Bragging rights for grabs

Celtic League Leinster v Munster clash: John O'Sullivan gets Brian O'Driscoll's thoughts ahead of the clash with Munster

The attendant baggage that accompanies any clash between Leinster and Munster guarantees a fraught affair and tomorrow night's clash at Lansdowne Road probably won't be any different.

Tradition dictates that players studiously downplay the significance of the fixture, but that's for public consumption. Privately this is a match where both squads covet the bragging rights as much as the points on offer that victory garners.

Leinster and Ireland captain Brian O'Driscoll made an impressive return in the blue jersey last weekend and will once again be a central tenet to his province's ambition.

The absence of both provinces' international contingent for the opening throes of the Magners League essentially means they are playing catch-up in terms of their respective positions in the table, a fact to which O'Driscoll first alluded.

"If we don't win then they have an opportunity to leapfrog us in the table and we would find ourselves in the bottom half. These are always potentially big games. I suppose it will be heightened because it's Munster.

"We are not fooling ourselves that the hype surrounding this match will be the same as the Heineken Cup semi-final (last season). That was a very special game and this match won't compare to that level (of hype). There will be an element of grudge because they knocked us out in the semi-final."

He added that players always relish pitting themselves against the best and Munster proved last season that they were the best team in Europe.

"It'll be a good test and will show us where we are (in terms of our development). It'll be keenly contested with nothing lacking."

The Leinster captain is intelligent enough to realise that being caught up in the hype and distracted from implementing the team's game plan courts failure.

"Frankie Sheahan once spoke about having fire in the belly and ice in the mind; it's about striking that balance. It's about remaining calm when the time requires it and getting the blood flowing when needed. There has to be a control element."

While acknowledging the disappointment of Leinster's European Cup semi-final defeat to tomorrow night's opponents, O'Driscoll pointed out that the flak his province received took a little away from what was a superb Munster performance on the day.

"A team that plays well will stop the other team from playing. It's a case of you implementing your game plan and stopping theirs. Referring back to that match, it's exactly what Munster did, just as we did it to them (in the Celtic League game) at the RDS.

"It's a fine line between losing and winning at that level, a break of the ball, a tackle, a kick can change the course of a match. The key is taking advantage of those situations. It can come down to a little bit of luck or a flash of individual brilliance.

"I would envisage that it will probably come down to a single score between the teams and certainly won't be over after 50 or 60 minutes."

He added that in the last couple of matches between the teams the final scoreline has flattered the victors with the losers coughing up softish tries in the final throes of the contest. It's an occupational hazard when a team is chasing the game.

In many ways it's not about revenge, it can't be. The central script is about league points and jump starting a challenge in that competition.

This match will offer Munster and Leinster a barometer of where they are in terms of form and where they need to go in the coming weeks. The sub-plots might be a good deal more interesting in terms of individual collisions.