RUGBY:AND SO, the last two standing are Munster and Leinster. In what amounts to a bonus Final Trial in a World Cup year, subplots and individual issues abound, but as ever between these two it's simply about bragging rights, with the almost secondary incentive of silverware. Not a bad old way to round off the 2010-11 season.
With a noisy and colourful tea-time capacity 27,000 crowd, including 5,500 Leinster fans, as much as anything then this Magners League Grand Final is a celebration of Irish rugby. The two best teams of the Celtic and Italian nations will go toe-to-toe with sides who, between them, contain 24 indigenous players, of whom 21 are full Irish internationals and 10 are Lions, decorated with a select group of imports including the ex-Auckland Blues team-mates Doug Howlett and Isa Nacewa.
The physicality and intensity will be full-on, and there will be more than a bit of needle in the exchanges. Munster will have been privately seething with envy as Leinster emulated their achievement of two Heineken Cups in three years, and will want to salvage something from a wonderfully consistent campaign that, unfortunately for them, is judged primarily by the highest of European yardsticks.
For their part, Leinster would love to round off a memorable campaign in the perfect manner, avenging defeat here last April to restore their domestic hegemony in Munster’s sacred lair and thereby complete a historic Euro/Celtic league double.
Yet, at the end of it all, there will be handshakes all round and no doubt one or two quiet beers later between the likes of Ronan O’Gara and Brian O’Driscoll. As much as old friendships, this is borne out of mutual respect.
That hasn’t changed, even if the rivalry between a minority of the fans has.
But if the teams can manage this, there’s no reason why the supporters can’t.
Unsurprisingly, Munster have gone with the same side which beat the Ospreys in the semi-final – allowing for Johne Murphy replacing Simon Zebo on the bench – whereas Joe Schmidt has recalled Heinke van der Meuwe, Shane Jennings and Fergus McFadden (who replaces the injured Gordon D’Arcy), with Cian Healy and Kevin McLaughlin moving to the bench, where the Connacht-bound Paul O’Donoghue comes in for the injured Isaac Boss.
This means Munster retain their 12th midfield partnership of the season in Lifeimi Mafi and Danny Barnes. It’s a big ask for Barnes against O’Driscoll and co.
Opportunity also knocks for two would-be bolters for the World Cup squad, Felix Jones and Conor Murray, in front of the watching Irish management, while there are a host of tyros and venerable war horses in starting line-ups and benches who will feel they have a point to prove.
All in all, it’s hard not to think that this match-up won’t have some bearing on the composition of Ireland’s World Cup squad.
Then there’s Ronan O’Gara – masterful when the sides last met – and Jonathan Sexton, coming down from perhaps the individual performance of the season.
Munster have home advantage and the greater need – though that, as Leinster can testify from a week ago, brings its own pressures. Furthermore, Munster especially have to be careful not to go off too manically at the outset and blow a gasket. Aside from everything else, discipline has also been the bigger issue for them this season, with a combined haul of 21 yellow cards and one red in 31 competitive games this season, as against just 10 yellow cards in 32 games for Leinster – who also won the League’s Fair Play Award.
It’ll be fascinating to see how Munster go about this game, and to what degree they’ll abandon the riskier game which was so thrillingly displayed away to Brive especially, or to what degree they’ll play the more close-in, possession and territory tactics they adopted in their comeback from 20-9 down to win 24-23 in early April.
While that first win in six meetings will have given them inner belief to go with their huge desire to win this one, it will surely have rankled that they failed to score a try for the sixth collision in a row (in which time Leinster have scored 10 against them). Multi-phase intensity and a close-range maul still looks their biggest weapon, though Jones and Keith Earls offer a broken field threat and Doug Howlett’s finishing has been as razor-sharp as ever.
Although Munster had a significant edge in the scrums last time, it’s hard to see the set-pieces having a huge bearing on the outcome, whereas, as they’ve shown against the best in England and France, if Leinster generate quick ball they have the dynamic forwards, along with pace, width and tempo to beat anyone.
As ever, it’s a fiendishly difficult one to call. There must be a real chance of Leinster having a mental let-down after last week. Against that, they can play with confidence and perhaps a greater degree of freedom which, even if Munster have more sustained pressure and territory, could make them very dangerous.
And, despite Munster’s win here when they last met, Leinster have been the much more proven side on big occasions and have also shown themselves to be the more complete side. There’s a reason they are the best side in Europe.
MUNSTER: F Jones; D Howlett, D Barnes, L Mafi, K Earls; R O’Gara, C Murray; M Horan, D Varley, J Hayes; D O’Callaghan, P O’Connell (capt); D Ryan, D Wallace, J Coughlan. Replacements: M Sherry, W du Preez, S Archer, D Leamy, N Ronan, P Stringer, P Warwick, J Murphy.
LEINSTER: I Nacewa; S Horgan, B O’Driscoll, F McFadden, L Fitzgerald; J Sexton, E Reddan; H van der Merwe, R Strauss, M Rossl; L Cullen (capt), N Hines; S O’Brien, S Jennings, J Heaslip. Replacements: A Dundon, C Healy, S Wright, D Toner, K McLaughlin, P O’Donohoe, I Madigan, E O’Malley.
Referee: Nigel Owens (WRU).
