RUGBY
Massive couple of weeks ahead for Leinster Rugby
By Daire Walsh
LEINSTER will face Munster in the Guinness PRO14 semi-final at the RDS on Saturday, May 19, following the latter’s play-off victory against Edinburgh last weekend.
In his final appearance in Thomond Park – prior to his summer departure to Top 14 giants Racing 92 – Simon Zebo produced a moment of magic to secure a 20-16 win for the Red Army. After coming up short to Racing in the penultimate round of the Champions Cup, Johann Van Graan’s outfit will now look to salvage their season at the expense of their old rivals.
Thanks to Rhys Marshall’s opening period try, Munster led 7-6 at the break in Saturday’s encounter. A brace of Sam Hidalgo-Clyne place-kicks kept Edinburgh in contention, but they were hit with another sucker punch on the resumption.
After he caught out a static opposition defence with a subtle piece of footwork, Zebo released man-of-the-match Keith Earls for a magnificent score in the corner. In addition to his superb touchline conversion, JJ Hanrahan also added a penalty to increase Munster’s lead to 11 points (17-6).
To their eternal credit, Edinburgh refused to throw in the towel and were determined to finish the game with a flourish. Another Hidalgo-Clyne three-pointer was followed by their sole try of the proceedings – replacement Nathan Fowles breaking over for a converted effort on the left-flank.
With the gap reduced to the bare minimum (17-16), Munster were forced to dig deep in front of the passionate home faithful. However, thanks to no small part to strong leaders like Earls, Conor Murray and skipper Peter O’Mahony, they got the job done.
Hanrahan split the posts off the kicking tee with just eight minutes remaining, keeping the home team’s hopes of reaching a second consecutive league decider alive for at least another fortnight.
On the opposite side of the draw, the Munster-bound Tadhg Beirne also has a semi-final date to look forward to on Sunday week. After Scarlets comfortably dispatched Toyota Cheetahs on Saturday – with the Eadestown native once again playing a starring role – they will now face Glasgow Warriors at Scotstoun Stadium.
Before then, all eyes will be fixed on the San Mamés Stadium in Bilbao this weekend – when Leinster face the aforementioned Racing 92 in the Champions Cup final (Saturday, 5.45pm kick-off). As this is will be the first decider to take place outside of a Six Nations country, it has posed a logistical challenge for those who are planning on making the trip to the Spanish city.
While Fergus McFadden is out of the final because of an hamstring injury sustained in the semi-final win over Scarlets, his fellow county men – James Tracy (Kill) and Joey Carbery (Athy) – are expected to feature on the bench.
Although Adam Byrne is expected to miss out on the match day squad, he may well be called upon by the Leinster ‘A’ side for their British & Irish Cup showpiece with Ealing Trailfinders on the same day.