BASKING in the glory of last weekend's remarkable triumph, the jokes have been flying around Leinster this week ahead of this evening's Magners League Grand Final clash with Munster at a sold-out Thomond Park (5.05).

One particularly cruel one involved the Drug Squad being called to Thomond Park yesterday only for the crisis to be averted when it was established that the suspicious white powder on the pitch was in fact the Leinster tryline.

The most remarkable statistic heading into this latest instalment in one of the most compelling rivalries in rugby is that Munster have not managed to cross the Leinster line in their last six meetings, failing to score a try since Denis Fogarty managed the feat back in April 2009. Not to be sniffed at.

It is rendered all the more puzzling by Munster's average of two tries per game during their regular season league campaign (44 in 22 matches) as they worked their way impressively to a record 13-point margin at the head of the table.

Leinster's defensive surety has been the bedrock upon which this season's success has been constructed, with last Saturday's three-try collapse in the first half of the Heineken Cup final against Northampton an aberration, swiftly put to bed in the second half when they did not concede a single point.

However, those events could provide a clue as to how things will unfold in Limerick a week later. Northampton profited from Leinster not being at the races in that first period, seemingly unnerved by the big-day pressure and their status as overwhelming favourites. They take to the pitch today as the stronger side seeking to become the first team to complete a Magners-Heineken double.

The question marks centre on their psychological state for, no matter how hard they try to maintain their mental focus for the final chapter of a long season, getting to the same level of intensity they had in the second half against Northampton is a major challenge. Cardiff is a hard act to follow.

For Munster, the psychological test is far simpler. Conclude the season with a trophy which recognises both their league consistency and determination to remain a major force in European rugby regardless of their Heineken and Challenge Cup disappointments this season.

It is safe to assume that, with two weeks of solitary focus behind them, Tony McGahan's men will be at full tilt this evening, just as they were when willpower drove them to victory in their April meeting with Leinster at the same venue.

The problem is that, even if Leinster are at 75pc, the visitors still have the capacity to produce spells of rugby that can leave any team clutching at air and, in keeping with his selections all season, Joe Schmidt has picked a clever side for his last outing in a stunning debut season.

Gordon D'Arcy was not available to start in any case, but Fergus McFadden's selection at inside-centre provides him with the ideal opportunity to send out a powerful message to Ireland coach Declan Kidney as the clock ticks down to the World Cup.

Similarly, Shane Jennings is rewarded for his critical contributions to Leinster's victories in the semi-final and final of the Heineken Cup and if he manages to help effect superiority at the breakdown against Ireland's incumbent No 7, David Wallace, it will give Kidney further food for thought.

Heinke van der Merwe is of no use to Kidney, but, while the South African is not as dynamic as Cian Healy in the loose, he is an accomplished scrummager and his performance could provide an insight to John Hayes' capacity to play a role at New Zealand 2011.

McGahan has stuck with the side that ground its way past the Ospreys in the semi-final, which means Danny Barnes, the two-try hero that day, suddenly finds himself marking Brian O'Driscoll, the best centre of his generation.

Barnes and Lifeimi Mafi face a massive defensive test against the Leinster midfield and the tackles need to go in hard and, in Mafi's case, low enough to prevent yellow cards.

There is talent in the Munster backline, and the back-three play since the return of Felix Jones from injury has shown what can be done with the right combination of belief and attacking brio.

However, Schmidt is among the foremost backline innovators in the game and Munster do not have his coaching equivalent, making it harder to end the try-scoring famine that has hindered them in this fixture.

If Marcus Horan and Hayes can provide a steady scrum and Damien Varley takes advantage of Munster's extra height at line-out time, then it is game on.

The Final Trial element to the clash provides extra incentive for both teams and, if McFadden and Jennings will be bulling for Leinster, then it is safe to say Wallace, James Coughlan, Donnacha Ryan, Conor Murray and Jones will be equally ferocious for the hosts.

Then there is the Ronan O'Gara factor. The out-half will have watched Jonathan Sexton's tour de force in Cardiff with a wry smile for it used to be O'Gara doing the Roy Of the Rovers bit in the Heineken Cup (he was voted the best player of the first 15 years of the competition) and garnering the plaudits afterwards.

Predictions are hazardous in the extreme. Leinster are the better side, but face the greater mental challenge, Munster have last-chance-saloon intensity and a stronger bench, but not the capacity to cope if Schmidt's men hit battle speed.

Expect a furious contest, O'Gara and Coughlan to play key roles for the home side, along with McFadden and Jennings for the guests and very little in it come the final whistle, which may just herald a narrow Leinster win.

Of course, if Munster do manage it, the joke is on Leinster's fans as their red counterparts can revel in the glory of beating the best team in Europe. We'll see.

Verdict: Leinster

- Hugh Farrelly

Irish Independent

November 15, 2009. It is minutes before Ireland play Australia in Croke Park. The stadium is buzzing. The crowd are cheering. The tannoy is screeching. The Irish dressing-room is bustling.

Cian Healy hears none of it. His head is throbbing with a rhythmic, pulsating hip-hop beat. The music must imprison him in order for him to liberated from outside distractions, thoughts and needs.

Jerry Flannery can't believe what he's seeing. This debutant bouncing around, drumming his fingers on his tree-trunk thighs. "Normally fellas would be white with the fear," Flannery reports afterwards.

Healy has sat in an Irish dressing-room on 14 more occasions since then. And his routine hasn't changed one bit.

"Ah yeah ... it could be anything," he says. "I've started listening to a little bit of classical music! But closer to kick-off it gets a bit dancier, it depends on the mood. There could be a bit of rhythm and blues there, it changes."

His performances rarely waver, even if one suggests that perhaps it might be unwise to get too worked up before a game. "Nah, it's just so I don't have to think about anything else, clear the head for a while."

He relishes that calm before the storm. And when it's over, he can walk away and disconnect with as much ease as flicking on and off a light switch. You tell him it doesn't seem like he has changed much since graduating to the big time.

"I hope not ... dead on. I wouldn't feel I'd have to be a different person like that. I'd still do my own thing, distance myself from rugby when I have my time off. In saying that, some people might say, ah you shouldn't be doing that, you should be switched on all the time to rugby. But if I'm switched on all the time I'd go insane, I wouldn't be able to look at a rugby ball.

"You gotta find a medium so you can separate yourself from it a little bit, and that's where the music and the art comes in."

Ah, the art. It is Healy's other main passion -- well, apart from cars and trucks, twittering, BMX biking, roller-blading ... Ger Conran -- a cousin of Jamie Heaslip -- first generated the interest when Healy was in Belvedere.

"He really pushed me on and demanded better of me. There was pressure on there but when I left there was no pressure. However, I realised I still liked doing it ... it wasn't the average kind of subject you'd normally ever see again!

"I just got a few pieces of canvas and an easel and I take to it whenever I'm bored or anything."

Freedom

Like every day from when he first picked up a rugby ball, he loves the freedom of the blank canvas. Not for him the stilted bowl of fruit or landscape; like his personality, his enthusiasm infects the process.

"I'd paint a bit of anything really, I haven't done a hell of a lot of landscape stuff. I do the odd portraits, they'd be abstract though, no skin tones or anything, maybe a silhouette with a few colours to throw in. It's nice to change it from the normal really."

His passion for music, which took him to Oxegen 2010 last year as the opening act in the Dance Arena under the nom de plume of DJ Church, envelops him in similar, unrestricted circumstances.

There was no direct musical influence in his family so he absorbed pretty much everything he heard from radio and television, filtering out only extremities. Hence a sample from Healy's iPod shuffle could jump from Johnny Cash to the new Shapeshifters offering, from 50 Cent to Bach.

"It's just always something that I enjoyed, using it as a chill-out or when I'm drawing," he explains. "I like every type of genre except the Justin Biebers of this world!

"My first tape was Snoop Dogg, then I just liked discovering new music for myself. I saw what I liked and then listened to it, hearing stuff at underage discos then nightclubs. A few of my friends are DJs so they've helped me discover a wider range of music.

"The mixing is just jumping from song to song really, trying different things. It's just good craic, you can stay on the decks for hours really just messing around with different types of songs to see what you can do.

"It's all about ideas, you have to stick to certain rules you can't venture from, apparently, like making sure that the beat matches, trying to keep it similar enough and not have any howlers mixed in there."

All of which sounds uncannily like what the Irish rugby team are desperately struggling to acquire at the moment -- a perfect mix, without occasional howlers.

Healy's progression is more consistent.

He was perhaps once guilty of impatience but he now realises that players in his position mature as slowly as the finest wines.

"Yeah ... so I've been told," he smiles. "I wouldn't say I'm comfortable. I'd say I'm improving in terms of the challenges and opportunities constantly facing me. But there is a hell of a lot more to experience in the future before I will reach the stage of being a finished article, or whatever you want to call it.

"It's an enjoyable process to be going through though, learning different things and going up against different people. Knowing one day you might get put back by one fella but then the next day you can make him go backwards.

"It's a good way of measuring yourself. Mainly I'm just focusing on what I can do for my next game -- my next game is always the most important thing. That's how I've changed my head to be, not looking too far had or too far behind. I'm happy out since I've started thinking like that."

Living every moment. Loving every moment.

- David Kelly

Irish Independent

Ireland international and Leinster rugby player Cian Healy is fronting a new Berocca Performance campaign.

Healy appears the new Berocca TV ad, which airs from today. Rugby fans can also log onto www.berocca.ie where Healy will be keeping a Six Nations Diary, exclusively for Berocca.

Marion Rogan of Bayer Consumer Healthcare said Healy, as a professional athlete, was the perfect ambassador for Berocca .

02nd November 2010 10:45

Fitzgerald: Back for Ireland

Ireland have been boosted by the return of several key players for Saturday's November Test opener against South Africa at Aviva Stadium.

The biggest change comes on the wing where British and Irish Lions' ace Luke Fitzgerald returns to the international side for the first time in 12 months.

Fitzgerald, who last played for Ireland against Australia last November, joins Tommy Bowe and Rob Kearney in the back three.

Skipper Brian O'Driscoll has been passed fit to start having recovered from a hamstring injury and will be partnered in midfield by Gordon D'Arcy.

Eoin Reddan has got the nod for the number nine jersey over the vastly experienced Peter Stringer, while Rory Best starts at hooker.

Ulsterman Best missed the June tour to New Zealand and Australia with an ankle injury but he will partner props Tony Buckley and Cian Healey.

In the back row, Stephen Ferris, David Wallace and Jamie Heaslip will look to form a formidable-looking unit.

Kicking king Ronan O'Gara has to settle for a place on the bench, though, with Jonathan Sexton preferred at fly-half.

"I feel good and I'm looking forward to the team coming back to what is essentially our home," said O'Driscoll, who will play his first game in four weeks.

"We've enjoyed our time at Croke Park but now we want to make some memories at the new stadium.

"It would have been disappointing to miss the first game at the new Aviva so I'm looking forward to playing."

Ireland: 15 Robert Kearney, 14 Tommy Bowe, 13 Brian O'Driscoll (c), 12 Gordon D'Arcy, 11 Luke Fitzgerald, 10 Jonathan Sexton, 9 Eoin Reddan, 8 Jamie Heaslip, 7 David Wallace, 6 Stephen Ferris, 5 Mick O'Driscoll, 4 Donncha O'Callaghan, 3 Tony Buckley, 2 Rory Best, 1 Cian Healy.
Replacements: 16 Sean Cronin, 17 Tom Court, 18 Donnacha Ryan, 19 Denis Leamy, 20 Peter Stringer, 21 Ronan O'Gara, 22 Keith Earls.

Date: Saturday, November 6
Venue: Aviva Stadium
Kick-off: 17:30 GMT
Referee: Nigel Owens (Wales)
Assistant referees: Brice Lawrence (New Zealand), Keith Brown (New Zealand)
Television match official: Hugh Watkins (Wales)

Joe Schmidt's Leinster side went about securing the bonus point in a roundabout way, with Fergus McFadden and Ian Madigan crossing in the closing stages after early efforts from Shane Jennings and Isa Nacewa had them 14-0 ahead.

Cardiff rallied impressively in the third quarter, grabbing tries through Bradley Davies and Richie Rees, and a penalty from Dan Parks edged the Welsh region in front at 23-20.

But McFadden's try helped Leinster reassume control and it was fitting that young out-half Madigan scurried over for the clinching score.

Jonathan Sexton missed out on his first appearance of the season for Leinster when injuring himself in the warm-up, so Academy player Madigan stepped in at number 10 for only his second start for the province.

Cardiff travelled on the back of an encouraging bonus point victory over Edinburgh last weekend, and gave competitive debuts to prop Tom Davies and Kiwi flanker Michael Paterson.

The game was only four minutes' old when Isaac Boss managed to spring through a gap between Deiniol Jones and Bradley Davies, and feed the supporting Jennings for the opening try which man-of-the-match Nacewa converted.

Cardiff encountered scrum problems through the first half, so much so that newcomer Davies had to be replaced on the stroke of half-time.

They fell further behind when slick hands from Richardt Strauss and Luke Fitzgerald gave Nacewa enough space to skip by Chris Czekaj for a try he converted himself.

Parks knocked over two successive penalties to close the gap, with Casey Laulala beginning to cause problems for the Leinster defence. But the hosts tightened their grip on proceedings, moving 20-6 clear for the break courtesy of a penalty brace from Nacewa.

The same player put in a try-saving tackle on Richard Mustoe as Cardiff began the second half with intent.

Scrum half Rees had sparked a superb counter attack out of the 22, and the Blues' new-found adventure was soon rewarded. Parks punted a penalty to touch, and lock Davies muscled his way over off the next phase.

Parks added the extras and after Leinster failed to convert a couple of promising attacking situations, the Blues squared the game at 20-20 thanks to a terrific team try.

Laulala's long pass set up an overlap on the right and a couple of well-timed deliveries from Davies and Mustoe sent Xavier Rush charging into the 22. The Cardiff skipper's brilliant offload out of the tackle then put Rees in behind the posts and Parks comfortably converted.

The Scotland international tagged on a penalty for good measure and suddenly Leinster were behind. But Schmidt's men were up for the challenge and they bounced back to deservedly take the spoils.

Replacement prop Cian Healy drew two defenders on a barge through the middle to tee up McFadden for a sprint in under the posts.

Nacewa converted and in the final minute, took his personal tally to 19 points as he topped off Madigan's fine snipe from outside the 22 which took the losing bonus point away from the Blues.

Nacewa said afterwards: "We're delighted to get the win. Obviously it was a bit disappointing to let them back in during the second half, but thankfully we held on and it was an important step forward for us."

Reflecting on his first victory as Leinster coach, Schmidt commented: "We created a few chances in the second half, but every time they attacked they seemed to have numbers out wide.

"If we take our opportunities it will take the pressure off us. I'm really pleased to get the win and I felt that the guys coming off the bench gave us that little bit extra.

"It was difficult for Ian Madigan to come on and play so late into the build-up but I thought he did well and credit to him for stepping into the breach. If you had offered me a bonus point before the game, I would have scrambled over hot coals (for it)!

"The bonus point was a bit fortuitous at the end but I'm delighted to be on the blue side of a win, for the first time. I thought that we showed nous and a lot of character out there and it was overall a really good effort."

By BRENDAN FANNING

Sunday August 22 2010

 Leinster's 41-6 hammering at the hands of Wasps on Friday night was the least of their worries after it emerged yesterday that prop Stan Wright is out for the season after rupturing his Achilles tendon in that match.

Leinster chief executive Mick Dawson confirmed yesterday that they will have to sit down with the IRFU to try to find a suitable replacement for Wright, who has been a cornerstone of the pack since joining in mid-season 2006/07 -- ironically as an emergency replacement for the injured Will Green. He has played 83 times for Leinster since then.

Wright will be operated on this week, after which the prognosis will be clearer.

"At the minute it doesn't look great and we're planning on the basis that we'll be without Stan (32 next month) until next year," Dawson said yesterday. "It's a serious setback given how good he has been for us and it doesn't help that most of the good props around the place are already under contract.

"Certainly we'll have to go outside Ireland to find a replacement and we've already been in touch with the IRFU on that. We'll try and identify someone as soon as possible and take it from there."

Losing someone of Wright's calibre is bad news at any stage but given the micro-management of Ireland players by Declan Kidney this season, with the 2011 World Cup in mind, the Cook Islander would have been an invaluable man to have around when the Test stars are away. As it is, new coach Joe Schmidt will have to cope without them until October.

That leaves him with newcomer Heinke van der Merwe, Mike Ross, and Ronan McCormack on full contracts, and Jack McGrath (development contract) to soldier through the early rounds of the Magners League until Cian Healy is freed by Ireland to play.

- BRENDAN FANNING

Sunday Independent