RUGBY/EUROPEAN CUP: Pace-setters in Pool Four, Leinster can either forfeit the advantage of last week's historic win on French soil or press it home at Donnybrook tonight. The stakes are just as high, with Montferrand making a statement of intent by selecting a full-strength side, including villain of the peace David Bory.
For Leinster, there may or may not be a small margin for error with regard to topping the group and earning a cherished home quarter-final. But for the crack French outfit, studded with internationals, this is le crunch, and a cursory look at their teamsheet suggests that by no means have they chucked in the towel.
There are two changes in the front-row, with Stephane Delpuech and Alexandre Castola called in and Sebastian Bozzi switching to tight-head, which, alas, sees the agent provocateur Richard Cockerill reduced to a bench role, though this might also mean Montferrand ups the ante in the scrum after being frustrated last week. Otherwise, Montferrand are unchanged.
It comes as no surprise, whatsoever, to learn that rugby's disciplinary measures have contrived to ensure that Bory will play tonight for Montferrand.
At the risk of unfairly demonising a player, who has no history whatsoever of foul play, his appearance comes six days after the knees-first assault which has put Gordon D'Arcy out of the game until the New Year with severe bruising around his lower left back and pelvis area. It simply wouldn't be tolerated in other sports.
Montferrand have intimated to Leinster that they have "spoken to" Bory. Wow. Well, that's one in the eye for violent play then. Leinster have shipped a fair bit of flak themselves for not pressing the matter further, but having been advised by all and sundry within the ERC and the IRFU that citing Bory hadn't a chance of being successful, they are fairly peeved at having been placed in the spotlight themselves.
"After one of the best wins in Leinster's history there should have been 15 heroes basking in the limelight this week," said an angry Matt Williams yesterday, who pointed out that a video of the game had not been made available to Leinster at the full-time whistle, as ERC rules stipulate.
"Instead it's been all about this and the onus has been entirely on Leinster. But it's the ERC regulations which are at fault, not us, and we are going to actively press for a change in the procedures from next season onwards."
Ideally, Williams would like to see the ERC emulate the Super 12 and have an independent citing commissioner at each game, whose responsibility it would be to cite any player for foul player (whether at the behest of the opposing team or not), as a result of which the hearing would be heard at that location within 48 hours.
Nor will it necessarily do Leinster any good to have a hate figure on the opposing side, as any red mist will distract them from the task in hand.
It's assuredly a help that Malcolm O'Kelly returns, and though it's a tough call on Aidan McCullen to be demoted after four top-class performances in-a-row, the return of Eric Miller hardly weakens their hand.
"It was one of those awful decisions where I couldn't put a player into my starting 15 who had played brilliantly the week before," admitted Williams. "He's bled for you, he's shown improvement, but it didn't matter which way you went, there was going to be an injustice done."
Indeed, the finds of Leinster's season have been McCullen and David Quinlan, who comes in at inside centre with Shane Horgan switching to the wing in the absence of D'Arcy, with McCullen ably compensating for the departure of Trevor Brennan given he can cover in the second-row and across the back row.
"All of a sudden we've gained a very big asset," Williams said.
McCullen will assuredly get a run anyhow, as Leinster will need as big a display from more than the 15 starters if they are to maximise last week's advantage. That this is Montferrand's own, desperate last throw of the dice is hardly in dispute, and means they are liable to swing from the hip.
"I wouldn't expect them to give anything up," said Williams. "I mean, we only won just. Everything from last week says this is going to be a game of centimetres and it will come down to the last second.
"There's zero in this."
"As we've said to the boys, 'forget this French-teams-don't-travel bit'," adds Williams. "Just forget that. If we're relying on that, we're courting failure."
Leinster v Montferrand
Donnybrook (7.35, Network 2)
TEAM SELECTIONS
LEINSTER: G Dempsey; S Horgan, B O'Driscoll, D Quinlan, D Hickie; C Warner, B O'Meara; R Corrigan (capt), S Byrne, E Byrne, L Cullen, M O'Kelly, E Miller, V Costello, K Gleeson. Replacements: P Coyle, G Hickie, A McCullen, D Dillon, B O'Riordan, N Spooner, P McKenna.
MONTFERRAND: S Viars; J Marlu, J Ngaumo, R Chanal, D Bory; G Merceron, G Sudre; S Delpuech, A Castola, S Bozzi, T Jaques, O Brouzet, A Audebert, M Raynaud, O Magne (capt). Replacements: D Ashvetia, R Cockerill, L Vaitanaki, J Machacek, D Von Hoesslin, X Sadourny, Y N Gog.
REFEREE: Chris White (England).
MATCH STATISTICS
Previous meetings: 2002 - Montferrand 20 Leinster 23.
EC formguide: Montferrand bt Swansea (h) 47-12
lost to Bristol (a) 19-24
lost to Leinster (h) 20-23
Leinster bt Bristol (h) 29-23
bt Swansea (a) 51-10
bt Montferrand (a) 23-20
Leading try scorers: Leinster - Gordon D'Arcy 4, Brian O'Driscoll 2, Denis Hickie 2 each. Montferrand - Olivier Magne 2.
Leading points scorers: Leinster - Brian O'Meara 45. Montferrand - Gerald Merceron 17.
Betting (Paddy Powers): 1/5 Leinster, 16/1 Draw, 10/3 Montferrand. Handicap odds (= Montferrand + 11pts). 10/11 Leinster, 16/1 Draw, 10/11 Montferrand.
Forecast: Leinster to win.
