MAGNERS LEAGUE Leinster 30 Munster 0: AS DERBIES go, this was some demolition. In practically every facet, and virtually every position, the European champions bossed the Magners League holders off the park and, just to add the gloss, it was the old firm, so to speak, of Gordon D'Arcy, Brian O'Driscoll and Shane Horgan who varnished the win with the tries. Save for a bonus point, they could hardly have scripted it better.
The only time Munster threatened the scoreboard was when Ronan O’Gara attempted a 40-metre penalty into the wind at the end of the first quarter, and he duffed it so horribly that the ball scarcely rose above crossbar height.
Kurt McQuilkin, who must be one of the candidates to take over from Michael Cheika when the Australian completes his five-year reign at the end of this season, has overseen some compelling defensive performances by Leinster in the last three seasons. But few have been more conclusive than this.
The trust each and every player has in each other and their defensive system has become the European champions’ bedrock. And as much as anything, it was the thunderous hits put in by the likes of Kevin McLoughlin (one tackle on Donncha O’Callaghan early on setting the tone), Shane Jennings and Jamie Heaslip – a three-man, backrow wrecking team – which drew the lines in the sand.
All across the park, though, whether carrying or tackling, Leinster dominated the collisions. Indeed, it’s hard to recall any team inflicting such physical carnage on Munster in quite some time. The memory of Denis Leamy driving Cian Healy back and of pumping his legs to work himself free of Jennings stand out because they were such rare examples of Munster-winning collisions.
Otherwise the abiding image of the game was of Munster players running into blue walls or being driven backwards. From there Leinster counter-rucked to win a dozen or more turnovers at the breakdown.
McLoughlin, Leo Cullen and co also wreaked damage on the Munster throw. The bare statistic of five lost lineouts barely tells the tale, given the contrasting quality in this source of possession, and Munster didn’t help themselves or the nervy Denis Fogarty with the long delays in communicating their calls.
The Munster scrum also suffered the indignity of being shunted back and penalised at one scrum. By the time John Hayes had been red-carded and their seven-man scrum lost one feed against the head, their pack had long since been beaten up anyhow.
As seismic a moment as any in the match was the purpose with which the Leinster pack marched downfield after Jonathan Sexton had drilled a penalty up the touchline. You could have thrown a rug over them then and again, from Cullen’s ensuing take, as they rumbled remorselessly infield toward the Munster posts. The three points which followed courtesy of Sexton’s second penalty was almost secondary to the statement of intent.
By then, too, Sexton – who ran the show beautifully, oozed confidence throughout – had carved through the thin red line and Horgan had taken Denis Hurley on the outside. The presence and impact of Brian O’Driscoll, bearing in mind it was his first game back for three months, was staggering. With him back, Leinster were full of inventive running and ideas, and it was no surprise when the great one engineered the breakthrough.
Off more good lineout ball 35 metres out – curiously uncontested by Munster – McLoughlin’s carry put Leinster on the front foot, from where O’Driscoll took Sexton’s pacey pass to brilliantly fix Marcus Horan and Denis Leamy and put Horgan through the ensuing gap. Horgan, once again revelling against the Munster red, had the presence of mind to pass across his body inside for D’Arcy to score.
When Jean de Villiers has bad dreams one ventures O’Driscoll now features in them. The Springbok won’t enjoy watching the video of the Irish captain making him look as if he was jogging on the spot as he accelerated around him; nor will Keith Earls as O’Driscoll eluded his despairing tackle for the 45th-minute killer try.
Munster had briefly flickered into life either side of the break, but Hines pilfered loose ball near the Leinster line when, perhaps, he might have been offside. Tellingly, nine of the first 10 players into the dressingrooms at the end of the half were wearing blue, and once Healy – in the high point of another fine game – drifted Leamy back from a close-range indirect penalty, Munster wilted.
Save for further evidence of Tomás O’Leary’s remarkably swift return to fitness and form, there were few Munster crumbs of comfort. Their running game utterly lacked their normal depth against Leinster’s impressive line speed. This left O’Gara obliged to take the ball into contact more than he would have liked. Even Paul Warwick’s cameo was undone by the infield pass which Horgan, who had covered huge ground from the opposite wing, picked off for the coup de grace.
SCORING SEQUENCE: 5 mins: Sexton pen 3-0; 24: Sexton pen 6-0; 26: D'Arcy try, Sexton con 13-0; (half-time 13-0); 46: O'Driscoll try, Sexton con 20-0; 56: Sexton pen 23-0; 71: Horgan try, Sexton con 30-0.
LEINSTER: I Nacewa, S Horgan, B O'Driscoll, G D'Arcy, L Fitzgerald; J Sexton, E Reddan; C Healy, J Fogarty, S Wright, L Cullen (capt), N Hines, K McLaughlin, S Jennings, J Heaslip. Replacements: B Jackman for Fogarty, S O'Brien for McLaughlin (both 54 mins), R Kearney for D'Arcy (58 mins), M Ross for Healy (67 mins), F McFadden for O'Driscoll (73 mins), M O'Kelly for Cullen, Simon Keogh for Fitzgerald (both 76 mins).
MUNSTER: K Earls; D Howlett, L Mafi, J de Villiers, D Hurley; R O'Gara CAPTAIN, T O'Leary; M Horan, D Fogarty, J Hayes; D O'Callaghan, M O'Driscoll; D Leamy, N Ronan, N Williams. Replacements: P O'Connell for O'Driscoll, D Wallace for Williams (both 50 mins), J Flannery for Fogarty, T Buckley for Ronan (both 58 mins), P Warwick for Mafi (64 mins), I Dowling for Hurley Hurley (67 mins), P Stringer for O'Leary (70 mins).
Referee: Simon McDowell(IRFU).
