Leinster 24 Munster 19IN THE pantheon of LeinsterMunster battles over the years, the sheer timing of this fixture after the World Cup hiatus was never likely to mean this was going to be a classic. But whatever chance this latest rendezvous had, it needed a much more sympathetic referee than the one who reduced this to a penalty fest.
Pascal Gauzere wasn’t so much laissez-faire at the breakdown as pedantic, and long before the end some players were visibly losing patience with the incessant penalties. They weren’t alone. He was harsh on players coming from the side as he was on not releasing either the tackled player or the ball, but the net result was to deny the game any flow.
The pity was that conditions could hardly have been better, the Aviva’s billiard top looking resplendent and scarcely a whiff of breeze in the air.
It was particularly ideal for place kickers of the quality of Jonathan Sexton and Ronan O’Gara. The pity was that there wasn’t much else by way of scores, or even scoring threat, until Rob Kearney’s drop goal broke the monotony and finally there was the consolation of another penalty try from the Munster scrum to earn them a bonus point.
Such is the way of modern rugby, with the pitch often looking overcrowded, and this was compounded by the lack of game time either side has had as a unit. Thus it wasn’t all that surprising that two well-drilled defences held sway.
Munster brought strong set-pieces (where BJ Botha and the locks had big games, while Peter O’Mahony impressed off the bench) and a pretty good maul, as well as the threat of Lifeimi Mafi in midfield, though gradually Gordon D’Arcy began to find space, while Leinster’s scrum grew strong as the first half and the match wore on until the customary late replacements.
In so much as anyone could shine, the carrying of Cian Healy and the excellent Seán O’Brien put Leinster on the front foot more, while Jamie Heaslip had a big game and Isaac Boss was swift and industrious at the base. Leinster ran good lines, their attacking game looked more evolved and there was also the occasional hint of Kearney’s running threat.
Alas, the game wasn’t even a minute old when Keith Earls sustained a nasty-looking injury to his left knee when taking a high ball back into contact in what seemed an innocuous challenge with Isa Nacewa and D’Arcy.
Munster recovered from that setback to draw first blood through an O’Gara penalty off a rock solid scrum, some width on the ball, Johne Murphy’s long touchfinder and Donncha O’Callaghan’s lineout steal from Leo Cullen. Leinster responded by launching O’Brien, Healy and co for a couple of Sexton penalties as the die was cast.
Mafi’s forced turnover to an unsuspecting Paul O’Connell having led to a key turnover, a nice pass from Mafi put the relatively anonymous Will Chambers over the gain line, and O’Brien was pinged for coming in from the side. He also had a little spat with one of his Munster buddies from recent times, Conor Murray, before O’Gara levelled matters.
Leinster had more of the second quarter, and in between another exchange of three-pointers between the outhalves, Niall Ronan was penalised cheaply for coming in from the side and then breaking his bind at a scrum to give Leinster a 15-9 interval lead.
Mafi ignited Munster on the restart with his footwork, half-break and offload, with Ronan providing a classic openside link to Murray, in the lead-up to O’Gara’s penalty. But the latter’s chip on his own 22 was half-blocked by O’Brien and gathered by Ross for Sexton to ultimately restore the six-point lead.
A stunning line by O’Brien had them hammering for the killer score, but the red line wouldn’t be breached, three covering players eventually tackling Nacewa into touch by the corner flag.
By way of minor variation, Kearney knocked over a drop goal – admittedly the referee was playing advantage for what would have been another three-pointer for Sexton – and that would duly follow when Monsieur Gauzere’s patience ran out and Denis Leamy was also binned for not releasing after the tackle. It looked very harsh indeed.
In response, Munster turned to their maul, which won them three successive penalties as they inched towards the corner, the second of which also led to Heaslip being binned before Leamy returned for the fourth.
When the maul was held up, Tomás O’Leary broke infield with Doug Howlett and in the ensuing streetfight, as Leinster piled in from all sides, Gauzere somehow awarded them a relieving penalty.
It all served to at least stir the blood and put a bit of heat in the air, and O’Gara – who speaks very good French – was briefly taken aside by the referee for something he said.
Munster’s pride was stirred too, and with Leinster having replaced both props, they buckled to concede a penalty try.
However, with the match clock also now in the red zone, O’Leary made one last thrilling dash at the heart of the Leinster defence, but Donnacha Ryan couldn’t hold on to the offload and he was left banging the turf.
Leinster extracted more from this, in terms of the match spoils, but it wasn’t without its plusses for Munster either.
SCORING SEQUENCE:5 mins: O'Gara pen 0-3; 9 mins Sexton pen 3-3; 14 mins: Sexton pen 6-3; 20 mins: O'Gara pen 6-6; 22 mins: Sexton pen 9-6; 29 mins: Sexton pen 12-6; 34 mins: O'Gara pen 12-9; 39 mins: Sexton pen 15-9; (half-time 15-9); 43 mins: O'Gara pen 15-12; 45 mins Sexton pen 18-12; 56 mins: Kearney drop goal 21-12; 61 mins: Sexton pen 24-12; 77 mins: penalty try, O'Gara con 24-19.
LEINSTER: R Kearney; I Nacewa, F McFadden, G D'Arcy, L Fitzgerald; J Sexton, I Boss; C Healy, R Strauss, M Ross, L Cullen (capt), D Toner, S O'Brien, S Jennings, J Heaslip. Replacements: H van der Merwe for Healy (55), E Reddan for Boss (58), R Ruddock for Jennings (63), J Hagan for Ross, K McLaughlin for Toner, E O'Malley for D'Arcy (all 73). Not used: S Cronin, I Madigan. Sinbinned: Heaslip (69-79).
MUNSTER:J Murphy; D Howlett, W Chambers, L Mafi, K Earls; R O'Gara, C Murray; W du Preez, D Varley, BJ Botha; D O'Callaghan, P O'Connell (capt), D Ryan, N Ronan, D Leamy. Replacements: D Barnes for Earls (2), P O'Mahony for Ronan, J Coughlan for O'Callaghan (both 52), T O'Leary for Murray (63), I Keatley for Murphy (75 mins), M Horan for du Preez (73), J Hayes for Botha (78). Not used: D Fogarty.
Sinbinned: Leamy (60-70).
Referee: Pascal Gauzere (FFR).
Pens: Sexton 7
Drop goal: Kearney
Att: 48,500
Pens: O'Gara 4
Try: Penalty Try
Con: O'Gara
