Round four of the United Rugby Championship is fast trending to be a record setting round for a league very much in its infancy.

Set for a day that would rival any sport the world over, Irish giants Leinster and Munster will renew their rivalry for the first time this season in front of 80,000 fans at a sold out Croke Park stadium.

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For the romantics amongst us, rugby’s return to the home of the Gaelic Athletic Association completes a full circle moment in the rivalry of these two proud provinces.

Slamming the rewind button on our evergreen VHS to 2009, when Munster reigned supreme as the undisputed kings of European Rugby hot on the heels of a second Heineken Cup title in three years.

Making the pilgrimage up the M7 motorway with an unwavering expectation that they would once again send their city slicking neighbors packing when it mattered most, few in the Muster ranks would’ve expected what unfolded.

Guided by the indomitable Australian coach Michael Cheika, a Leinster side who for so long had to listen to their own fan base celebrate the success of their noisy southern neighbors would flip the script on a rivalry that had for the previous two decades been largely one sided.

Scampering away courtesy of an intercept of his long time Irish international teammate Ronan O’Gara, Leinster’s talismanic centre Brian O’Driscoll put the final nail in the coffin of a 25 – 6 victory for the men in blue.

Since then, Leinster have gone on to win four Champions Cups (formerly Heineken Cups), six league titles and become the bulk supplier to the national team.

In this span, Munster have slipped to the role second fiddle within Irish Rugby, with just a few Champions Cup semi-final appearances and one league title.

Spearheading this shift in power between the rivals was a man who would go on to become the most decorated player in Irish Rugby history.

Considered a late bloomer at 24-years-old Leinster flyhalf Johnny Sexton was handed his first opportunity to shine on the big stage when Argentinean international Felipe Contepomi pulled up with an injury early in the match.

Facing Sexton that day was Irish Rugby’s incumbent Ronan O’Gara who was fresh off leading Ireland to a first Six Nations Grand Slam in sixty years and would go on to be win European Player of the Year in 2010 and the Best Player Of The Competition’s first 15 seasons.

Yet for all of O’Gara’s accolade and victories of which there were many, Sexton would be undeterred as he towered over his rival in a now famous image as Leinster scored a decisive try.

Signalling a significant shift in Irish Rugby, Sexton would go on win 118 test caps for Ireland and would take over as the nation’s top points scorer before retiring in 2023 at the age of 38.

O’Gara would ironically go on to become Sexton’s coach during the flyhalf’s time with French side Racing 92 before once again become the Dubliner’s nemesis as head coach of La Rochelle. Of course, this would be the same La Rochelle side who would deny Sexton’s Leinster from adding a fifth European title to their cabinet with back-to-back final victories both of which came in dramatic fashion.

Leinster's Johnny Sexton shouts down at his rival Ronan O'Gara

Now just over forty-eight hours out from kick-off of the latest instalment of this rivalry the two sides enter in a near identical position to the sides who took to the pitch in 2009 albeit the scripts have flipped.

On that day in 2009, Leinster had won just five of their previous fifteen encounters with their rivals with one draw mixed in but had clinched a league title the season before.

This year, Munster will arrive with just three wins from the past fifteen against their rivals with one of these wins coming in the 2022/23 URC semi-final which the men in red would go on to win.

As if written by Oscar Wilde himself, the poetic nature of this full circle moment cannot be underplayed with the protagonists of this fixture once again set to wear the number ten shirts.

Munster's Craig Casey, Jack Crowley Eye Big Moment

For Munster’s halfback pairing of Craig Casey and Jack Crowley, this fixture represents an opportunity to rubber stamp their places as the first-choice halfback pairing.

Starting with Crowley who has seamlessly assumed the role as Irish flyhalf since Sexton’s departure from the sport, he will likely face his nearest competitor for the green shirt in Ciaran Frawley.

Now two seasons removed from his drop goal heroics that sunk Leinster in the URC semi-finals and set in motion a run to the title for his side. The 24-year-old has added layers to his natural big match temperament. Blessed with skills that 99% of the population could only dream of, Crowley’s biggest strength is his dogged will to drag his team to victory. Should Munster emerge victorious it will likely be down to Crowley putting in a performance that reminds the rugby public why he is the man to lead both his province and country forward for the next decade.

For 26-year-old Frawley, he comes into this clash in a similar position to Sexton all those years ago as the heir apparent for the shirt despite heavy competition from the Byrne brothers Ross and Harry as well as newcomer Sam Prendergast.

Fresh off landing back-to-back drop goals to secure a victory for Ireland over World Champions South Africa on the road, Frawley will feel now is his time to shine.

For those close to Frawley, his heroics in Durban did not come as a surprise with his teammate’s lauding his winner’s mindset in everything he does.

Craig Casey vs. Jamison Gibson-Park

Matching this intriguing head-to-head in both importance and circumstances is the battle between Munster’s Craig Casey and Leinster’s Jamison Gibson-Park.

Widely regarded as one of the best players in the world, Gibson-Park is firmly entrenched as Ireland’s first choice number nine despite nearing the latter years of his career at 32-years-old.

Casey on the flipside has hit the ground running this season building on his mightily impressive showing for Ireland in their first test against the Springboks back in July. Cut cruelly short by an injury sustained following a clean out attempt by another key player in this weekend’s fixture in RG Snyman (more on him later), Casey’s opportunity to challenge his Leinster rivals grip on the green shirt continues.

Gibson-Park who himself has been immense following his return from a hamstring injury has assumed the mantle of chief playmaker for Leinster since Sexton’s retirement, a fact Casey will be acutely aware of. Thus, the opportunity for the 25-year-old Casey to land the first blow in their head-to-head shootout ahead of the November internationals is key to both his team’s chances this weekend but also his long-term future with the national team given the talent coming through the Irish system in his position.

Adding yet another wrinkle to the fixture will once again see big time international players collide with Snyman front and centre.

Since his offseason move from Munster to Leinster, the giant South African double World Cup winner has been a hot topic of conversation in Irish Rugby. Akin to Luis Figo’s blockbuster move from Barcelona to Real Madrid in 2000, Snyman’s move sent shockwaves around Munster. Of course, in a similar vein to Figo, this move was not one that the player entirely felt comfortable with but with Munster’s hand being forced by secondrow Jean Kleyn’s move from the Irish set-up to the Springboks, Munster were forced to choose between the two to fall in line with Irish Rugby’s policy around non-Irish qualified players.

Recently spotted grinning in the blue shirt, Snyman has quickly gone from a figure of admiration in Munster to public enemy number one for the weekend. Throw into the mix his lack of availability due to injury during his four years in Limerick and his shot on Casey in July and there will be no love lost when the Munster forwards get their hands on him. Fortunately for the 6’10” and 135kg lock he is more than capable of holding his own.

Tasked with nullifying Snyman’s impact will be his Springbok World Cup teammate and the reason for his move in Kleyn. Combining with arguably the best turnover merchant in World Rugby, in Tadhg Beirne, Kleyn will be Munster’s enforcer this weekend and will park his strong friendship with Snyman in a bid to eliminate his influence.

Finally, the intertwined nature of this contest will not be limited to the pitch with both sides possessing coaches who are all to familiar with their rivals.

In the Leinster box, senior coach Jacques Nienaber was Munster’s former head coach before returning to South Africa alongside Rassie Erasmus to raise the sinking Springbok Ship. Two World Cups later and Nienaber is now back in Irish Rugby this time in the blue strip.

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Sitting alongside Nienaber in the coaches’ box is former Munster playmaker Tyler Bleyendaal who spent five injury interrupted seasons with Munster as the man who was meant to replace O’Gara. Now back in Ireland following a stint back in New Zealand as a member of the Hurricanes coaching team, the Kiwi will know exactly what is being said about his new side inside the four walls of Munster’s high performance training centre.

Concluding the intertwined nature of this clash is one of Munster’s Heineken Cup heroes Denis Leamy who returned to his home province to take over as defence coach following a stint as Leinster’s contact skills coach.

To pick who exactly will be the protagonist of Saturday afternoon’s titanic clash is yet to be written but one thing remains certain, this clash extends far beyond the four white lines as a real-life enactment of modern Ireland. For Munster, the opportunity to once again sink their big city and big budget rivals is mouth-watering. On the other side of the fence, the city slickers will want to quieten the noise of their country neighbours and remind them why they are the big dogs on the Emerald Isle.

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