Pre-Match Pointers: Munster Vs Leinster

TODAY is the day. Today is the day that Ireland’s two heavyweights come head-to-head fully-stacked and fully-loaded. Today is the day that Munster and Leinster lock horns at Thomond Park in what feels like the biggest inter-provincial fixture in many years.

Munster are with 10 wins from their first 11 games this season but have won just two of their last ten meetings against Leo Cullen’s men. Since 2009 there has been a dramatic swing in bragging rights. The red wave of the 2000’s has been swiftly swallowed.

The talking point became Leinster’s supreme production line of talent. Munster’s lack of homegrown talent filled the back pages down south. Leinster’s efficiency and creativity lauded. Munster’s box-kicking strategies bemoaned.

This season some of those trends have been bucked. Munster’s very own conveyor belt of talented youngsters has emerged. Gavin Coombes, Shane Daly and Craig Casey are just three players from a long list of prospects who could have a game-changing impact on tonight’s outcome.

Coinciding with the injection of fresh blood comes the injection of fresh ideas from world-renowned backs coach Stephen Larkham. While up-front rugby reliant on power and plenty of kicking remains as the nucleus, recent performances suggest a more varied attack is about to be added to Munster’s DNA.

This tightly knit group have come out the other side of great challenges so far this season. Scarlets, Harlequins, Clermont and Connacht all proved testing experiences but experiences that will now stand to Munster ahead of tonight’s match.

Leinster are arguably a step up even from the all-action Clermont Auvergne. The men in red will need to be brave. Wholeheartedly enforcing the style of play that they have been developing over the last six months is key. Holding back, feeling their way into the game and waiting for Leinster to strike first could be a recipe for disaster.

It feels like this is a great opportunity for Munster to make the rest of Europe to sit up and take notice. Nobody fancies playing against Munster by virtue of their traditional strengths. If the abrasive approach play could now be married with a dimension of subtle touches and innovative inter-play, the possibilities would be endless.

The signs have been there this season.. Let’s hope it clicks perfectly when it matters most on the big stage tonight.

Kick and Mix

Leo Cullen commented after last September’s Pro14 semi-final fixture between the two provinces that “You’ve got to be very accurate against a team that all they want to do is box-kick”. Munster’s approach has been criticized by both supporters and opposition for the past couple of years but the feeling is that Van Graan’s troops have this season reduced their emphasis on kicking for a slightly more varied offensive style of play.

In reality the stats show that Munster are kicking more often now than they were at the end of last season. In the 13-6 defeat to Leinster in September Munster kicked the ball from hand a total of 28 times. In the last ten matches of last season Munster averaged 22 kicks a game.

Two weeks ago against Connacht, Munster kicked 29 times and have averaged over 24 kicks a game in the last ten fixtures.

Kicking alone was never the problem for Munster. Conor Murray has one of the finest boots in the sport and it is a weapon that should always be utilized. Even the top international teams tend to kick the ball many times a game. When the All Blacks hammered Ireland 46-14 in the World Cup quarter-final of 2019 Steve Hansen’s men put boot to ball 29 times.

Leinster have lost some aerial superiority with the departures of Rob Kearney and Fergus McFadden in recent times. Their young starting back three of Jimmy O’Brien, Jordan Larmour and fullback Hugo Keenan is a more than competent one, but perhaps one Munster will target in the air early on to see if they can get any change from it.

Munster have often come close to beating Leinster by employing a game-plan almost entirely centered around kicking and tight ball-carrying. Munster’s ability to execute in those departments is not to be underestimated. Such risk-free, accurate and physical rugby has helped the province to Champions Cup and Pro14 semi-finals almost on its own.

Munster is a province that people expect to see winning trophies, however. It was clear more was needed to break into the top tier of clubs in Europe and today is the chance to break through that ceiling. The new weapons added to Munster’s armour by Stephen Larkham and Graham Rowntree have been carefully polished throughout the Autumn and Winter.

James Cronin, Kevin O’Byrne, Tadhg Beirne and Gavin Coombes have been regular passers of the ball this campaign. Little interchanges between forwards adds a hugely important missing ingredient to the Munster attack. The point of attack has been shifted by Munster regularly leaving defenders guessing. Backrow forwards have been found offloading to hard-running centres in pre-planned plays. Forwards have regularly stepped in at scrumhalf to speed up the momentum of the attack.

These are features that were completely absent from previous seasons. Should Munster accurately impose their ball-carrying and box-kicking but also add this additional layer of attacking intelligence, Leinster’s defence could be left with a lot to think about throughout the eighty minutes at Thomond Park.

The best teams are neither fully imaginative or pragmatic but a combination of both. Just because Munster have refreshed their image with an increase in passes this season it does not mean Johann Van Graan won’t be placing great emphasis on the team’s all-important fundamentals in the build-up to kick off.

What Goes Around Coombes Around

This evening’s backrow battle will be incredible. Leinster have won the tussle in the last handful of times that these two proud provinces have met. Josh Van Der Flier and Calein Doris are amongst those to have won the Man of the Match award in this fixture lately and Munster will be determined to set the record straight on this occasion.

Though Van der Flier is not involved tonight, Doris is joined by two other past torns in Munster’s side – WIll Connors and Rhys Ruddock. Connors made 23 tackles, 11 carries and 1 turnover the last time he faced Munster and the trio of Gavin Coombes, Peter O’Mahony and CJ Stander will be fully aware of the enormity of the challenge ahead.

Confidence is taken in the fact that Stander in particular looks to have come out the other side of a sticky period to provide the dominant and ever-willing displays that we have come so accustomed to through the years. The 30 year-old has made 100 carries and 4 turnovers in 8 games this season and will likely have a huge bearing on tonight’s result. Peter O’Mahony is another man who has led from the front this year as one of the side’s senior players and with second row Tadhg Beirne also contributing with huge work-ethic at ruck-time, Munster look well braced for whatever is thrown their way.

The true difference maker however could be the emerging star Gavin Coombes. Coombes has never started against Leinster and the Bandon man’s bruising surges and soft handling could make a telling impact on the outcome of the fixture.

Being a dogged worker around the park who has scored seven tries and assisted another four in ten games makes Coombes as special string to add to Munster’s bow. Make no mistake, this guy is a star and his performances this season could very well put him in the province’s player of the year conversation.

If he dominates an elite Leinster pack tonight, who knows, maybe he could even have a place in the Ireland Six Nations squad about to be named next week.

Just In Casey

In the August fixture against Leinster at the Aviva Stadium, Munster looked to be dead and buried after an hour. Then in stepped Craig Casey. The tempo sky-rocketed and within minutes Munster made their way over through Andrew Conway to set up a grand stand finish.

Sadly Munster couldn’t quite drag themselves across the line to an unlikely victory but the impact of the 21 year old reminded Leinster coach Leo Cullen why he was so keen to sign the youngster in 2019.

The Shannon clubman has come along very nicely since then and his introduction against Clermont was an example of a match where his contribution resulted in a victory for Munster. Snappy, charismatic, quick, sharp and skillful – Casey could be easily landed with the unwanted title of the perfect substitute scrumhalf.

Munster may have built on their attack since the Autumn but Leinster’s defence stands as one of the strongest around. The components suggest that even if Munster perfectly execute an aggressive game-plan full of both abrasion and imagination, this is a match that will still come down to the wire. Casey has played ten times this season, impressing each and every time and his introduction late on in this match could help Munster edge their way to a landmark result.

If Munster can keep it as a one score game until Casey enters the fray – with his speed of delivery against tired legs – we have every chance.