An awful lot of kicking going on

It's been a good start, not a great start, to coin a phrase. The contests have been good, with plenty of intensity. But the Guinness interprovincials haven't exactly flowed yet, and as teams have struggled to create gaps, it seems there's an awful lot more kicking going on.

This time last season, the first four interpros had yielded 25 tries whereas the same four fixtures this year have seen 16 tries scored. This cannot all be attributed to Connacht shoring up their porous defence. In part, as Declan Kidney said after the opening night win over Ulster, it's to do with familiarity.

Still, the first four games have drawn an aggregate attendance of around 22,000, which is another sign of the increasing shift from clubs to provinces in the professional era. And it will get better. After Friday night's defeat to Munster, Matt Williams consoled himself with the thought that Leinster are still three weeks away from what he hopes will be optimum performance levels. The problem for Leinster and the other provinces is, so are Munster.

They haven't really flowed yet, which is understandable. Of all the mitigating factors, the European Cup hangover is biggest, which was compounded by the international demands placed on them backboning the Six Nations revival and the anti-climactic summer tour.

To appreciate this, one only has to look at the examples of their European conquerors last May, Northampton, and the latter's injury-time victims in the semi-finals, Llanelli. The Saints have lost three of their five English Premiership games thus far and languish ninth, four off the bottom. Llanelli have lost three of their first four Welsh/Scottish league games, and lie 11th in the table, with only Cross Keys below them.

Theoretically, Munster's squad has been weakened too, on paper at any rate. Yet their professional mentality and cussedness have got them through two awkward games, extending their unbeaten interprovincial run to 11 games and two years.

They are almost impossible to crack, as Northampton discovered last May - one of only four defeats in Munster's last 27 games. And so it goes on.

Admittedly, they relied heavily on defensive organisation (too much so for Kidney's comfort) and the clinical accuracy of Ronan O'Gara over the last two Fridays. Kidney and the Irish management were probably worried whether some of last season's impressive rookies would suffer from Second Season Syndrome. No fears about O'Gara on that score, it would appear.

A cocky Cork lad, in a nice sort of way, he's begun the season with even greater confidence. It's been mostly with his brain and boot, expert tactical kicking augmented by 11 place-kicks out of 12 so far and a couple of drop-goals. Identifying Ulster's tight-five weakness and the ball kicked in behind their back three, Munster ruthlessly brought O'Gara into three-point range in the final quarter at Ravenhill.

Last Friday in Cork they were a bit more flamboyant, applying their quick rucking game; the second try was typical of Munster's best last season.

It was highlighted by sharp decisionmaking, none better than Mike Mullins to take flat ball and straightening the line when many might have pulled their ears back and gone for the corner - probably seeing the move die over the touchline.

Instead, he drew three covering Leinster players and presented quick ball for John Kelly to exploit the blind-side gap. There will surely be more of that. Leinster will feel they missed their chance, and Williams later cited the failure to execute a three-man overlap five minutes after the break when leading 10-9, coupled with the couple of lost line-outs in the subsequent 15-minute spell which saw Munster score 17 unanswered points.

Yet the impression remains the tide was starting to shift, and just as significant was the reversed penalty which preceded Munster's double whammy of tries against Trevor Brennan for use of the boot off the ball. You hardly ever see Munster shoot themselves in the foot like that. Ever since they departed from Colomiers amid a red mist in the Euro quarter-finals two years ago they don't do that kind of thing.

The others have improved from last year. Leinster will improve again when Brian O'Driscoll returns and their out-half situation settles down.

Ulster have added some handy acquisitions, though a doubt persists about their tight five's ability to provide good setpiece ball, and about their loose forwards' wider game to complement their backs.

Connacht can at least say they didn't roll over last Friday at 32-0 down like they assuredly would have 12 months ago. But the seven-week suspension handed out to Mark McConnell (Connacht are entitled to wonder if an Irish player from one of the more powerful provinces would have suffered the same punishment) is a hammer-blow, and nothing like John Langford's projected six-week absence through injury for Munster, where the talented Mick O'Driscoll and Donncha O'Callaghan can now vie for an overdue run.

Connacht simply have to recruit a replacement for their primary ball-winner and captain if they are to remain remotely competitive.

With Munster (on eight points) failing to garner any bonus points yet, the table shows them just fractionally ahead of Ulster (six) and Leinster (five); yet only at the halfway point will it paint a true picture.

Munster are in a stronger position, and with back-to-back games against Connacht coming up before they host Ulster, can return to Europe in four weeks' time assured of their place again the following season.

Meantime, Leinster and Ulster do battle over the next two Fridays. Regardless which of the two emerges from these skirmishes to provide the main challenge to Munster's crown, with only two guaranteed places in next season's European Cup, these are potentially massive games now.