Saturday, April 01, 2006

Leinster steamroller on

Leinster completed the first part of a dream semi-final for Irish rugby fans. Munster will kick off in half an hour to try and make the second component.

Despite being underdogs Leinster went to Toulouse and beat the reigning European champions 35-41, with Toulouse scoring a converted try in the last 15 seconds to add a certain respectability to the score line.

Now its up to Munster to beat Perpignan in a sunny but shower soaked Lansdowne Road. Munster start as favorites so lets home Perpignan don't do a Leinster on the game. Dublin city center is a sea of red Munster jerseys. My brother, a huge Munster fan is in Landsdown Road and is already trying to figure out where to get a ticket for the semi-final.

If Munster win then it's Leinster Vs Munster in two weeks time and an Irish team is guaranteed to reach the final of the Heineken Cup.

Update: Munster were not on top form by any means, but they managed to beat Perpignan 19-10. For a long time it looked like Perpignan could spoil the day but in the end an injured Ronan O'Gara was still the best man to have on the Munster team for scores, and Paul O'Connell was going to drag Munster to the winning post if he had to personally flog every member of the Perpignan and Munster squads. So now the great Battle of Ireland is on for the weekend of 22/23 April.

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