Cullen still driven by 'amazing' Leinster-Munster rivalry

We're now deep into the "last time you will ever..." conversations with Leo Cullen on his farewell season.

Not counting his days playing underage and schools Interpros, this evening's meeting at Aviva Stadium will be roughly the 60th clash of Leinster and Munster in which Cullen has either been a Leinster player, assistant coach or head coach.

To put that in context, he's been a stakeholder in just over half of the games between the sides.

There have been so many over the years that he struggles with the details of his first.

He remembers it was "one of those Dooradoyle ones", with around 500 people well spread around the Limerick ground. A look through the archives suggests it might have been in 1998, where a 20-year-old Cullen would have been an unused sub behind Pat Holden and Gabriel Fulcher.

The Leinster-Munster rivalry blossomed into one of rugby's biggest club fixtures in the nearly three decades since, and while there will still be one more Christmas Thomond Park visit for the departing Leinster coach, this evening could be his last time hosting the province in this fixture, barring a play-off draw.

One meeting he does remember vividly is from December 2001.

This season, Leinster's home jersey is a throwback to the kit they wore in that title-winning campaign, where they beat Munster 24-20 at the old Lansdowne Road in front of 30,000 supporters to win the inaugural Celtic League final.

It was the first of 15 major trophies Cullen (above) has won as a player and coach, although on reflection he admits it wasn't the great breakthrough they thought it would be at the time.

"A lot of people would say that was the worst thing that could have happened for us at the time, winning a game like that," he says.

"We thought we were a little better than we were. Then it sort of kick-started an era where we were pretty bad for five years and Munster were a hell of a lot better, maybe even longer than five years, 10 years. It wasn't a fantastic period [for Leinster], was it, if you remember.

"Obviously that was a great day in terms of kick-starting the professional era as such. It was probably the first big professional derby game that we had. Big crowd in Lansdowne Road, but it was definitely very different how both teams responded off the back of that.

"Munster were a hell of a lot more successful in the five or six years that followed. It’s all history, isn’t it.

"You know, the rivalry is amazing and the fans obviously really buy into that, and that's the ones that make it super special."

It's been a one-sided rivalry across the last decade; Leinster have won 22 of the 27 meetings of these sides since Cullen became head coach, but the fixture continues to sell. Their Christmas meeting at Thomond Park is either sold-out or close to sold-out year on year, while just under 52,000 supporters flocked to Croke Park this time last year.

That game remains Munster's best performance of Clayton McMillan's tenure, as they shrugged off the concession of an early Leinster try to dominate the remaining 75 minutes, and run out 31-14 winners.

"I always had good memories. I also had good batterings from them," former Munster out-half Ian Keatley said on this week's RTÉ Rugby podcast.

"They're great matches. You never forget the bus trips on the way into the Aviva and you're looking out the window, and the fans are all there.

"You get little kids throwing the little finger at you! It's brilliant, it's what you want from a rivalry.

"I'm looking forward to this one. Two teams are performing well. Munster aren't fully back, they have shown glimpses of it, but they will have confidence after beating Leinster last year at Croke Park, but Leinster will want revenge for that."

As it often does, the Dublin renewal of this fixture lands in the shadows of an Ireland squad announcement, which reflects the recent balance of power in the rivalry.

Leinster account for 17 of Andy Farrell's 36-man squad for the Nations Championship, and 15 of those are involved this evening, with Tadhg Beirne and Craig Casey the only two representatives from Munster.

Had it not been for injuries, McMillan's side could have contributed a few more; Jack Crowley and Calvin Nash were both namechecked in the squad announcement as being unavailable due to injuries, while Jeremy Loughman, Michael Milne, Edwin Edogbo and Tom Ahern are all ruled out this week with knocks, having been in Irish squads over the last year.

Munster's win last year was part of a five-game winning run to start the season, although their campaign spiralled through the winter before they regathered and secured their Champions Cup qualification.

This season's start hasn't been as strong on paper – two wins, a draw and a defeat across all competitions – but it has undoubtedly been encouraging, with a much-improved scrum and maul thanks to the signings of Marnus van der Merwe (below), Jack Aungier and Kieran Brookes, while 20-year-old out-half Charlie O'Shea's performances have been a welcome development, with Crowley expected to be out until sometime in December at least.

The scrum could be the key battleground this week. With Aungier and Loughman out injured, Munster will need a big impact from Mark Donnelly and Michael Ala'alatoa off the bench. Leinster's setpiece, however, has been quite inconsistent, struggling badly against the Sharks in Durban, before dominating young Clermont Auvergne tighthead prop Nohem Ez Zahouany.

Leinster have injuries of their own to deal with, with Sam Prendergast, Garry Ringrose and Jack Conan joining the likes of Caelan Doris, Harry Byrne, Paddy McCarthy and RG Snyman on the sidelines, but Cullen is still able to select a starting XV, of which all of whom are Ireland internationals.

Joey Carbery makes his first Leinster start on his return to the province, against the team he left them for eight years ago, which adds another interesting narrative.

And the Leinster coach has also thrown a curveball in his back row, putting Dan Sheehan in at number 8 to fill the void left by Conan and Doris.

Sheehan previously covered the back row in the final quarter of a Champions Cup meeting with Sale Sharks last season, but naming him to start is a bold strategy from the Leinster coaching ticket, particularly having already lost two games this season.

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