Second prize will not be sniffed at

RUGBY: DENIS LEAMY INTERVIEW: GERRY THORNLEYtalks to the stand-in Munster captain about a difficult year and the fight to capture some silverware this season

IT’S BEEN a tough season for Denis Leamy. His age profile, just behind the Munster warhorses, meant he was always likely to assume more of a leadership role eventually, but serving as captain in the absence of Paul O’Connell proved a double-edged sword when Munster were evicted from the pool stages of the tournament they cherish above all others.

“Captaincy was new to me and something I embraced as best I could. No, I enjoyed it, I must say, it was definitely stepping out of my comfort zone. Losing games you don’t enjoy whether you’re captain or not, but it probably hurts even a bit more when you’re captain because you take more of the blame.”

Confined to cameos off the bench in the ultra-competitive backrow during the Six Nations, and returning for Magners League games in the “off” weeks, was difficult for all those in Leamy’s position. And then to be back among the replacements against Leinster last week didn’t exactly make him a happy bunny.

“It’s very difficult to take. I’ve played with Munster now for a good while and been lucky enough to be a starter for a long time, and not to be involved in such a big game against a team like Leinster, I was fairly upset all last week. But I think I reacted positively to it and you have to respond as best you can.”

Leamy fought his intense desire and acute frustration at another stint on the bench before appearing in the 54th minute for Donnacha Ryan with Ronan O’Gara having further trimmed a 20-9 interval deficit to 20-18.

“I felt that we’d responded really well and that the game was there for us. We just had to keep playing the game in the right areas. It seemed from the bench that if you got down there at all and you were in possession within striking distance of the posts, that he (referee Andrew Small) was giving penalties. I felt that we just had to keep playing territory and keep playing the game in the right areas.”

In that final, 16-phase drive for the winning penalty, Leamy carried six times. “It was just the way we were going up the middle. I ended up making the first carry and every time I got back up off the ground I seemed to be in position to carry again, so I nearly genuinely had a heart attack because off the bench it can be very difficult to get your second wind.”

Noting how the players had been reminded of their losing run against Leinster, he admits they possibly needed the win more for their fans, though an Amlin Challenge Cup quarter-final away to Brive is a knock-out game with a lucrative prize at stake.

“Irish sport generally can be very parochial and there’s an awful lot of tension between rival teams. But this is a European competition. I reckon it’s a massive game. It’s new territory, but it’s a European cup and we just need to do what we always try and do, quieten the crowd in the first 20 minutes and try and keep the scoreboard ticking over for most of the game.”

On the face of it, too, this might be a trickier game mentally and emotionally for Munster, but Leamy reckons “we’re in a good place right now and I think the guys are enjoying their rugby and they’re looking forward to games, and that’s always a good indicator. I think we’ll be very much up for it.”

Victory in Brive would bring with it the possibility of playing hosts to Harlequins or Wasps and potentially two home semi-finals in Cup and League, thereby increasing the chances of salvaging two trophies from the season, even if neither is the one they or the fans crave.

“Munster standards are always that little bit higher and I suppose that’s something that the players have always asked for. So when you’re bet with a stick you know you can’t really turn around and cry about it.

“We’ve asked to be judged by the highest of standards and that’s the way it should be, but I think certainly it could be a very successful season if we could get two cups.”

And to that end, somehow you suspect that Leamy swill be starting at the Stade Amédée-Domenech.