Leinster playing it for real

The latest instalment of the Munster-Leinster rivalry may not have interprovincial points at stake but it is a real match, not some sort of pre-season kidology with replacements of rush-hour frequency. No doubt the Munster supporters at Musgrave Park wouldn't have it any other way.

Leinster coach Matt Williams outlined his reasons yesterday for declining to go for the three 30minute periods which their Ulster and Connacht counterparts have opted for.

Williams said: "I don't see the bonus for us in that. We're preparing for 80 minutes of really intense rugby seven days later so the cliche is true, that match practice is essential. I want it to be for 80 minutes, not just for fitness because the guys have been working very hard, but it's just the mental concentration required when you get into that fatigue area.

"When you look at that last five minutes against Northampton after we'd played 10 games straight, I think if we'd only played one or two games we mightn't have got the same result in the last 10 minutes because we concentrated so well in that."

Not that there won't be a surfeit of replacements over the 80 minutes. Indeed, it's possible the limit will be extended to 10 as opposed to the customary seven, and there will be a degree of flexibility about the Leinster starting line-up until the day of the match.

Welcoming a new format where the IRFU-employed medical staff have the final say on a player's fitness and availability, Williams explained that Brian O'Driscoll's niggling hamstring problem has been cleared to a degree, enabling him to play a part of the game.

Whether it be from the start, O'Driscoll is to play at outside centre with Peter McKenna on the left-wing. McKenna will be at outside centre in O'Driscoll's absence, with John McWeeney making his seasonal bow after recovering from a close-season shoulder operation. Shane Horgan has a troublesome back spasm but Leinster are hopeful that he will be passed fit. If not, Mark McHugh will play at inside centre.

Limiting their outside three options, Girvan Dempsey, Nathan Turner and Simon Keogh are injured, as is back-rower Declan O'Brien, though Williams conceded D'Arcy is deserving of his chance at full back. "He's probably been our most consistent back all year. We've played him on the wing purposely, to give the young guy a little bit more direction in his play and let him develop, and we're very happy with his development."

Reggie Corrigan, sidelined by a medial knee ligament strain since Leinster's win over Northampton at the end of October, will start, as - not before time - will Peter Smyth. "Peter has got something like 35 caps for Leinster and hasn't started a game. We're very keen to get that out of the way," admitted Williams.

Leinster will travel with a squad of 25 before finalising their starting line-up and replacements on match day.

The 10-week provincial lay-off, culminating in a month of AIB league action, has had its positives and negatives according to the Leinster captain Liam Toland. "A lot of players have got a few weeks off, others have had time to rehabilitate and others have had time to drop a level to their club games and get matches in their own positions, such as Gordon D'Arcy at full back for Lansdowne. "The negative obviously is that the squad can't train and play matches during that period and that's why we should look on this Friday as a performance more than anything else." The unpredictability of Leinster's next European Cup opponents, Edinburgh Reivers, make them "the most difficult team to prepare for in our pool. Whereas with Northampton you can guarantee they'll do x, y or z, in parts of the field, with this mob you've just got no idea what's going to come up next."

At training this week Leinster had all 30 nominated European squad members "on the paddock" for the first time this season and considering Leinster's injury induced upheavals, Williams reckons "the guys have done brilliantly but it's way too early to assess our season". An undoubted boon for Leinster has been the emergence of Brian O'Meara as a highly proficient place-kicker on three outings for Cork Constitution. He kicked 43 points, also scoring tries in each of those games. Williams has yet to decide who will assume the place-kicking duties against Munster. English kicking guru Dave Alred was yesterday brought over to Anglesea Road for a lengthy session with O'Meara, Eddie Hekenui and Mark McHugh.

Munster, meanwhile, with even more injury worries on top of definite absentees Mike Mullins, Jason Holland and Mick O'Driscoll, deferred naming their side yesterday.

The IRFU yesterday confirmed that Irish players who play for 40 minutes or more during the Lloyds TSB Six Nations Championship will not be available to play for their clubs on the following weekends.

The AIB League Saturdays concerned are those of February 10th, February 24th, March 17th and March 31st. In preparation for the opening Six Nations game away to Italy in Rome on February 3rd, the Ireland senior squad will assemble for training on January 15th and on January 22nd-23rd, at ALSAA, Dublin Airport, even though Irish provinces may be involved in the European Cup quarter-finals on the weekend of January 26th-28th.

Leinster: G D'Arcy; D Hickie, B O'Driscoll/P McKenna, S Horgan/M McHugh, J McWeeney; E Hekenui, B O'Meara; R Corrigan, P Smyth/G Halpin, E Byrne, B Casey/L Cullen, M O'Kelly, E Miller, V Costello, L Toland (capt). Replacements (to be finalised) - K Putt, A Dunne, S Barretto, T Brennan, G Halpin, R Sherriff.