Leinster must improve over the next two weeks if they are to avoid a snap let down and a repeat of a trophy-free last season.
Almost perfect so far apart from a jarring misfire in South Africa against the Bulls, assistant coach Andrew Goodman speaks of calibration and timing. The end of the run must be better.
Munster’s recent 22-22 comeback draw with Sharks that earned them a URC fifth place and their win over Glasgow has Leinster taking notice of how the Irish cousins have reacted to must-win demands.
No matter that Munster will be missing a clutch of big-name players including RG Snyman and Conor Murray to head injury assessments, the mood in Leinster is one of having to rise again in Aviva Stadium.
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Munster improved over a few weeks to find momentum. With everything to win or lose, Leinster are demanding from the players that they must do something similar.
“Well we need to [improve], yeah, we’ve got some big challenges coming up,” says Goodman, who last played against Munster on a Leinster team alongside Brian O’Driscoll more than 15 years ago.
“We need to keep growing, we need to be peaking at this end of the season. Cohesion, little bits of our defence where we got exploited against the Sharks, we need to really tighten up in the next couple of weeks.
“It’s to get the right 23 to win this weekend for a start. We need fresh bodies. We need hungry people to come in. Everyone is hungry, even in training today it was like ‘slow down boys’. They were competing hard.”
Goodman points out that no, it is not like the last days of the Roman Empire in Welford Road, when coach Leo Cullen was a player with Leicester and midweek punch-ups were the culture du jour.
The majestic Martin Johnson, Neil Back and Lewis Moody altercations would not survive a modern system. But there is an edge to training as Leinster embark on another reshuffle and with 20,000 tickets sold for Munster’s arrival on Saturday.
“No, no, no,” he says of ‘Leicesteresque’ sessions. “These are guys that have grown up wanting to play for Leinster, and when they get the opportunity it doesn’t matter who is in front of them, they’re highly motivated.
“And they’ve got a little bit of hurt there from last year around what happened at semi-final time, so there’s a lot of motivation there.”
Munster will be respected, not feared. Goodman sees many of the similarities in the visiting team from when he played against them but with more parts added. In tandem Munster’s attacking ability has grown over the course of the season.
“Yeah, a lot more varied,” he says. “I think when they get inside the 22, they’re so efficient in there. Strong carry and clean, [Craig] Casey is a threat around the ruck so we’ve got to keep eyes on him.
“But they play in a good shape and when they get momentum, they’ve got the ability to play on top of teams, so we’re going to have to be right on it with our two-sided defence.”
Lock Joe McCarthy came through the game at the weekend with no issues after his recovery from an ankle injury, while hooker Rónan Kelleher is available to train fully this week after his recovery from a shoulder injury.
Further assessment is required on Scott Penny, who entered the return to play protocols. Robbie Henshaw is expected to step up his rehabilitation from a minor quad issue, while James Lowe and Cian Healy will be further assessed as the week progresses.
