Brief notes on a derby devoid of its former glory. Here was a Leinster victory that Munster coach Rassie Erasmus feels was gifted to Leo Cullen’s men on a platter.
At least Peter O’Mahony is fine. What seemed a heavy knock before half-time did not, according to Erasmus, influence the withdrawal of the Munster captain.
“Peter was only going to play 40 minutes. That was our plan. Tough to take him off after 40 but we had to stick to that. He was fine.”
Dave Kilcoyne, however, sustained a concussion.
“David also looks fine with his head knock. It doesn’t look too bad on that front.”
Erasmus also played down Keith Earls’s Head Injury Assessment with his primary reaction being disappointment that two of Leinster’s tries were unavoidable and led to this contest being nowhere near the intensity of previous seasons.
“Different experience to play here but a privilege to play in a game like this. Always a great scene and spectacle. For the young guys it was something new out there.
“Disappointed to lose and not even get a bonus point out of it but Leinster, without a doubt, deserved to win.”
From the outside looking on this seemed a step up too far for a Munster squad so obviously lacking in quality.
“If you give a try away from a scrum, first phase, and give another try away from knocking on a ball against a quality side like Leinster, giving them 14 points on a platter.
“It was definitely, intensity wise, a step up but I think the mistakes we made were simple errors. It wasn’t like it was good attacking play that led to us giving the 14 points away. That’s the disappointing side of it.
“We made those errors. They didn’t.”
An excuse presented itself with Isa Nacewa's try, making it 18-7 early in the second half, as Rob Kearney's pass appeared forward but referee David Wilkinson did not refer it to Television Match Official Simon McDowell.
“Last thing I should do is comment on the referee as obviously the referee tries his best. The question Billy asked was if it was forward why they didn’t refer it. He was on the spot, the referee, and he decided it wasn’t forward. We shouldn’t rely on forward passes to win the game.”
Erasmus also highlighted the fumbling, bumbling spills by Ronan O'Mahony then Tyler Bleyendaal that allowed Jamison Gibson Park make it 23-7 on 67 minutes. That was the ball game.
“Next week we are going to have a bit of bitterness in us,” said CJ Stander of a game that saw Leinster turn them over 13 times at the breakdown. “That will help us going to Paris.”
