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Cork welcomes rugby’s old firm
By David Thorpe
 IT may
only be the Magners League and it may be at Musgrave Park rather than
fortress Thomond but there is nothing Munster enjoy more than defeating
Leinster.
Munster come into this weekend’s game following a comprehensive
defeat of Newport Gwent Dragons at the weekend.
While a 45-19 victory is always impressive, it was a far less fluent performance
than Munster are capable of producing but even their sternest critic could
not dismiss the authoritative manner of the victory, with the bonus point
secured after barely half-an-hour and had the game wrapped up at half-time.
It was a mixture of solid performances from the next generation of Munster
players and the old-timers doing what they do best.
Peter Stringer showed he has lost none of the rugby intelligence which
carried him so far with a try on 14 minutes.
Further tries from young Donnacha Ryan, Kieran Lewis and Brian Carney
in the first-half and Riki Tipoki secured a morale-boosting victory.
Munster manager Declan Kidney has some interesting selection dilemmas
going into the match with Leinster.
Prop Tony Buckley has progressed at a rapid rate this season and may be
John Hayes’ long-term replacement for province and country.
But the ‘Bull’ is likely to start Friday night.
Leinster got a tough work-out ahead of the clash with Munster as they
were fully extended in beating the Ospreys. Tries from Shane Horgan, Rob
Kearney and four Filipe Contepomi penalties were enough for Micheal Cheika’s
men to earn a victory.
Leinster fans will have been encouraged by the performances of their big-name
players, with Horgan controlling the game from centre, while the Leinster
pack did well to front up against a strong Ospreys unit.
Leinster are currently third in the Magners League, five points ahead
of Munster but Leinster have been playing as close to their full-strength
team as possible while Munster have used the Magners League as a chance
to develop the next generation of Boys-in-Red.
Whenever these two Irish provinces play pride takes charge, bragging rights
are at stake and whichever team takes charge there is unlikely to be much
between the teams at the end.
Then the real competition can begin as the rival fans descend on Reardens
and the Washington Inn to see who can win the pint-drinking contests that
are half the craic of going to the rugby on a wintry Friday night. |
