 or so at what was once known as Lansdowne Road. The rivalry assumed new meaning with the Heineken Cup semi-final in 2006, but that stunning 30-6 win for Munster en route to reaching their European Holy Grail remains their only success in five attempts against Leinster at the headquarters of Irish rugby.
They’ve lost on their three visits there since.
With the Red Army contingent liable to be reduced given this is a Friday night 8pm kick-off – hardly helpful for away fans – the colour and encouragement emanating from the home support should be noticeably more visible and louder.
Leinster also have vengeance in their nostrils this time courtesy of that final last May. Then, Munster’s Herculean defence withstood the kitchen sink and then rounded things off with a scrum try as Leinster wilted a week after their own remarkable comeback against Northampton, and with Strauss in the back-row.
As in the corresponding fixture, a French referee adds another unknown quantity.
They tend to be more laissez-faire at the breakdown, and a slower game could possibly suit Munster more.
But either way this has the makings of another taut, tight affair, with every set-piece and breakdown contested, and little given away cheaply.
Leinster and Munster wouldn’t have it any other way.
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: S Cronin, H van der Merwe, J Hagan, K McLaughlin, R Ruddock, E Reddan, I Madigan, E O’Malley.
MUNSTER: J Murphy; D Howlett, W Chambers, L Mafi, K Earls; R O’Gara, C Murray; W du Preez, D Varley, BJ Botha; D O’Callaghan, P O’Connell (capt); D Ryan, N Ronan, D Leamy. Replacements: D Fogarty, M Horan, J Hayes, P O’Mahony, J Coughlan, T O’Leary, I Keatley, D Barnes.
Referee: Pascal Gauzere (FFR).
Recent meetings: (07-08) Munster 3 Leinster 10; Leinster 21 Munster 12; (08-09) Leinster 0 Munster 18; Munster 22 Leinster 5; (HC s/f) Leinster 25 Munster 6; (09-10) Leinster 30 Munster 0; Munster 15 Leinster 16; ML s/f Leinster 16 Munster 6; (10-11) Leinster 13 Munster 9; Munster 24 Leinster 23; (ML final) Munster 19 Leinster 9.
Formguide: Leinster – L W L W W W W. Munster – W W W W L L W.
Leading try scorers: Leinster – Ian Madigan 3. Munster – Danny Barnes 3.
Leading points scorers: Leinster – Isa Nacewa 70. Munster – Ian Keatley 73.
Betting (Paddy Power): 8/15 Leinster, 18/1 Draw, 6/4 Munster. Handicap odds (Munster +4pts) 10/11 Leinster, 20/1 Draw, 10/11 Munster.
Forecast: Leinster to win.
* Due to essential maintenance, Lansdowne Road DART station, will not be in use for supporters tonight. Supporters are asked to alight from either Grand Canal Dock (those travelling from the north of the city) or Sydney Parade (those travelling from the south of the city) stations.
THREE CRUCIAL MATCH-UPS
JONATHAN SEXTON v RONAN O'GARA
AGE: Sexton: 26. O’Gara 34
HEIGHT: Sexton: 1.88m/ 6ft 2ins. O’Gara: 1.83m/6ft.
STRENGTHS: The younger, stronger, quicker tyro with the superior running and tackling game, against the older, supreme game manager with the wonderful kicking and handling skills’ set and endgame match-winner.
LIKELY IMPACT: If O’Gara gets more ball he’s liable to pin Leinster back and keep the Munster pack rolling forward. If Sexton does though, he’s more equipped to unleash his own running threat and release the dynamic runners around him. His goal-kicking appears to be less of an issue in blue too, but it really wouldn’t be the same without these two.
CIAN HEALY v BJ BOTHA
AGE: Healy 24. Botha: 31.
HEIGHT: Healy 1.85m/6ft 1in. Botha: 1.82m/5ft 11ins.
STRENGTHS: Another younger tyro v old bull. Healy, when focused and on his game, has become a fearless big-game player who punches above his weight at scrum time, while rugged Springbok Botha has been bought to become the Munster scrum’s figurehead.
LIKELY IMPACT: It’ll be some feather in Healy’s cap if gets much change out of Botha in the scrums. But when in the mood and on his game, the fearless Healy rises to big-game occasions and unless Botha really does sap Healy’s energy, then the young Leinster bull is liable to have a way bigger impact around the paddock.
JAMIE HEASLIP v DENIS LEAMY
AGE: Heaslip 27 Leamy: 29.
HEIGHT: Heaslip: 1.93m/6ft 4ins Leamy: 1.87m/6ft 2ins.
STRENGTHS: Jamie Heaslip hasn’t been the Lions star of late, but happily let his backrow mates hog the glory when doing the dirtier work.
Denis Leamy has lost a little of his ballast with injuries but he remains an innate footballer from the old Munster ‘dogs of war’ school.
LIKELY IMPACT: By number eight standards, neither of these players are especially loose and their duel is more likely to be as quasi opensides at the breakdown, where Heaslip can be immense.
There were glimpses of Leamy returning to his physical best at the World Cup, but in David Wallace’s absence the onus on him to come up with big plays as of yore, while also keeping his cool, is even more acute.
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