This one was not as big, the rewards were not so tangible. Yet, somehow, it felt more significant for both victors and vanquished alike. It is unlikely to mark a shift in the balance of power akin to the 2009 Heineken Cup semi-final in Croke Park, but it may well prove to be a line in the sand.
To begin with, the ripple effects of Munster’s bonus-point win over Leinster in Croke Park will be felt when they host Connacht at Thomond Park next Saturday (kick-off 7.45pm). But the consequences will likely linger for longer than that.
Munster merely accrued five points from last Saturday’s 31-14 victory, whereas the semi-final in the Aviva three seasons ago ultimately led to a long-coveted piece of silverware in the shape of the URC title a fortnight later.
What we learned from Munster’s emphatic win over Leinster
However, last Saturday’s storming of Croke Park when 13-2 with the bookies seems a bigger one-off win than three seasons ago, when 7-2 underdogs, not least as this is how it will be felt among the squad, the backroom team and the organisation generally, as well as the supporters.
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Beating Leinster 16-15 three seasons ago with a late Jack Crowley drop goal after a pitch-length drive from their own line was a notable achievement. Munster’s only win in the previous 11 meetings was the 27-3 Rainbow Cup semi-final victory over a Leinster ‘C’ side at an empty RDS, probably the least significant meeting between the two in the professional era.
That URC semi-final win was also achieved within the narrative of Leo Cullen resting a host of frontliners ahead of the Champions Cup final against La Rochelle in the Aviva a week later.
Cullen was criticised for doing so by some Leinster supporters, many of whom would have blamed the head coach had he played more frontliners and two or three had been injured a week ahead of a prize deemed bigger by squad and fans alike.
A week later, Cullen restored a dozen players rested from the Munster semi-final and reverted to all but two of the starting line-up which had thrashed Toulouse in the Champions Cup semi-final for the decider against La Rochelle.
Munster thus did not beat a Leinster ‘B’ side, or reserve team, per se. Half a dozen of that Leinster starting XV in the semi-final were on the bench a week later. Yet it was not a Leinster side locked and fully loaded.
The same could not be said last Saturday. Sure, Caelan Doris, Joe McCarthy and Hugo Keenan were sidelined, and by match day had been joined by Tommy O’Brien, Ryan Baird and Jack Conan.
But Munster were also missing two Irish squad members, Tom Ahern and the influential Craig Casey. And therein lay another subplot. Just three days before last Saturday’s game, Andy Farrell had named an Irish squad featuring 21 Leinster players and just a quartet from Munster.
[ Munster prove mindset can still decide matchesOpens in new window ]
The discrepancy between the provincial rivals as suppliers to the Ireland squad had never been starker, although no doubt it served to motivate Munster. The immediate effects of last Saturday’s win saw Tom Farrell’s well-earned and well-deserved call-up, and Crowley’s chances of starting against the All Blacks ahead of Sam Prendergast have increased.
Leinster also supplied 18 players to Munster’s one on the Lions tour. Their sluggish start to the season and blunt, inaccurate and perhaps even slightly complacent display last Saturday when fielding 11 of their Lions in the matchday 23 will fuel the fear that this record representation was a decidedly double-edged sword.
The early signs of a post-Lions hangover are worrying, for Ireland and Leinster, yet the counter to that theory is that Munster’s sole Lion utterly eclipsed his 11 fellow tourists to Australia in the summer. So, how does that stack up?
At 33, for Tadhg Beirne to produce yet another in his ever-lengthening list of warrior-like, big-game performances in his first game since being crowned player of the series after the third Test in Sydney was quite remarkable. But then again, nor was it remotely surprising.
Beirne plays on the edge, and some days it won’t always work. But his ability to smell the game, to zone in on the ball magnetically, to time his jackals over the ball so acutely or slide snake-like through an opposition maul, seems to be becoming more finely tuned with age.
Beirne ending Leinster’s siege around the hour mark with one of his four turnovers was one of the game’s defining and decisive moments.
What also made this victory so eye-catching was that Munster achieved it without many additions to their squad, bar the hard-working Dan Kelly. Then again, of course, along with Stuart Lancaster in Connacht, the other most eye-catching acquisition ahead of this season was the IRFU and Munster signing Clayton McMillan.
His impressive CV and reputation said so, and while a honeymoon period often comes with the appointment of a new head coach, there was something striking in the way Munster players spoke, on and off the record, even in preseason, which suggested McMillan might be a near perfect fit.
There is something old-school in his methods, witness the use of boxing, hill running and swimming in his emphasis on fitness in preseason. Still, Munster hadn’t been tearing up trees before last Saturday. The handsome bonus-point win away to the Scarlets is already looking like it might have been achieved against a side destined for the bottom four. The wins against Cardiff and Edinburgh could easily have gone either way.
Apparently, Munster’s training load was no lighter last week than it had been previously, yet there was a palpably elevated energy to last Saturday’s display, especially in defence.
It’s worth remembering that Munster had chances in both of last season’s defeats but didn’t take them, notably in Croke Park, whereas last Saturday they were very clinical. Central to this was Crowley’s masterful display. Reports of him training during the summer months at the expense of holidays may have possibly been overplayed but he does look in very good shape, as well as calm and focused.
Any new head coach or new players can benefit from a quick start, and now Munster sit 13 points above Leinster, whereas they went into last season’s November Test window trailing them by 18 points. The McMillan era has momentum now, especially if they make it five wins against Connacht next Saturday, when the ripple effects of beating Leinster will likely be reflected in the heightened atmosphere.
[ Simon Zebo’s persistent interjections distracting for Leinster v Munster viewersOpens in new window ]
When Munster won the 2022-23 United Rugby Championship, it’s estimated that up to 10,000 supporters were in Thomond Park for the team’s Monday homecoming following the side’s 19-14 win over the Stormers in Cape Town two days earlier. That impressive turnout could be attributed to Munster ending an 11-year trophy drought and doing so a long way from home.
Despite the ungodly 7.45pm kick-off on Saturday, which is unsuitable for supporters travelling from outside Limerick, already 14,000 tickets have been sold and that is likely to increase.
This will be a little like a homecoming without a trophy. And understandably so.
