Emmet Moloney writes for the 'The Irish Farmers Journal' and is a former sports columnist with 'The Kerryman'.

The new Lansdowne Road opens for real this weekend when Leinster and Munster clash in the Magners League. Emmet Moloney previews the action...

You can forget about the action that has taken place at the Aviva Stadium since its opening. This is the real thing for me as it’s the first time it’ll be full. Although it seems every woman I know aged between 25 and 50 was there last weekend for some fella called Michael Bubbles or something. Never mind that; this is what the place was built for. Saturday night in Dublin, scores to be settled, live on RTÉ. This is more like it.

Forget your Ryder Cups, soccer internationals, cabaret singers and the like, this is the real deal. Leinster are going for the “drive for five”. Yes, they have now beaten their old/new rivals four times on the trot. They have done the unthinkable and passed Munster out in terms of who can call themselves the best province in Ireland. They have toughened up.
A new stadium always takes time to get used to. The new Croke Park couldn’t be accurately measured until we had the 82,500 there for a big match. Once we experienced that, we could exhale. We knew we had possibly the most special sporting theatre in the world. This year’s All-Ireland hurling final proved that beyond a doubt. So let it be with the Aviva (albeit a mini Croker).

While this is only a Magners League clash and it’s just the start of October, the game carries huge significance. Both teams place great store in symbolism. Munster’s spiritual home in Thomond means so much more than bricks and mortar.

Leinster’s journey to Heineken Cup glory and a place at Europe’s top table could only be copper fastened by beating Munster along the way. A real beating too, to make up for all the jibes.

So, Saturday has baggage attached. Thank God for that.

The location of the match means something to both. Plenty of these players will face bigger days in the Aviva but this is the first day. The first full house. There will be a carnival atmosphere and there will be pressure. Pressure to win the inaugural tie at the ground. Pressure to lay down a marker for the Heineken Cup which starts one week later. Pressure for international places, as we start a season that ends more or less with a Rugby World Cup in New Zealand.

Right now, Munster look the stronger outfit, but we have been here before. Some of the form book can be thrown out the window when these two meet. Both will have pencilled in Saturday months back as the night when their season starts getting serious.
Denis Leamy is back and captaining the Men in Red in the absence of Paul O’Connell. Plenty of the old faces remain, despite the creaking of the Munster machine so evident last season. We expected bigger changes down south than we have seen. The pack will still rely on Hayes, Flannery, Buckley, Horan, Quinlan, Wallace, Leamy, Donnacha and Paul.

Behind the scrum, Tomás and Ronan will still run the show with a starring role intended for Keith Earls. Depending on the fitness and form of the rest of the three-quarters, Munster will be hoping for extra from Warwick, Dowling, Mafi, Barry Murphy and Ian Dowling. The only visible change I can see is that Doug Howlett has cut his hair!

This is Munster’s problem in a financially constrained world. Those names are the same ones we have expected to deliver for the past three or four years. The turnover of quality, international quality, has slowed somewhat.

Big names like De Villiers have gone and haven’t really been replaced. Injuries have played a part too in lessening Munster’s options, with serious long-term concerns obviously over Paul O’Connell, Jerry Flannery and Keith Earls – all of whom are now spending more time with medical staff than playing staff. We can’t forget either that John Hayes must be about 50 at this stage and surely can’t keep playing every minute of every big game!

So, how are Munster coping? Top of the Magners League and scoring tries. Obviously all the playing problems I’ve described above are really taking their toll!

Well, let’s wait and see. Munster’s depth, or apparent lack of it, will be tested in the coming weeks. A week after Saturday they travel to London to take on London Irish and the week after that Toulon come to Thomond. They are Heineken Cup games and a level above what Munster have been playing this past month.

Leinster have spluttered in the very early stages of this season. They have a new coach in Joe Schmidt and the big-game players have been sporadically used. Girvan Dempsey, Bernard Jackman and Malcolm O’Kelly have all retired. There is new blood and youth in some of the key places.

The return of Luke Fitzgerald is like a new signing and a very talented one at that. Long-term, Leinster look solid. But Saturday night? They are there for the taking.

We have made this mistake before – treating Leinster lightly before this particular match – but they have valid excuses for not being entirely revved up. Getting used to a new coach aside, O’Driscoll, D’Arcy, Kearney and Reddan are short on game time. Fitzgerald is flying, however – look for him to shine.

In the forwards, Leinster are caught between a rock and a hard place already in this World Cup season because of IRFU restrictions on how many games a player can play. Declan Kidney doesn’t want players flogged before next summer and medical expertise suggests that somewhere between 20 and 30 games is enough in any one season for an international player. The provinces have been so instructed, so timecards are literally in use now. Less overtime for John Hayes!

Players have to be minded, in particular the pack, and to conform to the time card, Leinster fielded almost an academy front, second and back row last weekend. They lost in Edinburgh despite the presence of the A-listers in the back division. And lost well.

Well, not all the A-listers. We couldn’t go through an entire preview of Leinster and Munster without mentioning the man currently in possession of the green number 10 jersey.

Jonathan hasn’t really kicked a ball in anger yet this season but the signs are he will be fit for his latest direct contest with Rog. Sexton is the coming man and O’Gara is the one now raging against the dying light. Barring injury, the Leinster man will start in the World Cup and the Six Nations. But Saturday night’s clash will have a bearing on who starts against South Africa. Yet another compelling reason to watch.

Munster would be slight favourites for Saturday night. They’ll talk about setting down markers, first night in Aviva, revenge for Skibbereen, etc, but this is the first weekend in October. Far too early to read too deeply. But must-see TV all the same.

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