WHILE HIS APPEARANCES in the fixture were somewhat sporadic in his final couple of seasons at the province, this weekend will see Leinster take on Munster for the first time since Jonathan Sexton brought the curtain down on his professional rugby career.
When the two sides met at the Aviva Stadium on 22 October of last year in the United Rugby Championship, Sexton played the full 80 minutes at out-half as the Blues recorded a 27-13 triumph over their arch rivals. However, he was marked absent for their slender St Stephen’s Day win against Munster at Thomond Park and was sidelined with a groin injury when Leinster lost out to Graham Rowntree’s men in a URC semi-final at the Aviva in May of this year.
He also didn’t feature in their two games against Munster in the 2021/22 campaign, but even when he wasn’t involved from a playing perspective, Sexton still made his presence felt behind the scenes.
Speaking at a Leinster training session that was held at Kilkenny College yesterday, Sexton’s former provincial and international colleague Caelan Doris acknowledged there has been a ‘shared effort’ to fill the void left by Sexton’s departure – with new co-captains Garry Ringrose and James Ryan just two of several players who are looking to step up to the plate.
“I think it’s a bit of a shared effort for sure. We’ve got our co-captains, Garry and James, who definitely lead by their actions, but are also great talkers and hit the nail on the head when a point needs to be made,” Doris explained.
“You’ve got those two leading the charge and then there’s quite a big group underneath them as well, who are willing to share and are very experienced as well. You’ve got the likes of Ross Byrne, Tadhg Furlong, Hugo Keenan etc. Lads that are definitely willing and are being pushed also to step up and share the load.
“I think it’s not just one person who is going to step up and try and be a Johnny. He’s obviously a very unique character. Did that very well and did it for a long period of time, but again I think it is more of an openness and willingness from everyone to give constructive feedback and to take it.
“Like with Johnny, even though sometimes he delivered it in an angry manner, it comes from a good place and wanting you to get better and the team to get better. There’s definitely that still there, and the openness and taking it on board is still there.”
After starting every single game that Ireland played at the Rugby World Cup in France, Mayo native Doris was unsurprisingly given some extended time off before returning to provincial action. Yet he finally re-emerged at the weekend and played his part as Leinster moved to the URC summit with a comprehensive bonus point victory at the expense of Scarlets in the RDS.
Eight other Irish internationals were also playing their first game of the 2023/24 club season and they are back in harness just as Leinster are about to embark on a hectic end to the calendar year.
Following this Saturday’s showdown with Munster, Leinster will face Connacht in The Sportsground at the beginning of December in advance of back-to-back European Champions Cup bouts with defending champions La Rochelle and Sale Sharks. There will also be a quick renewal of acquaintances with Munster down in Limerick on 26 December, but it is their meeting at Irish Rugby HQ that is at the forefront of Doris’ mind for the moment.
Having overcome Leinster in the penultimate phase of the competition last term, Munster went on to win the URC and end a trophy drought in the southern province that had stretched out to 12 years.
This helps to add a different dimension to their latest clash and Doris believes their long-time adversaries have become a much more formidable outfit since Rowntree took over as head coach from Johann van Graan in the summer of 2022.
“They have certainly improved a lot over the last season and a half. They’ve got quality players throughout and they are really gelling as a team over the last while. You can see it’s coming from how they are training at a very high intensity. Really improving their fitness and believing in their fitness,” Doris added.
“Playing with quick ball and they’ve got threats throughout. Defensively, they are very challenging to play against as well with the amount of breakdown threats they have throughout. It’s always a massive game when we play them, whether it’s down there or in the Aviva.
“Last time I saw them [Munster’s Irish internationals] was in camp and now we’re seeing them on the pitch in the Aviva. So it’s a funny one from that perspective, but all friendships and camaraderie will be put aside for the couple of hours for sure and I’m looking forward to getting stuck in.”