THERE are very little competitive meetings in rugby more compelling than clashes between provincial rivals Munster and Leinster, and this Saturday’s latest joust between the pair in the Aviva Stadium is certainly going to be a cracker.
It’s the first time that the teams have met since last May when ice-cool Jack Crowley’s drop goal beat the Blues in the semi-final of the URC.
Leinster will certainly be looking for revenge, but news from the Munster camp this week is that there is an air of confidence amongst the squad and another famous victory may be on the cards.
“Training has gone well, the players have put in a lot of work, and we know that we will have to be at one hundred per cent to beat them,” said forwards coach Andi Kyriacou.
“Leinster are a great outfit, they have good coaches and we know we will have to be going at full tilt for the full 80 minutes to stay in the fight.”
Latest on the injuries front is that Peter O’Mahony and Jack O’Donoghue are both doubtful, but Kyriacou is confident that such is the depth of talent coming through the Munster camp that adequate cover can be provided:
“We will be ok. The breakdown had a big part in the training this week. The tempo will have to be high and this area of the game is going to be massive,” he shared.
While this week’s team call was in progress, new signing Oli Jager was, according to Kyriacou, “in the air and heading for Munster”.
Front-row Jeremy Loughman recalled that he played with Jager and won two Leinster Schools’ titles with him when they played with Blackrock.
“He is certainly a big man. He will bring a lot of physicality to his game when he joins us. I did not think that the two of us would be playing on a Munster team together when we were in ‘Rock,” the pro forward said.
Munster may not have been at their best so far in this league, but this is an opportunity for them to shine. There were a lot of errors in the early stages last Saturday and any sloppy play will be costly against this Leinster side.
This weekend’s fixture is heading towards a sell-out.
