The kinship forged between summer tourists and teammates in Lions and Ireland jerseys will be suspended next Saturday as they don their provincial colours when Leinster host Munster at Croke Park (5.30pm).
The teams arrive in slightly different shape, in terms of results, for the opening provincial clash of the season. Munster are unbeaten across three games, their latest a 20-19 triumph against Edinburgh in Cork. Leinster’s 31-5 win over the Sharks was their first victory of the season, having lost both matches in South Africa, to the Stormers and the Bulls.
The game will come less than 72 hours after Ireland head coach Andy Farrell announces a national squad for the four-Test November series in which New Zealand, Japan, Australia and world champions South Africa provide the opposition. The first of those games, against New Zealand, takes place at Soldier Field in Chicago, with the other three at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin.
Munster have a couple of further injury concerns arising from the Edinburgh game. Fullback Mike Haley will follow return-to-play protocols after failing to return following a head injury assessment (HIA) during the game. Tighthead prop Oli Jager, who limped off, might also have taken a bang to the head.
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Munster head coach Clayton McMillan explained: “He’s still yet to be assessed. He’s somebody that we just need to take a cautious approach with; he’s had some concussion issues in the past.”
Unless scrumhalf Craig Casey (hamstring) has made a Lazarus-like recovery, the public utterances have been consistent in suggesting that the Leinster match might come a week too soon.
Munster are not prepared to take a risk with him, but they have yet to rule him out. The indications are that Lions player-of-the-series and Munster captain Tadhg Beirne will play his first game of the season in Croke Park.
Provided there are no reactions to head injuries that caused them to miss the Edinburgh game, wing Shane Daly and secondrow/backrow Tom Ahern should be in the selection hopper. Edwin Edogbo, Andrew Smith, Calvin Nash, John Ryan and Tom Farrell all came through unscathed from the game in Cork while Roman Salanoa started on the bench for Nenagh Ormond in the defeat to Cork Constitution in the AIL.
McMillan was asked for his feelings on being involved in Irish rugby’s self-proclaimed biggest rivalry. He said with a smile: “Is it? Oh, look, everything’s new to me. I think there’s been a few whispers around the place, but I give credit to the guys and everyone in the organisation, really, that we have kept a lid on whatever’s coming because we fully respected what Edinburgh were going to bring to the table.
“I would encourage the lads to take a breath and celebrate getting another tough victory at home, rest up and come in with plenty of energy on Monday. And it’s an oval ball in a rectangular field, I believe. So, we’ll turn up and see how it goes.”
Leinster head coach Leo Cullen reintegrated six of the province’s 14 Lions from the summer series in Australia, with just secondrow Joe McCarthy (foot) and fullback Hugo Keenan (groin) from that contingent unavailable for next Saturday’s game at Croke Park. Garry Ringrose, Jamison Gibson-Park, Andrew Porter, Dan Sheehan, James Ryan and Jack Conan are likely to be involved with the province for the first time competitively this season.
Robbie Henshaw picked up a niggle after a great chase back and cover tackle in the win over Sharks. Cullen explained: “He was just complaining of a bit of tightness during half-time. So, he had that chase back . . . in the second half. Reasonably precautionary, [but] we’ll get him assessed.”
Cullen praised the performance of man-of-the-match Harry Byrne at outhalf and also had a word for debutant Joshua Kenny, who enjoyed a lively, late cameo. Both Leinster and Munster will clarify their respective medical situations at press conferences on Monday afternoon.
Arguably, the performance of the weekend from an Irish perspective was Ulster’s 28-7 victory over the Bulls at the Affidea Stadium. Tries from Stuart McCloskey – he may have suffered a broken nose when hit while scoring – Juarno Augustus, Rob Herring and Cormac Izuchukwu sealed the deal.
Ulster head coach Richie Murphy said: “A massive night. We felt that we were building through pre-season for the last couple of weeks, even since our Dragons match. We feel like our training has been going really well, our competition in the squad has been getting better all the time, so very satisfied to play against a team like the Bulls and show grit and determination.
“A couple of times [we had] really good defensive sets on our goal-line, [we] stuck in the fight in and around the scrum and some of our attack was excellent. A lot of work still to do but a lot of things that we are really happy to see. Ten points after two games – you can’t really ask for more than that.”
An injury-time try by replacement David O’Connor earned Connacht a losing bonus point in a 14-8 defeat in Cardiff.
