Munster v Leinster: Five takeaways as Sam Prendergast shines in ...

Following Leinster’s 28-7 victory over Munster at Thomond Park, here are our five takeaways from the United Rugby Championship (URC) derby.

For such a fierce rivalry, today’s festive fixture was far from the usual high standard that we can expect from these two sides as Leinster arrived in Limerick on a five-game winning streak at the ground and extended it to six with real ease.

First-half tries from Luke McGrath and Sam Prendergast set the tone of the match and Leo Cullen’s side simply stuck to type and grabbed another pair through Josh van der Flier and Caelan Doris to seal the bonus point and notched up their ninth victory in as many URC matches this season.

Munster’s only consolation came through the towering figure of Thomas Ahern with Billy Burns adding the extras in what was an otherwise subdued performance from the hosts void of many of their top players.

Munster’s woes looked to have found a remedy in the Investec Champions Cup when Peter O’Mahony returned but it seems as if he was just the paper over the cracks and once he was removed, it crumbled again.

In the first half, the set-piece wobbles effectively led to Leinster’s two tries. The first was a botched lineout inside the Leinster 22 which gifted the visitors an easy exit and relieved the pressure. It did not take long for Cullen’s side to punish the men in red from there. Burns botched a kick horribly that was a welcomed gift for the men in Blue who won a penalty from there and scored from the lineout inside their Munster 22 after the host overfolded.

The second was far more easily linked to the failure of the lineout to fire as Leinster applied the pressure and were awarded a five-metre scrum from the inaccuracy. Not too long after, Prendergast sliced through to the defence to score the second try.

As much as the game innovates and changes, one thing has remained the same and that is the game is won up front whether that is at the lineout, scrum or on the gain-line and for Munster today, the game was lost in the former two.

As mentioned above, the first try came off the back of a scrum penalty and so did the third with Van der Flier flying over after yet another dominant set-piece.

Munster’s issues in the set-pieces are certainly a major concern but one cannot ignore that they desperately needed a top recruit in the front-row before the start of the season but were denied by the IRFU while today it was Leinster’s Frenchman Rabah Slimani that did the most damage at scrum time.

As much as Munster’s inaccuracies at set-piece time created opportunities for Leinster, the visitors still had to make the most of those chances and boy did they.

The men in blue were accurate once they entered Munster’s final quarter but most importantly they were patient and willing to wait and manufacture their killing blow instead of blindly punching at the red wall. That certainly paid dividends for Prendergast as well as McGrath.

In stark contrast, Munster’s visits to Leinster’s 22 were far less profitable with Leinster defending well but also willing to concede penalties to deny the hosts.

Leinster haven’t been as free-flowing and pretty to watch as they have been in previous seasons but right now, they look nigh on unstoppable. They are ruthlessly effective in defence and when the opportunity arises inside the opposition’s 22 they are taking more often than not.

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With Andy Farrell stepping aside for the Six Nations as focus for him shifts to the British and Irish Lions teams, these festive Irish derbies are an ideal opportunity for players to impress Simon Easterby who will fill his void.

With that in mind, it is a real shame that Jack Crowley missed out on the fixture. There is doubt over who the first choice number 10 will be for the Six Nations but the IRFU’s ‘player management guidelines’ meant that he was unavailable for selection. It’s a tricky situation as Munster were able to cherry-pick when he can and cannot play and ultimately they opted for him to face Ulster and that proved to be a sharp call as they claimed the five points last week and were totally outplayed today. However, a strong outing behind a struggling pack would have done his stocks a world of good. Meanwhile, it was an armchair ride for Prendergast who did little wrong in a game when he wasn’t forced to do too much either. He was crowned man of the match, an award that was probably more deserved for one of his front-rowers, but overall it was a compelling shift.

Elsewhere, Gavin Coombes announced his intentions to force his way back into the Ireland mix this week but struggled to stamp his mark on proceedings and certainly wouldn’t have got Easterby edging forward in his seat. But his back-row teammate Ahern might have as he was one of the few Munster men who really stepped up in the tight exchanges and in the wider channels. He has been in around the Ireland squads in recent times and perhaps Easterby may fancy giving him a shot even in a hugely competitive loose trio.

There was not much else to learn from the two teams’ performances with the likes of Doris, Van der Flier, Jamie Osborne, Garry Ringrose and Robbie Henshaw all having strong outings which is nothing new.

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The immortal words of Gennaro Gattuso ring true when one looks back on the year that was for both Leinster and Munster in 2024: “Sometimes maybe good, sometimes maybe s–t.”

For Leinster, it was another year of close but no cigar as they were once again the bridesmaids of the Investec Champions Cup falling to another French juggernaut yet again. Their fortunes in the United Rugby Championship were no better either as they stumbled at the final four. The start of the new season shows real promise and so much good with things really starting to click with the Jacques Nienaber defence while the additions of RG Snyman and Jordie Barrett have been nothing short of mammoth boosts.

They have also started the early stages of the Champions Cup well but there is still a long season to go in both competitions. However, there is justifiable optimism that 2025 will be the year that there will be silverware in the clouds after a three-year trophy drought. If not, then serious questions will be asked of the coaching ticket.

As for their rivals, the first few months of 2024 were so, so good even despite the early Champions Cup exit after illness ravaged the squad. Still, they recovered to end the United Rugby Championship regular season on top of the table and looked on course to make a good fist of their title defence. Ultimately, they fell just short in the semi-finals against the eventual champions, Glasgow Warriors, but there was so much positivity around the squad led by the hugely popular Graham Rowntree.

However, things took a shock sharp turn in October when Munster announced the departure of Rowntree after a sluggish start to the new season with the squad again hammered by injuries.

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