[caption id="attachment_71622" align="aligncenter" width="600" caption="Leinster's Andrew Conway makes a break past Johnnie Beattie and DTH van der Merwe of Glasgow to score a try on Saturday. "]
LEINSTER will go into Saturday’s Heineken Cup final against Ulster at Twickenham as strong favourites to complete the first step of the double.
Last Saturday saw them record yet another victory, beating Glasgow Warriors 19-15 in the RaboDirect Pro12 semi-final at the RDS. An almost perfect situation then, you might think.
Not quite. For one thing, Leinster were a long way short of their best in defeating Glasgow but that’s not the main issue concerning coach Joe Schmidt.
His worry for the all Irish final of the Heineken Cup is an increasing injury list which includes Brian O’Driscoll. He missed the Glasgow clash with a knee problem, along with Rob Kearney (sore back).
Throw in the fact that Gordon D’Arcy, Cian Healy and Eoin O’Malley had to retire with injuries during the Glasgow game and you are left in no doubt as to the reasons for Schmidt’s concern. Fortunately, both D’Arcy and Healy should be okay.
So, hopefully, should Kearney. The real concern as is with O’Driscoll who is not due to train until Thursday.
While the expectation is that O’Driscoll will probably recover in time, his knee problem is something that Leinster could definitely do without. As good as their squad is, Leinster simply cannot afford to be without their star performer.
Then again, Leinster’s difficulties are trivial compared to their arch-rivals Munster just now. If O’Driscoll is vital to Leinster’s cause, then the same can be said of Paul O’Connell for Munster.
But the injured second-row’s absence from Friday’s night’s away semi-final against the Ospreys did not excuse a 45-10 defeat. This was Munster’s worst display in many seasons.
It was a dreadful way to end Tony McGahan’s reign as coach. After scoring an early try through Ian Keatley following brilliant work by Keith Earls, Munster fell apart to concede five tries.
They failed even to perform the basics, consistently giving possession back to the Ospreys. As a consequence, Munster’s season has ended and the Ospreys will be taking on Leinster in the RaboDirect final at the RDS on Sunday, May 27.
Hopefully, from Leinster’s point of view, they will be striving to complete the double when they take on the Welsh opposition. But, just as is the case against Ulster in the Heineken Cup final, nothing can be taken for granted.
Not only did the Ospreys travel to Dublin to beat Leinster in the 2010 final, then called the Magners League, but they have also beaten them at the RDS this season. So, if Leinster are to complete the double, they are going to have to perform very close to their best.
That’s something they didn’t quite achieve against Glasgow last Saturday night. But, importantly, Leinster have developed the habit of winning when they are not at their best.
Given their injuries, and the fact that they had to reconstruct their back division during the game, they did did reasonably well to establish a 19-3 advantage. But they finished the game disappointingly conceding two tries in the final few minutes.
To be fair, Glasgow defended superbly. At times, refereee George Clancy allowed them to get away with slowing down ruck ball but Joe Schmidt didn’t attempt to use this as an excuse.
He said: “We must take responsibility; we need to work harder in this area. Glasgow threw bodies at the breakdown, it was a strategy which worked for them and I just hope Ulster weren’t watching.”
Having led 9-3 at the interval, Leinster moved 12-3 clear with Jonathan Sexton’s fourth penalty.
Eventually, they broke through the Glasgow defence to score a superb try, Isa Nacewa sending left-wing Dave Kearney over in the corner.
After Sexton’s conversion made it 19-3, the crowd expected Leinster to pull further ahead but, perhaps with the Heineken Cup final on their minds, they sat back and allowed Glasgow in for their two late tries.
Maybe it will work in their favor for the Heineken Cup decider on the basis that it will keep them more grounded. Either way, Leinster and Ulster, for that matter, are in a place that Munster would love to be.
Instead, Munster have ended the season on a disastrous note with that 45-10 hammering by the Ospreys. They opted to start Ronan O’Gara on the bench following some recent injury worries.
But even his appearance as a substitute in the 23rd minute failed to have an impact. It must be a long time since O’Gara has finished a game without scoring any points.
All of Munster’s scores, in fact, came from the player who started at out-half Ian Keatley. He scored a try, converted it, and landed a penalty to give Munster an early 10-7 advantage.
But that’s as good as it got with the Ospreys gradually taking complete control.
Dan Bigger, their out-half, finished with 25 points, contributing a try, four conversions and four penalties.
But Bigger fully appreciates that Leinster are going to prove a different propostion in the May 27 final. He said: “It would be wonderful to end Shane Williams career with another title but I know that Leinster are the best team in Europe and the RDS is one of the toughest places to play.
“It was great to perform so well in beating Munster but you don’t win anything in a semi-final. We are under no illusions as to how hard it is going to be in Dublin and how well we will need to play.”
But Leinster are also concious that the Ospreys represent a real threat. Jonathan Sexton commented: “The Ospreys were pretty outstanding in beating Munster and it’s going to be a dificult game.
They beat us in Dublin two years ago and they beat us at the RDS this season as well. But first things first and that means us us hopefully getting our hands on the Heineken Cup next weekend.”
Corbett is back for Tipp
CONFIRMATION that Lar Corbett has returned to the Tipperary hurling panel enlivened a quiet weekend on the GAA front.
If Tippearary are to regain the All-Ireland Crown, there’s little doubt that they will need Corbett in their ranks. He has been badly missed since his shock decision in early February to make himself unavailable.
The reason given was that he needed more time to manage a pub in Thurles. Fortunately, it now appears that the dynamic 31-year-old forward has had a change of heart.
The problem is that he has not been involved with his club Thurles Sarsfields either on the playing front or at training. So, his fitness levels are bound to be some way short of that required for inter-county level.
In those circumstances, it would seem highly unlikely that he would feature in Tipperary’s opening Munster Championship game against Limerick at Semple Stadium on May 27. But, if Tipperary manage to win, Corbett might play some part in a potential Munster semi-final against Cork in Pairc Ui Chaoimh on June 24.
Either way, Tipperary fans will be delighted to have Corbett back involved. His remarkable capacity to score goals was unquestionably missed during the county’s Allianz National League campaign.
Assuming he regains match fitness, he can still be a major force. There are few players who possess his capacity to unhinge defences.
Most memorably, he contributed 4-4 as Tipperary ran riot against Waterford in last year’s Munster final. Previously, he hit a hat-trick of goals as Tipperary upset Kilkenny in the 2010 All-Ireland final.
Things didn’t go nearly as well when Tipperary lost to Kilkenny in last year’s All-Ireland decider but Corbett remains one of the outstanding forwards in the game. The Tipperary County Board issued a statement to the effect that he will resume training with the panel immediately now that he is again in a position to give the necessary commitment.
Kilkenny also had some good news with the confirmation that Henry Shefflin has returned to action after eight months on the sideline with a shoulder injury.
Shefflin played 20 minutes for Ballyhale Shamrocks in their 5-18 to 2-8 win over Dunnamaggin in a league match. He scored two points and helped to set up one of his team’s goals.
There was precious little action on the playing front. Dublin cruised into the semi-finals of the Leinster Minor Hurling Championship by trouncing Carlow 4-24 to 0-3 at Dr Cullen Park.
Laois also moved into the last four in the same competititon, narrowly beating Offaly 2-13 to 2-10 in Tullamore. On the ladies football front, Monaghan ended Cork’s hold on the National Football League Division One crown by beating them by 1-13 to 2-7 in the final at Parnell Park.
The Division Two title went to Mayo who defeated Galway (4-17 to 2-7), while Westmeath and Leitrim drew 2-8 to 1-11 in the Division Three decider.
