The cornerstone to Munster's victory over Leinster at Croke Park was unsettling their hosts.
Clayton McMillan’s side managed this in two key areas, and from that, the dominant 31-14 result was achieved.
The most obvious thing that Munster did, and continued to do despite not always getting their desired outcome, was to kick the ball in attack.
Leinster’s defensive system has always been vulnerable to well-executed attacking kicks, but even when you kick accurately against a rush defence packed with internationals, you might not win the ball back.
You have to trust the plan, but the impressive part was how Munster stuck to their guns.
Jack Crowley had a couple of early kicks that didn’t come off.
On one occasion he was blocked down, another landed in Jordan Larmour’s arms, forcing the out-half to scramble back, show great footwork and clear off his weaker left side.
That’s the point where most teams would abandon the plan.
They’d start nervously holding onto possession for fear of coughing it up again. This is where Munster and Crowley persevered.
Even after one attempted kick pass was blocked down, fortune gave them possession back due to a knock-on. Crowley went straight for a kick pass to Thaakir Abrahams off the resulting scrum.
It was clear that the man who is itching to reclaim the Ireland 10 jersey wasn’t going to take a backwards step or resort to a more conservative game plan.
Not long after Munster were rewarded for their perseverance. Crowley chipped ahead from a lineout play and Tom Farrell knocked the ball to himself to go under the post uncontested.
The visitors didn’t stop there.
Shane Daly beat Jamie Osborne to a contestable kick in the Leinster 22 as the men in red used their kicking game to unsettle the defensive rhythm of the Jacques Nienaber-led defence.
Normally, Leinster’s defence thrives on aggression and line speed.
They pressurise the attack and force them deeper and deeper until there’s nowhere left to go, ultimately kicking the ball back out of necessity. That’s where Leinster can transition into their own attack with dominance and control.
Munster kicked on their own terms and on the front foot. They kicked to transfer pressure, expose space and dictate the tempo of the game.
The Leinster-Munster rivalry is good for Irish rugby, says John Fogarty as the team gets ready to fly to USA ahead of their rematch with New Zealand #RTERugby #RTESport pic.twitter.com/RkpEmPD1GN
— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) October 20, 2025
It wasn’t always perfect, but it was consistent. Crowley acknowledged that the pleasing part of their win is that they stuck with and executed their game strategy.
The second area that won the game was Munster’s defence.
Leinster’s Lions contingent were arguably more underprepared than they would have liked, and it showed throughout their attacking sequences. They were neutralised on the tackle line repeatedly.
Munster took away their momentum and looked comfortable defending their own 22.
It's an area where Leinster are usually so measured and effective. Yet rugby remains a simple game.
If you can’t win the collisions and gather momentum, defences have more time to make decisions and number up. Add in Munster’s hunger, the underdog mindset and the physical edge, and Leinster’s much-vaunted attack started to look flat.
The only British and Irish Lion who looked genuinely ready for battle was still wearing red - Tadhg Beirne.
You can’t argue that others were under prepared when he delivered a game for the ages. He was almost unplayable in the contact area, turning over possession in rucks and mauls.
With Tom Ahern and Craig Casey still recovering from injury, Munster had only two representatives from the Ireland squad selected by Andy Farrell’s last week (though uncapped centre Tom Farrell has been a late addition); Crowley got player of the match and there was a strong argument to be made for Beirne.
Both are in perfect form heading into the November internationals.
The concern for Ireland is that most of the rest of the national team was on the losing side on Saturday night.
While club form doesn’t always transfer to Test level, Leo Cullen spoke of the difficulty that Leinster faced integrating so many returning internationals. His side were undercooked and not up to speed for the contest that Munster brought.
The question remains, how prepared can those players be heading into the All Blacks game in Chicago?
They’ll have a longer lead-in with early travel and extra preparation days so more time together, but they’ll be going up against a New Zealand team that have come through one of the most competitive Rugby Championships in recent memory.
They’re much more battle-hardened than Ireland, having spent the majority of the summer in camp.
Maybe this Munster-Leinster clash will have toughened a few bodies and sharpened a few minds. It was ferocious at times and those kinds of collisions can only help.
But is that enough to close the gap before Chicago?
That’s the challenge facing Farrell now.
He’s proven before that he can get this group to peak, no matter the circumstances, and there’s no doubt that his next 10 days will be meticulously planned and executed to do the same for Saturday week.
For Munster, this was a performance that points towards their evolution under McMillan.
For Ireland, it is a reminder that there’s work to do before another historic match in Soldier Field.
