Heineken Cup Preview: Leinster Smell Tiger Blood

When the draw for the knock out stages of the Heineken Cup is being made there are a few teams that you always secretly hope you will avoid. Always in that small group are this weekend’s visitors to Dublin, the Leicester Tigers. Aside from the fact that the Tigers have hit top gear over the last number of weeks, they possess a pedigree and an attitude tha hands them the ability to go anywhere and fear nobody. Two time winner and coach Richard Cockerill will have his troops primed with that mindset and they will arrive in Dublin full of confidence.

With that said, the hosts themselves should have no fear of their visitors. They have been the stand out team in European competition this season and have produced a style of rugby that none, even the aristocrats from Toulouse, have managed to match. After a brief period of uncertainty during the season’s opening rounds, Joe Schmidt has seen his side click into action with a combination of power, running lines and off loading that few teams can contain. Unfortunately, the Six Nations pulled Schmidt’s squad asunder over the past two months. Their momentum has been taken away from them and it remains to be seen can they bring the same level of cohesion to their play that they displayed against European heavyweights Clermont in December.

O’Gara Claims Slender Victory

As has so often been the case over the past decade, it was left to Ronan O’Gara to pull this one out of the fire for Munster following their impressive second half comeback against their neighbours. O’Gara’s kick, his seventh success on the night, nudged Munster back in front at the death to steal victory with almost the last play of this absorbing encounter. The result, however, was soured by what appears to be a season ending injury to the Munster talisman, Paul O’Connell.

Leinster will awake today to find themselves wondering how they managed to lose a game where they appeared to be comfortably moving towards their sixth victory in a row over Munster. The opening half saw O’Gara and his rival for the Irish outhalf jersey, Jonny Sexton, exchange penalties before a scrum on the halfway line saw a training ground move expose Donnacha Ryan’s speed off the mark to put Nacewa searing through a gap off an inside pass from Isaac Boss. Nacewa, who was arguably Leinster’s best performer on the night, clipped a delicate grubber to the corner which was nimbly gathered by Shane Horgan on his 200^th appearance for the province to touch down.

Munster vs Leinster Preview

With the dust barely settled on another international campaign following England’s Grand Slam capitulation in the Aviva Stadium, the majority of Ireland’s victorious players are pitched against one another in the Magners League as Leinster make their way south to meet top of the table Munster. With both sides gearing up for their respective European quarter final clashes in a week, neither will be wanting to lose the momentum garnered from their recent successes in Wales.