Semi-final win over Munster at Croke Park kickstarted era of Leinster success

That Leinster would win an epic Heineken Cup semi-final at Croke Park by 19 points, denying Munster a try in the process, was an unlikely outcome.

The Blues spent almost the entire game defending in their own half, a lot of that in their own 22m and prolonged periods close to their own line, it was desperate stuff in more ways than one. By contrast, the Paul O’Connell-led Munster had posted five pool wins and a bonus-point loss at Clermont at Stade Michelin in defiance of banks of yellow/blue noise before slaughtering Ospreys in the quarter-final at Thomond Park.

“There was a woman working behind the counter and she engaged in a bout of small talk, asked me if I was going to the semi-final,” said Jennings.Brian O’Driscoll was a long time member of this chippy club: “We’d listened to guys with southside Dublin accents justify their allegiance to Munster on the basis of a mother born in Limerick, or a handful of childhood summers in Skibbereen.

Australian Elsom said: “There was obviously a huge historical backdrop but that side of things didn’t affect me. It was certainly an occasion that I could maybe enjoy more than some of the guys; for one thing I didn’t have a list of family and friends plaguing me for tickets.” But there is concern as Contepomi damages his knee in the 25th minute and it is clear he will have to come off. Leinster’s replacement is Johnny Sexton, a player approaching his mid-twenties very few Leinster fans would have been able to pick out of a line-up.

But Sexton’s first act, shades of his Johnny Cool persona to come, is to kick a difficult 26th minute penalty from wide on the left . O’Gara: “I can still picture Johnny standing over me screaming when they scored. Aside from having to wait for his chance with Leinster, I’d definitely said something to him before. Certainly that scream was him announcing to the world ‘I’m here and I’m here to stay’.”

Munster Rugby Croke Park Jonathan Sexton European Champions Cup Heineken Cup

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