Celtic League/Munster 19, Leinster 13: Obliged to get down and dirty in the depths of mid-winter, Munster once again resorted to their potent lineout maul to rumble over for a pair of decisive second-half tries in their eighth successive win over Leinster in Cork on Saturday night.
Cometh the hour, they had moved 19-3 ahead and, in truth, this quasi final trial (featuring 26 Irish internationals) was turning into a bit of a spanking for their great domestic rivals of the last few years.
Buoyed by a host of big performances from their big men up front, the home pack's dominance had become almost complete.
The vast majority of the 8,000 sell-out crowd broke into the night's first chants of "Mun-ster, Mun-ster", soon followed by The Fields of Athenry. Why, even referee Alan Lewis was serenaded, none too politely it has to be said.
However, their celebratory mood gradually gave way to a deep sense of anxiety as virtually every one of Lewis' decisions went against the home side in that final quarter and Leinster thrillingly unleashed their gifted back line. Going left through their backs, and then right through backs and forwards, they concocted the game's best try for Eric Miller (only the fifth Munster have conceded in 11 games).
Gordon D'Arcy and Brian O'Driscoll unveiled their box of tricks and probed threateningly, although when drinking at the last-chance saloon the latter's pass to Shane Horgan flew toward the winger's shoelaces and was knocked on.
Ultimately Leinster had redeemed some measure of pride and a bonus point, although had they pilfered a win it would have been night-time robbery.
Munster's win, their 13th in their last 14 outings, kept them within a point of the first-placed Ospreys, and pushed them nine clear of Leinster, while these festive derbies ought to be an ideal prelude for the return to Europe next weekend.
"Paul O'Connell won the man of the match award, but it could have been any of them," enthused Alan Gaffney. "A lot of sides just sit back on their heels against Leinster and try not to lose, but we went out to try and attack Leinster and I think we managed that."
A searing burst by Anthony Horgan after Christian Cullen had run the ball back was a prime example, and so also was their kick-and-chase game, which saw Shaun Payne and Cullen make big follow-up tackles on Girvan Dempsey at the start of the second-half from angled kicks by Paul Burke and intensified the pressure on Leinster.
Unfortunately, the win came at a cost for Munster as Ronan O'Gara has broken a bone in his hand and will be ruled out for at least the next three weeks. However, Gaffney expressed confidence that John Hayes, who didn't start due to flu, and Rob Henderson, with a knock to the head, would all recover, although Henderson looked as if he didn't know what year it was.
Leinster coach Declan Kidney admitted he was far from sure that Malcolm O'Kelly would recover from the strained groin he suffered against Ulster in time for next week's trip to Bath. And, on this evidence, he would be sorely missed.
All told, €15,000 was contributed to a fund for victims of the tsunami disaster on Cork's first day as the European capital of culture, and, to the credit of both teams and Lewis, internecine rivalries were largely kept in check.
However, the first-half downpours meant that Messrs Emmet Byrne and Marcus Horan were locking horns regularly.
Accordingly, Lewis stationed himself on that side of the scrum at the first put-in and remained there for the rest of the game. Amid constant resetting, Byrne came off worse, being penalised three times, but to Lewis' credit some sort of order was established by the end.
Forced to feed off scraps, D'Arcy did pierce the red line once in the first half, Foley denying Denis Hickie in the corner, but, generally, the yards were hard-earned and it was head-strong, knee-pumping rumbles by O'Connell, Denis Leamy and Henderson which put Munster on the front foot.
Despite losing O'Gara, who hadn't had the most distinguished of halves, Paul Burke augmented O'Gara's brace of penalties with one of his own for a 9-3 interval lead when Leinster's desperate attempts to bring down a surging lineout maul might have earned greater punishment. In any event, it was a portent of things to come in the decisive third quarter. Of the eight tries Munster have scored in their last five outings, seven have been through their lineout maul.
"We kept it simple in the conditions," admitted Frankie Sheahan. "It seems that every week it's wet and, contrary to what people think, we actually prefer dry conditions, but you have to play the conditions too and in the second half we shoved the ball up our jumpers. It's one of our strengths and it worked for us."
It takes some stopping, Kidney comparing it to Leicester's and admitting that preventing the field position for Munster's primary weapon was his main concern as well as a recurring habit of putting themselves under pressure with their decision making.
Perhaps too much can be read into these derbies, but pending better conditions, Munster will have to add more arrows to their quiver; the sight of another overlooked Cullen run off the ball a reminder he remains under-used.
More pertinently, though, the Leinster pack can ill-afford to be pushed around the way they were here if they are to flourish on the more demanding European stages, starting at the Rec next Saturday.
SCORING SEQUENCE: 5 mins: O'Gara pen, 3-0; 12: Holwell pen, 3-3; 29: O'Gara pen, 6-3; 40: Burke pen, 9-3; (half-time 9-3); 53: Horan try, 14-3; 61: Sheahan try, 19-3; 67: Holwell pen, 19-6; 76: Miller try, Holwell con, 19-13.
MUNSTER: C Cullen; S Payne, M Mullins, R Henderson, A Horgan; R O'Gara, P Stringer; M Horan, F Sheahan, G McIlwham, D O'Callaghan, P O'Connell, A Quinlan, A Foley, D Leamy. Replacements: P Burke for O'Gara (39 mins); J Williams for Foley (60); M Lawlor for Henderson (70).
LEINSTER: G Dempsey; S Horgan, B O'Driscoll, G D'Arcy, D Hickie; D Holwell, G Easterby; R Corrigan (capt), S Byrne, E Byrne, L Cullen, B Gissing, E Miller, V Costello, S Jennings. Replacements: R Nebbett for E Byrne (64 mins); C Potts for Gissing (78).
Referee: A Lewis (IRFU).
