The biggest rivalry in Irish sport takes centre stage again this weekend when Munster make the trip to the big ‘shmoke’ to take on Leinster in the Magners League semi-finals.
The fixture was only confirmed last weekend when Leinster recovered from an unpromising position to take victory over Edinburgh and top spot in the Magners table, and Munster held on for a losing bonus point in Cardiff to book fourth place.
The sides have enjoyed some explosive encounters down through the years but many of the biggest have become strangely one-sided, with the Heineken Cup semi-finals of 2006 and 2009 won by a landslide by either side and either province enjoying a rare rugby whitewash within the past two years.
Here we pick out three to whet the appetite ahead of Saturday night’s big game at the RDS.
1. Munster 30-6 Leinster (Heineken Cup semi-final, April 2006)
There were two sides to the coin in Munster’s trouncing of Leinster at Lansdowne Road four years ago. If the performances of opposing out-halves were scripted prior to the match you couldn’t have dreamt up more drama.
Felipe Contepomi had an absolute stinker – screwing simple kicks wide, conceding penalties and a general disjointed attempt at orchestrating Leinster attacks.
On the flipside, Ronan O’Gara contributed 20 points for Munster at number ten and capped a truly superb performance with a try in the closing stages.
Trevor Halstead scored a memorable final try after racing 70 metres to cross the line, although by that stage Munster’s place in the final against Biarritz was beyond all doubt.
2. Leinster 25-6 Munster (Heineken Cup semi-final, May 2009)
Oh! Sweet revenge! Nobody saw this one coming. Except for Leinster.
Prepared, determined and focused with three years of brooding from the annihilation at the same stage of the competition.
O’Driscoll, D’Arcy, Elsom, Cullen et al were heroic. Contepomi departed from the field writhing in pain, but up stepped Jonny Sexton who didn’t let the occasion get to him and announced his arrival on the big stage in a major way.
D’Arcy and O’Driscoll provided the tries on the day as a new era of Leinster rugby was born and a platform to capture the Heinken Cup.
3. Leinster 30-0 Munster (Magners League, October 2009)
Tries from Gordon D’Arcy, Brian O’Driscoll and Shane Horgan helped Leinster to a 30-point shut-out of Munster last October.
John Hayes was sent-off for a stamping offence on Cian Healy late in the game to add to a disastrous night for Munster.
Nonetheless, Leinster went about their business efficiently to make it 11 straight victories in-a-row and a first ever scoreless league match for Munster.
Brian O’Driscoll’s crunching tackle on Denis Hurley summed up the bullish attitude of Leinster on the night.
