McFadden expects ferocious encounter

RUGBY:LEINSTER'S SKILLS and kicking coach Richie Murphy approached Jonathan Sexton as he left the Millennium Stadium pitch last Saturday night with a mischievous glint. The outhalf had just produced a towering 28-point virtuoso performance in helping the Irish province secure a Heineken Cup final victory and was expecting another verbal bouquet tossed in his direction.

Murphy decided to have a little fun. He explained: “In fairness, he (Sexton) walked off delighted with himself but then he turned around and I said, ‘you missed another kick’. He just had a laugh and tried to explain. I said: ‘No need to explain; let you away with this one.’

“In fairness, his (place-kicking) stats for the Heineken Cup (tournament) were 90 per cent (success rate from placed ball opportunities). It’s an incredible stat. He missed five kicks out of 51 or 52; only five. That’s an incredible stat to have.”

The story was recounted as Leinster trained in UCD yesterday, preparing for Saturday’s Magners League final against Munster at Thomond Park. Bumps and bruises saw Nathan Hines and Seán O’Brien confined to the sideline where they were joined by Isaac Boss (tight hamstring) and Gordon D’Arcy (ankle ligaments and bruised shoulder), the latter sporting a medical ankle boot.

Murphy confirmed no one was ruled out of contention and that Brian O’Driscoll had not suffered an adverse reaction to the knee injury that had hampered his preparation ahead of the European final in Cardiff.

In any squad there has to be a certain selflessness, where the team dynamic supersedes individual concerns and Fergus McFadden exemplified an attitude that has underpinned Leinster’s success this season. “I was disappointed not to be in the starting 15 regardless of Brian’s (O’Driscoll) injury. So it was tough for me, it was tough for Shane Jennings, tough for others who didn’t get picked. But that’s the kind of players we have here, that’s the kind of squad you need to get to two finals. Nobody knows who’s going to get picked each week. It was tough on the Monday but the rest of the week I had a job to do.

“If someone had got injured after 30 (minutes), I would have had a big job to do if I came on. Unfortunately I only got 15 minutes but it was nice to be on the pitch at the end having won it. Everyone’s got a pep in their step. Saturday was unbelievable and thankfully we came out in the second half and performed as we are capable of doing.

“Last week was great and a lot of the questions will be about last week but we know that this week against Munster in Thomond Park will be as tough as a challenge as last week.”

In a final reference to Cardiff, McFadden smiled as he spoke about Leinster’s Damascene interval conversion. “Joe (Schmidt) firstly had his input; then Johnny said a few things. People think he performed some kind of minor miracle but he just said some really straightforward things that we needed to take on board. We had been down in a similar position against Toulouse at half-time, so there was no need for panic. We just needed to start doing simple things and become part of a different story.”

The key for Leinster this week is looking forward and not back. Munster will relish a tilt at the European champions, especially with silverware at stake and the fact that Tony McGahan’s squad dominated the league proper stage of the tournament, finishing 13 points clear of Saturday’s visitors at the top of the table.

McFadden admitted: “In the back of our minds coming in here today, we’re thinking of them having two weeks to prepare for this. They’ve been able to sit on their couches, watching us walk around the stadium doing a lap of honour.

“I’m sure that’s fuelling their passion for what they want to bring to the match. These matches are always ferocious and Saturday is not going to be any different. They’re going to want to justify leading the Magners League after the regular series so we’ll need to be ready for them.”

Leinster coach Joe Schmidt will announce the team and replacements on Friday. The province expects to have a travelling support of in excess of 6,500 followers at Thomond Park.