In-form Leinster dismantle Munster
Leinster produced a fantastic performance on Saturday night, crushing a 14-man Munster 30-0 in their Magners League matchup at the RDS Stadium and, in the process, moving themselves to the top of the competition standings.
With the Heineken Cup getting underway next weekend Leinster sent a clear message to all the teams hoping to take their title in the coming season with a dominating performance. Keeping Munster try-less, the Champions of Europe scored three tries of their own through three of their Irish stars, Gordon D’Arcy, Brian O’Driscoll and Shane Horgan.
Playing with an unbelievable physicality, Leo Cullen’s men led 13-0 at half time thanks to two penalties from flyhalf Jonny Sexton and D’Arcy’s try.
O’Driscoll, playing his first game of the new season for Leinster, scored just six minutes after the interval, making a second half comeback for Munster seem pretty unlikely.
The defending Champions cause was of course not helped in the 55th minute with Lions prop John Hayes being red carded for stamping on his opposite number Cian Healy.
Hayes, known as ‘the Bull’, will now almost certainly face a disciplinary hearing and could compound Tony McGahan’s headaches even more in the coming week.
Shane Horgan completed the performance with his try nine minutes from time – taking the score up to the 30 mark and ensuring that Munster left the RDS Stadium with their tails between their legs.
Leinster performance, while hugely impressive, also made history. By keeping Munster to zero, Leinster became the first team to even completely shut out the Irish powerhouse in a Magners League fixture.
The victory sees Leinster climb to the top spot on the league table with only Edinburgh, playing on Sunday against the Ospreys, left to possibly knock them from that spot this weekend.
The Scorers
For Leinster
Tries: D’Arcy, O’Driscoll, Horgan
Pen: Sexton 3
Cons: Sexton 3
For Munster
None
The teams
Leinster: 15 Isa Nacewa, 14 Shane Horgan, 13 Brian O’Driscoll, 12 Gordon D’Arcy, 11 Luke Fitzgerald, 10 Jonathan Sexton, 9 Eoin Reddan, 8 Jamie Heaslip, 7 Shane Jennings, 6 Kevin McLaughlin, 5 Nathan Hines, 4 Leo Cullen (captain), 3 Stan Wright, 2 John Fogarty, 1 Cian Healy.
Replacements: 16 Bernard Jackman, 17 Mike Ross, 18 Malcolm O’Kelly, 19 Sean O’Brien, 20 Simon Keogh, 21 Fergus McFadden, 22 Rob Kearney.
Munster: 15 Keith Earls, 14 Doug Howlett, 13 Lifeimi Mafi, 12 Jean de Villiers, 11 Denis Hurley, 10 Ronan O’Gara (captain), 9 Tomas O’Leary, 8 Nick Williams, 7 Niall Ronan, 6 Denis Leamy, 5 Mick O’Driscoll, 4 Donncha O’Callaghan, 3 John Hayes, 2 Denis Fogarty, 1 Marcus Horan.
Replacements: 16 Jerry Flannery, 17 Tony Buckley, 18 Paul O’Connell, 19 David Wallace, 20 Paul Warwick, 21 Peter Stringer, 22 Ian Dowling.
Referee: Simon McDowell (IRFU)
Assistant referees: David Wilkinson (IRFU), Michael Black (IRFU)
TMO: Peter Ferguson (IRFU)
