Munster braced for revenge-seeking Leinster
MUNSTER will face a ‘different animal’ when they meet Leinster in the Guinness Pro14 semi-final later this month, says JJ Hanrahan. Johann van Graan’s men defeated their arch rivals in an ill-tempered affair at Thomond Park last December and they will travel to Dublin’s RDS for a rematch, with a place in the Pro14 final at Celtic Park up for grabs. And Hanrahan, who produced a match-winning cameo against Treviso last weekend, is expecting a Leinster backlash on May 18. ‘It was massive for the dressing room,’ said Hanrahan, reflecting on that 26-17 victory in Limerick last year. ‘Particularly, I think it was great to get it at home as well. We know at home they’re going to be a different animal up there. It’s a different aspect going up to Dublin to play them but look, Johann has mentioned a few times how good they are,’ he said. ‘They’re definitely one of the top two sides in Europe and they’ve shown that because of the way they’ve played and obviously they’re in the (European) final, so it will be
interesting to see who will come out on top of that next week. ‘We’ve got a lot of work to do so we’ll go back to the drawing board, we’ll make our plans and we’ll give it a crack when we get up there.’ The eagerly anticipated interprovincial derby will be a repeat of last season’s Pro14 semi-final clash. Leinster edged another hard-fought contest 16-15 that day, but Hanrahan feels Munster have learned the lessons of that failure. ‘Yeah, I definitely do,’ he added. ‘I think if you actually really analyse we’ve added an awful lot to our game, that’s for sure, and particularly in our attacking game. I think in our fitness as well. ‘I think there was only one point in it last year and it came down to very small moments so I think we’re definitely better equipped this year to give it a better crack.’ Van Graan has admitted that a repeat of last Saturday’s performance against Treviso will spell disaster for the province. ‘I’ve said all along that it’s going to be ebbs and flows,’ said Munster’s head coach. ‘We’re the first guys to say, inside, to the people that matter, to our players and management, “look, the performance on the day wasn’t good enough, but we still got the result”. ‘So, that’s a frustration from all of us and we know we have got to do better to go and beat Leinster.’ Meanwhile, Wales assistant coach Rob Howley has been linked with a potential role with Munster after the World Cup. The province is set to appoint an experienced attack coach after the global tournament and Howley is reportedly in the frame.