By Tadhg Peavoy
Munster’s second home defeat of the season last week against Ospreys was both surprising and disappointing for all concerned as they travel to the Aviva to face Leinster, kick-off 6.30pm.
The Irish province’s home has rightly been regarded as a fortress in the past and to have their pride and honour breached twice on home turf with the season only still in its greenest shoots was alarming.
The chance for reprieve comes this week against their greatest rivals – Leinster. That immense rivalry still has a cachet that sets it apart from most other games in all of Europe’s domestic leagues and an intensity which borders on Test-match level when played at its zenith.
Leinster come into the tie in better form than their rivals. Following their away defeat to an impressive Connacht, they returned to winning ways with a 37-23 home victory over Cardiff that showed Leinster in a far more favourable light than their display in Galway.
Their ability to retain ball at the breakdown was greatly improved and on the back of that their backline purred and produced more of the rapier attack that the public has become accustomed to in recent times.
Ian Madigan’s extended run at inside centre also showed more promising signs as he injected a level of creativity into the game that changed the dynamics of the tie. With Gordon D’Arcy at outside centre and Jimmy Gopperth at out-half also pulling strings impressively, the trio showed when they get clean possession they can be extremely potent as an attacking force.
If Munster are to come away with a win from their Dublin battle, first up tackles must be made to stop Leinster building phases, which they were superb at against Cardiff. Man-and-ball tackles will benefit them even more in their attempt to stop Leinster’s momentum in the final third.
The breakdown is likely to be a crucial battlefield, and here Munster will need to disrupt all day long in order to stymie the ball reaching Leinster’s wide men.
In the past, Munster have played things tight in this game and used their pack to dominate and grind Leinster teams down.
If Munster can do that and get Leinster to cough up penalties both from the set-piece and the breakdown then they will be very much in the tie.
Peter O’Mahony’s return as a back row replacement could be crucial to this end and eyes will be on the squad captain as he returns to action following a double shoulder procedure. Although it could be argued his impact will be lessened due to a lay-off that goes back to last April, and that he may need more time before he’s back to his ferocious best.
Likewise, Paul O’Connell’s presence is crucial in the second row. If he can delivers one of his talismanic performances it is likely to lift the pack to levels we have not yet seen from Munster this season.
However, if Anthony Foley’s team get involved in a fire fight out wide where both teams look to punch holes at will and juggle the ball through the backlines, they could find the Dublin-based team have too many ideas and too much pace for them.
Either way, with bragging rights on the line, and Munster desperate for a good performance, it’s hard to see either side winning by a large margin. But the hosts’ current form and slightly higher confidence levels may swing this one their way.
Verdict: Leinster by six.
Leinster: R Kearney, F McFadden, G D'Arcy, I Madigan, D Fanning, J Gopperth, E Reddan, J McGrath, S Cronin, M Ross, D Toner, M McCarthy, R Ruddock, D Ryan, J Heaslip (capt).
Replacements: B Byrne, M Bent, T Furlong, K Douglas, J Conan, I Boss, S Crosbie, M McGrath.
Munster: F Jones (capt), A Conway, A Smith, D Hurley, S Zebo, I Keatley, C Murray, J Cronin, D Casey, S Archer; D Foley, P O'Connell; CJ Stander, T O'Donnell, R Copeland.
Replacements: D Varley, D Kilcoyne, BJ Botha, Bi Holland, P O'Mahony, D Williams, JJ Hanrahan, G Van den Heever.
