Leinster have opted to leave the majority of their Ireland internationals at home for their two-match URC tour of South Africa. Photo: Charles McQuillan/Getty Images
Leinster face battle to break down dogged Munster
Leinster are wary of the dogged defence of Munster and have stressed the need to match their rival’s physicality.
Leinster have opted to leave the majority of their Ireland internationals at home for their two-match URC tour of South Africa. Photo: Charles McQuillan/Getty Images
Leinster are wary of the dogged defence of Munster and have stressed the need to match their rival’s physicality.
Munster compete very well around the tackle, making them among the toughest teams to play against.
Leinster have to win the physical battle
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Leinster assistant coach Andrew Goodman stressed the need to maintain the integrity of their possession.
“Everything around that contact area is going to be a big part of us getting a good result.
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“If we can get quick ball off our first and second phase, but it’s not as easy as that with the amount of jackal threats they’ve got and the strength they have in the tackle.
“They played some good attacking teams over in South Africa and did really well. Glasgow were hammering at the line at the start and the Munster boys held strong.
“You can see they are playing for each other. They’re dogged, tough, gritty, don’t go away, like most of the Irish teams we play against.”
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Champions Cup distraction
Leinster also have the Champions Cup final on the horizon but memories of last season’s finish should have them guarded against complacency.
“We can’t be looking forward. I know it is a big game in two weeks’ time but this is the main focus. Munster at home, it doesn’t get much better than that for our lads,” said Goodman.
“We’ve got some hungry people wanting game-time so training is competitive. Even in training on Tuesday it was like, ‘Slow down, boys’ — they were competing hard.
“The one thing I really enjoy about our group is the motivation they come in with every Monday. These are guys that have grown up wanting to play for Leinster, and when they get the opportunity it doesn’t matter who is in front of them.
“They’ve got a little bit of hurt there from last year around what happened at semi-final time, so there’s a lot of motivation. We need to be peaking at this end of the season. We’ve got some big challenges coming up.”
