Gordon D’Arcy: Fascinating semi-final in prospect as Munster target vulnerable great rivals Leinster

My former international team-mate Ronan O’Gara is aware of the value of a well-placed word both on and off the pitch, so his post-match interview after his La Rochelle team beat the Exeter Chiefs in the Champions Cup semi-final wasn’t in the least surprising.

Leinster’s cluttered month of May, fixture wise, is a road that La Rochelle tread throughout the season in the French Top 14. Rog was planting the seed that his club’s experience in negotiating those playing demands on a regular basis mean that they are better able to handle the glut of high-calibre, high-profile assignments in a condensed time frame.

The cool and calculating Corkman leaves very little to chance, and this is a good example of him not only applying pressure to Leinster but also to his own players. La Rochelle’s victory over Toulon in Marseille last weekend all but guaranteed them a top two finish in the French Top 14, ensuring that they can take a fortnight’s run at preparing for Leinster in the Champions Cup final.

They don’t need to win on the road again this weekend against Montpellier, so can be risk averse and rest key players, but the expectation to perform next week remains high. La Rochelle are in rude health, so perhaps the biggest challenge the defending European champions may have is complacency, a weakness that seeped into the group once this season against the Scarlets.

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The more likely legacy though is that it served its purpose as a salutary warning, and it is unthinkable that Rog or the senior leadership contingent amongst the players would permit a reprise. La Rochelle currently cast a large shadow on European rugby, literally and metaphorically, and finding a way to successfully step out from it will occupy the minds of Leo Cullen and his coaching cadre in UCD.

Leinster have a United Rugby Championship semi-final against Munster at the Aviva Stadium to focus on this weekend and the probability is that they will further rotate their squad in trying to manage the dual playing focus of league and European commitments. Cullen is looking to manage workloads with one eye on the La Rochelle match. Tadhg Furlong’s early departure in the victory over the Sharks is an example of this policy.

The South African side were bright in their work early on, illustrated by a superb opportunist try for scrumhalf Grant Williams, but once Leinster are presented with a playing advantage, in this case a yellow card for Sharks wing Makazole Mapimpi, they are ruthless in exploiting any numerical discrepancy.

Caelan Doris’s lineout peel, reminiscent of Keith Wood’s famous try against England, drew the double whammy of a touchdown and a card. While the Sharks’ winger was on a 10-minute sabbatical for a high shot on Doris, Leinster effectively put the game to bed. It was a good result but less so the performance; however, winning is all that matters in knockout matches.

There is no doubting the quality within the Leinster squad, individually there was plenty of it on display, but the collective display was a little disjointed.

Michael Milne had a productive evening despite being on the wrong end of a tough scrummaging lesson. The young loosehead prop will ultimately benefit from the encounter with experienced Sharks prop Thomas du Toit. Leinster were a little light on bulk on that side of the scrum and Milne could reasonably have expected more of Ryan Baird and Max Deegan, both superb in the loose when the game broke up but not noted for the grunt in the set piece.

Munster should be rubbing their hands with a crafty smile in anticipation of a crack at a slightly distracted Leinster in the URC semi-final at the Aviva Stadium but instead are left counting the physical legacy of their hard-nosed win over the Glasgow Warriors at Scotstoun.

Peter O’Mahony has been the heartbeat of Munster since Paul O’Connell passed the torch in 2015. The flanker has filled gaps, taken tough post-match interviews with a mixture of dignity, passion and a little contempt and has been the man that his team-mates look for when margins narrow. His involvement in the match is in question due to an elbow injury.

Hooker Diarmuid Barron is also a doubt while Calvin Nash, Malakai Fekitoa, Conor Murray and RG Snyman, all failed to return to the pitch following HIAs in Glasgow and have been subsequently ruled out of the Leinster match.

Munster do not have to think past the weekend. Jack O’Donoghue, John Hodnett and Craig Casey are ready-made if not identical replacements in style while Tadhg Beirne’s excellent performance on his return and that of Fineen Wycherley when introduced the last day will help to soften the blow of Snyman’s absence.

Fekitoa is a big loss for Munster, the All Black an outstanding contributor in recent weeks. There is also a leadership void that needs to be filled this weekend and within the wider squad, and the Munster faithful will be looking at the likes of Gavin Coombes, O’Donoghue and Jack Crowley to put their respective hands up.

This was always going to be a testing season for Munster, but they have been at their best for the most part in adversity, when players took responsibility on the pitch. Even in the absence of the injured players and with Casey the only fit frontline scrumhalf, Graham Rowntree’s side are still the more settled team than Leinster and there is value in that.

Leinster will welcome back Joe McCarthy to partner Ross Molony with Ronan Kelleher likely to feature as well. It is in the outside backs that Leinster look light on the ground. Charlie Ngatai’s performance against Toulouse after a 113-day absence was a revelation but can he be risked if doubts linger regarding the fitness of Robbie Henshaw and James Lowe for the Champions Cup final.

The backline cover already looks a little thin even with Henshaw and Lowe included, so any further injuries will make next week tougher but sometimes there is no rhyme or reason with players returning from soft tissue injuries. In 2005 Brian O’Driscoll and I got shipped off to Poland to recover from similar hamstring injuries, trying to reduce a five-week injury to three.

I tore my hamstring in the final two minutes of the last pitch session of that match week, Brian played the full game. Henshaw and Lowe are intrinsic to the way Leinster play, but only if they are fully fit.

Munster earned the right for a decent shot at Leinster this season, the challenge for both teams is not on the pitch but the battle in preparation. There is so much noise around this semi-final, who is fit, or who will play and there are good reasons to support both teams in deciding on the outcome.

We have seen time and time again how good the Leinster coaching team are at setting up a squad to perform, and we have also seen this starting to take root once again in Munster thanks to Rowntree, Mike Prendergast and Denis Leamy. No more so than any tussle between these two provinces, it should be a fascinating encounter.