Munster merely accrued five points from last Saturday\u2019s 31-14 victory, whereas the semi-final in the Aviva three seasons ago ultimately led to a long-coveted piece of silverware in the shape of the URC<\/a> title a fortnight later. <\/p>\n However, last Saturday\u2019s storming of Croke Park when 13-2 with the bookies seems a bigger one-off win than three seasons ago, when 7-2 underdogs, not least as this is how it will be felt among the squad, the backroom team and the organisation generally, as well as the supporters. <\/p>\n Beating Leinster 16-15 three seasons ago with a late Jack Crowley<\/a> drop goal after a pitch-length drive from their own line was a notable achievement. Munster\u2019s only win in the previous 11 meetings was the 27-3 Rainbow Cup semi-final victory over a Leinster \u2018C\u2019 side at an empty RDS, probably the least significant meeting between the two in the professional era.<\/p>\n That URC semi-final win was also achieved within the narrative of Leo Cullen resting a host of frontliners ahead of the Champions Cup final against La Rochelle in the Aviva a week later. <\/p>\n Cullen was criticised for doing so by some Leinster supporters, many of whom would have blamed the head coach had he played more frontliners and two or three had been injured a week ahead of a prize deemed bigger by squad and fans alike.<\/p>\n A week later, Cullen restored a dozen players rested from the Munster semi-final and reverted to all but two of the starting line-up which had thrashed Toulouse in the Champions Cup semi-final for the decider against La Rochelle.<\/p>\n Munster thus did not beat a Leinster \u2018B\u2019 side, or reserve team, per se. Half a dozen of that Leinster starting XV in the semi-final were on the bench a week later. Yet it was not a Leinster side locked and fully loaded.<\/p>\n The same could not be said last Saturday. Sure, Caelan Doris<\/a>, Joe McCarthy <\/a>and Hugo Keenan<\/a> were sidelined, and by match day had been joined by Tommy O\u2019Brien<\/a>, Ryan Baird<\/a> and Jack Conan<\/a>.<\/p>\n But Munster were also missing two Irish squad members, Tom Ahern and the influential Craig Casey<\/a>. And therein lay another subplot. Just three days before last Saturday\u2019s game, Andy Farrell<\/a> had named an Irish<\/a> squad featuring 21 Leinster players and just a quartet from Munster.<\/p>\n [\u00a0Munster prove mindset can still decide matchesOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n The discrepancy between the provincial rivals as suppliers to the Ireland squad had never been starker, although no doubt it served to motivate Munster. The immediate effects of last Saturday\u2019s win saw Tom Farrell\u2019s<\/a> well-earned and well-deserved call-up, and Crowley\u2019s chances of starting against the All Blacks ahead of Sam Prendergast<\/a> have increased. <\/p>\n Leinster also supplied 18 players to Munster\u2019s one on the Lions tour. Their sluggish start to the season and blunt, inaccurate and perhaps even slightly complacent display last Saturday when fielding 11 of their Lions in the matchday 23 will fuel the fear that this record representation was a decidedly double-edged sword.<\/p>\n The early signs of a post-Lions hangover are worrying, for Ireland and Leinster, yet the counter to that theory is that Munster\u2019s sole Lion utterly eclipsed his 11 fellow tourists to Australia in the summer. So, how does that stack up?<\/p>\n At 33, for Tadhg Beirne<\/a> to produce yet another in his ever-lengthening list of warrior-like, big-game performances in his first game since being crowned player of the series after the third Test in Sydney was quite remarkable. But then again, nor was it remotely surprising.<\/p>\n Beirne plays on the edge, and some days it won\u2019t always work. But his ability to smell the game, to zone in on the ball magnetically, to time his jackals over the ball so acutely or slide snake-like through an opposition maul, seems to be becoming more finely tuned with age.<\/p>\n Beirne ending Leinster\u2019s siege around the hour mark with one of his four turnovers was one of the game\u2019s defining and decisive moments. <\/p>\n What also made this victory so eye-catching was that Munster achieved it without many additions to their squad, bar the hard-working Dan Kelly. Then again, of course, along with Stuart Lancaster<\/a> in Connacht<\/a>, the other most eye-catching acquisition ahead of this season was the IRFU and Munster signing Clayton McMillan<\/a>.<\/p>\n His impressive CV and reputation said so, and while a honeymoon period often comes with the appointment of a new head coach, there was something striking in the way Munster players spoke, on and off the record, even in preseason, which suggested McMillan might be a near perfect fit. <\/p>\n There is something old-school in his methods, witness the use of boxing, hill running and swimming in his emphasis on fitness in preseason. Still, Munster hadn\u2019t been tearing up trees before last Saturday. The handsome bonus-point win away to the Scarlets is already looking like it might have been achieved against a side destined for the bottom four. The wins against Cardiff and Edinburgh could easily have gone either way.<\/p>\n Apparently, Munster\u2019s training load was no lighter last week than it had been previously, yet there was a palpably elevated energy to last Saturday\u2019s display, especially in defence.<\/p>\n It\u2019s worth remembering that Munster had chances in both of last season\u2019s defeats but didn\u2019t take them, notably in Croke Park, whereas last Saturday they were very clinical. Central to this was Crowley\u2019s masterful display. Reports of him training during the summer months at the expense of holidays may have possibly been overplayed but he does look in very good shape, as well as calm and focused.<\/p>\n Any new head coach or new players can benefit from a quick start, and now Munster sit 13 points above Leinster, whereas they went into last season\u2019s November Test window trailing them by 18 points. The McMillan era has momentum now, especially if they make it five wins against Connacht next Saturday, when the ripple effects of beating Leinster will likely be reflected in the heightened atmosphere.<\/p>\n![\"Munster's](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/5ZFOQL36GL57E7DVKXWDFZ2IJU.jpg\")
Munster’s Jack Crowley is tackled by Leinster’s James Lowe at Croke Park last Saturday. Photograph: Dan Sheridan\/Inpho <\/p>\n![\"Munster's](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/44EECVKIDYA3ORTO7BQKJ43STA.jpg\")
Munster’s Tadhg Beirne and Craig Casey celebrate after defeating Leinster at Croke Park. Photograph: Tom Maher\/Inpho <\/p>\n