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Munster need the last laugh Friday... their sad record at Leinster has gone beyond a joke

(Photo By Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile via Getty Images)

What is rare is always wonderful. Look at the joy that surrounded Glasgow and Scarlets respectively winning the 2015 and 2017 PRO12 titles, uprisings that gave Scotland and Wales their next Test team head coaches and reminded everyone that the currently titled PRO14 isn’t just about the four Irish provinces. 

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The Irish have consistently monstered this tournament despite the tendency for Ireland Test level players to not feature very much in it due to central contracting. Look at Johnny Sexton – this Friday night, if the stats on his Leinster website profile are on point, will finally bring up his 100th PRO14 appearance nearly 15 years after his January 2006 league debut at Borders. 

That’s an enormous length of time but the thing with Sexton, along with so many of his Test colleagues, is that he is rarely missed at PRO14 level, such is the richness of the resources coursing through the Irish development system which ensures it maintains its general dominance over the Scots, the Welsh and the others who make up the numbers in this 19-season-old tournament.

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It has nearly been ever thus: 13 of the league’s 19 editions have been played with knockout stage finales and this weekend’s latest last-four line-up is the sixth occasion – the fourth in the past seven campaigns – in which Ireland’s teams have taken three of the four semi-final spots.

That’s rather greedy, and yet this dominance isn’t without its idiosyncrasies. Take this Friday’s scheduling. A five-day turnaround is usually frowned upon in Irish circles where player welfare is at the top of the central contracting agenda. 

Just remember how Leinster accused European officials of taking the pee some years ago when they had to follow an away pool assignment in France on a Sunday by backing up that effort in Dublin the following Friday. Munster’s travelling this week won’t be as excessive – just two round trips on the M7 from Limerick – but the fact they have to go all-out with a dozen of the same starting team that ran out versus Connacht last Sunday goes against the grain of the Irish ‘we look after our players so very well’ mantra. 

What gives? With the Republic of Ireland soccer team booked in to play at the Aviva on Sunday, a Friday night slot was given to Leinster-Munster, an insult to Munster given the short turnaround it forced on them.

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Add in how they seldom if ever win in Dublin these days – one win in 15 away to Leinster since ‘nilling’ them in September 2008 – and it’s safe to suggest the challenge confronting them is Everest-like for a club trying so very hard to replicate magical past glories. 

Getting over the big-stage hump has long become an issue in a dreadful derby sequence that started with that seminal Heineken Cup semi-final loss at Croke Park in 2009 and in recent years has featured successive PRO14 semi-final defeats at the RDS. 

What has continuously done for Munster is the near set-in-stone pattern whereby Leinster usually dictate early on the scoreboard, leaving the visitors to play catch-up. This was yet again the case last Saturday week when the hosts leapt 24-13 clear before the late drama that was JJ Hanrahan missing a conversion to tie the game at 27-all. 

If there is a blueprint for getting the job done, it’s the 2014 Aviva plan that had the fingerprints of the late Anthony Foley all over it. Munster savaged Leinster in the opening half that day, leading 28-9 at the break before closing out a deserved 34-23 win.

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Their pack was ravenous on that occasion and essentially the moral is that Munster must lead from the front on Friday night, be the aggressor and force Leinster from their comfort zone rather than having to fashion a futile late comeback after their initial strategy fails to work. 

There is something to enthuse in the sense that wingers Andrew Conway and Keith Earls retain the potency to deliver tries, an ability to go wide that reflects positively on the first-term manipulations of assistant coach Stephen Larkham, an armoury now added to by the confrontational attributes of new midfield signing Damian de Allende.    

But Munster badly need a victory to endorse the curious Johann van Graan reign. Onboard since November 2017 when Rassie Erasmus hurried back to South Africa to fashion their World Cup triumph, doubts exist that van Graan genuinely has the capabilities to end a trophy drought that stretches back to Munster’s 2011 Thomond Park league final win over Leinster, the foe who have since lifted seven trophies while Munster have been potless.

It was a fortunate European quarter-final win over Edinburgh in April 2019 that earned the South African his contract extension rather than the club waiting and factoring semi-finals losses to Saracens and Leinster into their thinking, and he has similarly been fortunate since then in that this year’s Covid stoppage helped people forget his team exited Europe at the pool stage last January – a rare occurrence for a club whose annual minimum is reaching the last-eight shake-up.  

It’s why this latest PRO14 showdown with Leinster has the feel of something of a crossroads. Can van Grann finally deliver and allow Munster regain some high ground, or will they continue to remain eclipsed by the long shadow cast by the stronger Leinster squad that keeps pushing back the boundaries, their latest trick being the engineering of a record 21-game league and cup winning streak in 2019/20? We’ll know the answer about this fork in the road soon enough.

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O
Oh no, not him again? 2 hours ago
England internationals disagree on final play execution vs All Blacks

Okay, so we blew it big time on Saturday. So rather than repeating what most people have all ready said, what do I want to see from Borthwick going forward?


Let's keep Marcus Smith on the pitch if he's fit and playing well. I was really pleased with his goal kicking. It used to be his weakness. I feel sympathy for George Ford who hadn't kicked all match and then had a kick to win the game. You hear pundits and commentators commend kickers who have come off the bench and pulled that off. Its not easy. If Steve B continues to substitute players with no clear reason then he is going to get criticised.


On paper I thought England would beat NZ if they played to their potential and didn't show NZ too much respect. Okay, the off the ball tackles certainly stopped England scoring tries, but I would have liked to see more smashing over gainlines and less kicking for position. Yes, I also know it's the Springbok endorsed world cup double winning formula but the Kiwi defence isn't the Bok defence, is it. If you have the power to put Smith on the front foot then why muzzle him? I guess what I'm saying is back, yourself. Why give the momentum to a team like NZ? Why feed the beast? Don't give the ball to NZ. Well d'uh.


Our scrum is a long term weakness. If you are going to play Itoje then he needs an ogre next door and a decent front row. Where is our third world class lock? Where are are realible front row bench replacements? The England scrum has been flakey for a while now. It blows hot and cold. Our front five bench is not world class.


On the positive side I love our starting backrow right now. I'd like to see them stick together through to the next world cup.


Anyway, there is always another Saturday.

7 Go to comments
C
CO 2 hours ago
Scott Robertson responds to criticism over All Blacks' handling errors

Robertson is more a manager of coaches than a coach so it comes down to intent of outcomes at a high level. I like his intent, I like the fact his Allblacks are really driving the outcomes however as he's pointed out the high error rates are not test level and their control of the game is driving both wins and losses. England didn't have to play a lot of rugby, they made far fewer mistakes and were extremely unlucky not to win.


In fact the English team were very early in their season and should've been comfortably beaten by an Allblacks team that had played multiple tests together.


Razor has himself recognised that to be the best they'll have to sort out the crisis levels of mistakes that have really increased since the first two tests against England.


Early tackles were a classic example of hyper enthusiasm to not give an inch, that passion that Razor has achieved is going to be formidable once the unforced errors are eliminated.


That's his secret, he's already rebuilt the passion and that's the most important aspect, its inevitable that he'll now eradicate the unforced errors. When that happens a fellow tier one nation is going to get thrashed. I don't think it will be until 2025 though.


The Allblacks will lose both tests against Ireland and France if they play high error rates rugby like they did against England.


To get the unforced errors under control he's going to be needing to handover the number eight role to Sititi and reset expectations of what loose forwards do. Establish a clear distinction with a large, swarthy lineout jumper at six that is a feared runner and dominant tackler and a turnover specialist at seven that is abrasive in contact. He'll then need to build depth behind the three starters and ruthlessly select for that group to be peaking in 2027 in hit Australian conditions on firm, dry grounds.


It's going to help him that Savea is shifting to the worst super rugby franchise where he's going to struggle behind a beaten pack every week.


The under performing loose forward trio is the key driver of the high error rates and unacceptable turn overs due to awol link work. Sititi is looking like he's superman compared to his openside and eight.


At this late stage in the season they shouldn't be operating with just the one outstanding loose forward out of four selected for the English test. That's an abject failure but I think Robertson's sacrificing link quality on purpose to build passion amongst the junior Allblacks as they see the reverential treatment the old warhorses are receiving for their long term hard graft.


It's unfortunately losing test matches and making what should be comfortable wins into nail biters but it's early in the world cup cycle so perhaps it's a sacrifice worth making.


However if this was F1 then Sam Cane would be Riccardo and Ardie would be heading into Perez territory so the loose forwards desperately need revitalisation through a rebuild over the next season to complement the formidable tight five.

28 Go to comments
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