AFTER the poor performance, albeit a win against Connacht, we were eager to put in a much-improved display when we traveled to Limerick on Good Friday to play the Magners League champions Munster.
We hadn’t won at Thomond Park since 1995, the same year that rugby went professional. We had beaten them a couple of times in Musgrave Park, but Thomond Park is their fortress, and we knew it would be a real statement of intent if we could beat them for a third time in a row.
A lot of the pundits thought our win in Croke Park last year was a one-off, and predicted that Munster would have their revenge in October at the RDS. We won that game 30-0.
On Friday, the same pundits predicted another easy win, as Munster were sure to “want it more”.
They were not lacking in motivation but thankfully we are on a good run at the moment, and Friday’s win was our tenth consecutive unbeaten match and it leaves us seven points clear at the top of the Magners League, with a game in hand.
We have only four games left in that competition, so if it was still being played under the old format – where the top team wins the trophy – we would be in a very dominant position.
However, for the first time, this season the champions have to go through a play-off system before they are decided.
Munster are nailed-on to finish in the top four, so we may lock horns again. In fact, we could meet in the final of the Heineken Cup in May in Paris, were both of us to progress. That would be an amazing occasion.
The game was a great spectacle and, at the end, we were defending for our lives. We got the only try of the match when Rob Kearney benefited from a kind bounce from a chip by Isa Nacewa and muscled his way over in the corner.
Ronan O’Gara kicked five from five penalties for Munster, but we had most of the possession and created more try-scoring opportunities.
The atmosphere was amazing and the Leinster fans who managed to get tickets certainly gave as good as they got and helped us massively.
We had set out to silence their crowd through the intensity of our defence, as they generally get into the game when Munster get go-forward ball and are winning the collisions.
We managed to do this successfully, and some of their fans resorted to shouting personal abuse at our players, which is always disappointing.
We were satisfied in the dressing room afterwards, but it didn’t take long for us to make the point that when we beat them 30-0 in October, we went out the following week in the Heineken Cup and lost at home to London Irish, which nearly cost us qualification.
If we lose this Friday night at home to Clermont, there is no back door or second chance, which is good for focusing our minds.
Clermont are a quality team and are stacked with internationals from France and the Southern Hemisphere.
Then there is the added edge that their backs coach, Joe Schmit, will be taking over from Michael Cheika in June. We should have a full complement for selection, apart from Luke Fitzgerald and Seán O’Brien, providing that Brian O’Driscoll and Shane Horgan can pass fitness tests later this week.
It’s six years since we had a home quarter-final for our fans, and it was one of our goals at the start of the season to achieve it. And we recognise the level of effort and money they have spent travelling abroad to support us in recent years.
For me, personally, I am struggling again with injuries, and my body is breaking down more and more frequently.
I am struggling to complete the training sessions, which is very frustrating, but I suppose I have a lot of mileage on the clock at this stage, and while the engine is in good order, the chassis is showing a lot of wear and tear.
I hope I can last the rest of the season, and then hopefully, a good pre-season will give me the chance to recover.