Local feud: Gerry Thornleyon the background to and imminent renewal of one of the great rivalries
En route back from their opening one-point defeat to Wasps in the Heineken European Cup, the Munster supporters were of a mind to look forward. But it wasn't so much the ensuing game against Clermont Auvergne that was their focus. "Friday November 30th" was a date seemingly etched on their minds. Musgrave Park. Leinster coming to town. Not to be missed.
Every major sport should have at least one outstanding national rivalry, be it Celtic v Rangers, Barcelona v Real Madrid, Toulouse v Stade Français, the Cheetahs v the Sharks, whatever.
It doesn't have to be a local affair; it can be just the two best teams over an extended period. As a rule, it's healthy, and in recent years, and seemingly for the time being, Munster v Leinster is it in Irish rugby.
The inaugural 2001-2002 Celtic League final in Lansdowne Road, with 30,000 in attendance, was a reference point of sorts, 14-man Leinster producing a stunning comeback to prompt unlikely chants of "Lein-ster" around the old ground. Matt Williams's team had come of age, seemingly rid of their supposed inferiority complex.
The rivalry assumed a new intensity four seasons later with a European Cup semi-final in the same venue. The build-up reached a climax on April 23rd 2006. Unless you were living on Mars, you know what happened that day. The bragging rights have mostly belonged to Munster since, but each meeting still carries an edge, and the demand for tickets is huge.
Last season, a record Magners League attendance of over 27,000 saw Leinster gain some revenge with a 27-20 win in Lansdowne Road, before Munster welcomed them to Thomond Park with a 25-11 thumping. Now comes the next instalment.
Of course, it wasn't always like this, though then again it depends where your starting point is. Munster have always carried a grudge against Leinster, the IRFU, the Dublin media. For decades the Munster faithful believed the province did not wield quite the same political clout as Leinster and Ulster and hence were never fairly represented on Irish teams.
"Everything has moved on tenfold and there's a much higher support base now," admits the former Ireland and Munster centre Philip Danaher. "But in our eyes Leinster were the equivalent of a city club. We felt the reporters only ever covered Dublin matches and so the matches against Leinster in Dublin were our chance to put our names in lights. I suppose we have to have a chip on our shoulders about something," he adds self-deprecatingly.
Danaher recalls being made captain of Munster for the first time in 1989 for a match in Donnybrook: "Deano (Paul Dean) was the Irish outhalf and Ralph Keyes went head-to-head against him. Leinster were the favourites but we won (10-3)."
And the crowd?
"A good 300," he says. "The rivalry would only have been for the 80 minutes. We met each other at club games or in Irish squads and were, for the most part, mates."
While Danaher admits there was occasional bad blood, the real manifestation of the Leinster/Munster rivalry came with the advent of the All-Ireland League, most notably on opening weekend when Danaher's unfancied Garryowen side travelled to Lansdowne Road and beat the Leinster league and Cup holders, Wanderers.
"We were country boys coming up to play the townies. It was that mentality," he says.
Munster clubs vented decades of umbrage with AIL title after title, but the Munster/Leinster rivalry assumed a new dimension with the advent of professionalism and the European Cup in 1995.
One victim of change was the "final trial" and, simply by a historical coincidence (Ulster's interpro rule was about to wane), it was replaced by Munster v Leinster. The following year, in September, Munster played Leinster in Donnybrook and won 45-40.
"It had always been a good rivalry, and there'd always been respect right back to the amateur days, but for me it took off that day," recalls Mick Galwey. "It was the start of professionalism and we beat them 45-40. I can't imagine how they felt, scoring 40 points and losing."
Munster ruled the roost for much of the next few years, dominating the Interpros in the late 1990s when that competition expanded to a home-and-away format. The emergence of Leinster as a serious rival can be attributed in significant part to the arrival of Williams, according to Eric Miller.
"He had a particular thing about Munster. He taught us how to play Munster at their own game . . . Teams like Munster expect you to crumble under the pressure they apply . . . and we became more competitive, drawing a couple of games with them and beating them in Cork in a friendly."
But the rivalry suddenly assumed an even greater sense of importance as they cut swathes to the inaugural final of the Celtic League, in December 2001.
At the time, there could have been no more perfect pairing. Munster had reached the 2000 European Cup final and had backboned the pack and provided the halfbacks of the team that had kick-started the Irish rejuvenation. But the Leinster backs had provided the genius and the cutting edge.
Munster and Leinster were very much team Ireland. And Munster somehow got the kudos.
Leinster won with 14 men, Miller being sent off in the first half for impetuously kicking a prostrate Anthony Foley.
"It certainly hurt," says Galwey, Munster captain that day. "But I always thought Leinster made more of it than Munster did."
The rivalry was stoked though.
"Unfortunately it got a bit bitter," admits Galwey. "Not so much among the players as the supporters."
Well, actually . . . the following February Leinster travelled to Cork for a six-all draw in which the ball became an incidental.
"To be honest, it had got a bit nasty then and that was a bitter period of the rivalry between the two sides," admits Miller. "I think it's a healthier rivalry now."
The watching Eddie O'Sullivan must have winced more than most when Leinster played Munster, and the Celtic League draw having ensured the Ireland squad members avoided each other in 2002-2003, the leading lights were invariably unavailable for the next two seasons whenever the provinces ran into each other. Thus the rivalry was largely neutered, even when Declan Kidney coached Leinster in the 2004-2005 season.
All changed again in 2005-2006, when they went head to head three times. Kidney having returned to Munster, they thrashed Leinster in Musgrave Park by five tries to nil. The defeat prompted a broadside from Felipe Contepomi, who was thereafter at centre stage. The focus on the Argentinian was intensified over the last two seasons, and prompted him to divulge that Ronan O'Gara, Donncha O'Callaghan and Denis Leamy would be well down his list of favourite dinner guests.
In truth, Contepomi held a grudge not so much against O'Gara as against Kidney (who left him out in the cold for much of his year as Leinster coach) and some of the Munster fans. He exacted revenge on New Year's Eve 2005 with a virtuoso two-try display.
All that and everything before it paled by comparison, however, with the European Cup semi-final the following April, Leinster having thrillingly toppled Toulouse away in the quarter-finals before Munster rumbled past Perpignan. Forests were cut down to feed the media printing presses in the build-up.
"This was the big one," recalls Galwey, who by then had retired.
"As soon as Munster hit town, the supporters and the players, I just felt that we'd do it. Our supporters must have outnumbered theirs by more than two to one. They were like a 16th man. Your supporters count and the players felt it."
Galwey and Miller cite as key the failure by Malcolm O'Kelly to gather the first kick-off.
"I watched Leinster practise restarts before the kick-off and Mal caught every one of them," says Galwey. "It was just one of those things. But Donncha was on to it, Rog kicked us ahead and then Paulie (O'Connell) nicked one of their lineouts and we went to the corner. Paulie won that one too and we drove over the line. We were 10-0 up in 10 minutes."
O'Connell's tour de force continued; he did just enough to push Denis Hickie's left foot into touch to deny a pitch-length try.
"Moments like that can define matches," says Galwey.
Contepomi cracked under the pressure, while O'Gara was immaculate, he and Trevor Halstead scoring the late tries that rubbed Leinster noses in it.
"That was a disaster," recalls Miller who was stunned by the red invasion. "From the first minute they had their tails up and we had no real coherence in our game. I don't know why it seemed to mean more to them, but they're a very tight-knit unit."
In describing the win as "unbelievable", O'Gara gave an inkling of how much it meant to the Munster players and how much they felt honour-bound to win for their supporters.
"We have a huge tradition and pride in where we come from," he said. "If we'd lost today, it would have been very difficult to walk the streets tomorrow. We didn't want to let anyone down."
Last season Leinster played in Thomond Park for the first time since 1995 and the Christmas crowd revelled in another Munster stuffing of their old rivals. Contepomi could do little to stem the red tide, O'Gara kicking 20 points, though Leinster would exact some revenge with victory in front of a 27,000-plus crowd at Lansdowne Road just over 12 months ago.
There are sure to be plenty of verbals next Friday night, with Contepomi again in the thick of it.
"I'm looking forward to the tussle up front," says Miller. "I think despite last week's 'blip' in Toulouse, Leinster have a better pack now and a better mix tactically. And the Felipe factor will add an extra edge."
Last weekend, the ex-Leinster prop Reggie Corrigan was the co-commentator for Sky Sports in Thomond Park. A crowd of Leinster fans watching the match in the De Danu bar in Toulouse watched as Munster secured their bonus point and Corrigan announced his man of the match: Marius Joubert, the Clermont centre. In a side beaten 36-13.
"That's it, Reggie, give them nothing," shouted one wag.
But next Friday, something will have to give again. And it's going to be fun watching it.
Munster v Leinster: Five to remember ...
Leinster 40 Munster 45
Inteprovincial Championship, September 28th, 1996, Donnybrook
A foretaste of what was to come in the professional era. In truth, the scoreline probably suggests a better game than it actually was.
Leinster played some sublime rugby, scoring five tries, but the combined boots of Brian Begley, Michael Lynch and Killian Keane, with a drop-goal, kept a typically cussed Munster in touch until a late try, their third, by Eddie Halvey clinched a dramatic win.
Leinster 24 Munster 20
Celtic League final, December 15th, 2001, Lansdowne Road
The inaugural Celtic League final was the take-off for the modern-day rivalry, sparking the dizzying spectacle of a 30,000-plus crowd and chants of "Lein-ster" as the 14-man home side, without Eric Miller, red-carded for kicking a prostrate Anthony Foley, stunned Munster with a second-half comeback adorned by superbly worked tries from Shane Horgan and Gordon D'Arcy.
Munster 33 Leinster 9
Celtic League, October 9th, 2005, Musgrave Park
After each side had scored a narrow home win the season before, Declan Kidney's return to his home province gave an extra edge to proceedings. Leinster had travelled in confidence but were obliterated in the second half as tries by Marcus Horan, Denis Leamy, Alan Quinlan, Ronan O'Gara and John Kelly inflicted a painful defeat. That didn't stop a subsequent outburst from Felipe Contepomi about the alleged behaviour of some Munster players and fans.
Leinster 6 Munster 30
Heineken European Cup semi-final, April 23rd, 2006, Lansdowne Road
The mother of all Irish derbies. An extraordinary build-up, with tickets like gold dust (in Limerick and Munster anyway) divided the country and took the rivalry to a new level. From hours before kick-off it was clear the Red Army had invaded Dublin (see left) and outnumbered the home crowd by two to one. The Munster pack took a grip from the outset and late, celebratory tries by Ronan O'Gara and Trevor Halstead sealed the win that left them 80 minutes away from their holy grail.
Leinster 35 Munster 23
Celtic League, December 31st, 2005, RDS
Felipe Contepomi was at his brilliant best, jumping into the crowd to celebrate his first try, as Leinster led most of the way, but Munster were still in touch moving into injury-time before a turnover, kick and chase enabled Contepomi to complete a 25-point haul with his second try and earn a bonus point.
