Denis Leamy backs depleted Munster to tackle 'brilliantly boring' Leinster
Training ©inpho/morgan Treacy Pic: Munster During Coach A Leamy Denis Session Backing: Defence
Denis Leamy has backed a Munster squad riddled with injuries to show their mettle against a “boringly brilliant” Leinster team when the provinces clash in a URCU interpro at Thomond Park this coming Friday.
It’s a tall order for the home side, even on home turf where the addition of some goalline seating at either end will bump the stadium capacity up to 26,267, given the visitors are unbeaten in their last five visits to Limerick.
Lengthy casualty lists have become something of a regular sighting around the province’s HQ in recent seasons but the latest missive on that score is right up there with the worst of them with no less than 20 players listed.
Most concerning is the confirmation that Thaakir Abrahams (shoulder), Craig Casey (knee) and Jean Kleyn (thigh) have all been ruled out for the next four months after surgery while Alex Nankivell is due a scan on the hamstring injury he suffered against Ulster last Friday.
The sense of a collective that can’t buy a break on this score is personified in the form of Dave Kilcoyne who was hardly back a wet week from injury before picking up a thigh problem in Belfast.
He, like Scott Buckley (calf) is another due a scan and both are unavailable for the week.
Better news? Short-term loan Dian Bleuler is completing return-to-play protocols and hasn’t been ruled out yet. Diarmuid Barron (chest), Peter O’Mahony (calf contusion) and Conor Murray (elbow) all trained on Monday and may yet feature.
All this on top of the considerable pre-existing list of absentees.
“Look, it seems like we've had more than our fair share of injuries over the last year to 18 months, but it's nothing that we're not used to and we've been in this position before,” said Leamy, the team’s defence coach, of the confirmed absentees.
“It's very disappointing for the boys, but, look, we have a very good medical team. We have a really good S&C team and hopefully we'll get them back on the track as quickly as we can. But it's next man up and on we go, and, we got to show some sort of resilience around us.”
Leamy spent three years on the coaching staff at Leinster before returning to his native province where he was such an outstanding player. He learned plenty in Dublin but talk of inside knowledge this week may not stretch far.
Leo Cullen’s coaching staff has changed considerably even in the two years since Leamy last graced the building in UCD and the Tipperary man’s take on Leinster’s evolution this last few years was particularly interesting.
“There's definitely a big change in mindset from what I can see. They are, how would I say, brilliantly boring, and I say that giving them a lot of credit and admiration, but they kick the ball almost more than any other team in the league.
“They play territory more than any other team in the league. They're just brutal then when they get into your score zone. They’ve got this power-based game now that is really, really strong, and how you deny them access to that is the key thing.
“They back their defence, they back their kicking game. They don't try to do too much in terms of overplaying, and they just strangle it, put you down into the 22, and then there's big powerful men running down on top of you. And they're a handful.”
Another word used to describe them was “ruthless”, especially off the first three phases from setpieces. Depriving them of those launch pads and, failing that, taking them to four, five or six phases might be the key in Limerick come the 27th.
Leinster have won all ten of their games in URC and Champions Cup so far this season, despite the fact that they haven’t nearly hit their straps yet. Munster’s form book is far more up and down but Leamy is hoping their performances are graphing in the right direction.
The win in Belfast last week might have summed up a rollercoaster season in that they were under siege for long periods from a side that played most of the game with 14 men, but they defended superbly at times and countered lethally to score four tries and sneak the win.
Leamy lauded his side’s “ability to stay in the fight”. He played there many a time himself and came away with nothing and this, by contrast, marked the first time that Munster had earned all five points against their provincial rivals in Belfast.
“It wasn't perfect, we made mistakes. Certainly in the first 20 minutes we were struggling a little bit in how we exited, kept the ball, applied pressure on them, but I felt that as we got into the game, our defence started to get a good bit of joy.
“Then the opportunities that our attack got, I thought we were really efficient and lethal in how we took our chances. That was so pleasing.”