THE MATCH BETWEEN Munster and Leinster tonight will be an absolutely cracking game.

The people you want to lose least to are your mates, the people you know best.

There have been some humdingers in recent years, with Leinster having the cut of the jib recently. However, with a rejuvenated Paul O’Connell and Ronan O’Gara, who will no dobut feature off the bench, this will be a serious test for the visitors.

ROG played exactly the game he had to against Harlequins last weekend. It was great to see him back to his best. As for Paul, you can see the hunger with which he is playing with. He is an immense presence.

Donnacha Ryan put in a great shift and, as I’ve said before, he will be a stalwart of the Munster and Ireland teams for years to come. Peter O’Mahony was brilliant and Casey Laulala and James Downey, particularly, brought some fearsome physicality to bear in midfield.

There is no love lost between Leinster and Munster but I was delighted for them last weekend. They went up against the Premiership champions, on their patch, and tore them asunder.

D’Arcy and BOD reunited

In Ian Madigan, Leinster are very lucky to have a ready-made replacement for Jonny Sexton.

I played with him for a while at Blackrock, after I retired, and you could see what a special talent he was. He is an amazing kid with massive confidence and skills to burn. He will try anything on the pitch. It doesn’t always work out but Leinster have benefited greatly from his attacking instincts in the past.

We all know just how much it means to Leinster to have Brian O’Driscoll returning at such a crucial stage of the season.

A pivotal player to their hopes of silverware, though, is Gordon D’Arcy. He was having a cracking season up until he picked up his foot injury during the Six Nations. In the past, D’Arcy has suffered without O’Driscoll alongside him but he excelled in his absence this season.

Gordon D’Arcy evades Ronan O’Gara. (©INPHO/Billy Stickland)

[Leinster coach] Joe Schmidt is a wily customer and he will know the importance of claiming silverware, be it cup, league or both, by the season’s end.

Memorable moments

The 2001 Celtic League Final was a crazy game. It was a huge occasion at the time, played out in front of a packed Lansdowne Road. Our win helped us build the momentum that would lead to Heineken Cup success down the line.

After 15 minutes of the match, Eric Miller was sent off. We didn’t panic and stuck to the gameplan set out by Alan Gaffney and Matt Williams. We were going up against them, seven versus eight, in the scrum and it was some battle. Paul Wallace, with his gammy ankle, was a Trojan in the scrum that day.

The 2009 Heineken Cup semi-final, which Leinster won 25-6, stands out too but there have been so many super games. The build-up to the matches is like a Heineken Cup weekend.

Both sets of players always go hell-for-leather at each other. The mentality is ‘do not give a blade of grass to the opposition’. The Leinster and Munster rivalry has really driven Irish rugby for well over a decade now.

*Shane Byrne’s publication, Club Rugby Magazine is available monthly in the Irish Independent. Follow the magazine, and all the latest rugby news, on Twitter @ClubRugby1

It’s Paul O’Connell versus Brian O’Driscoll, 18 months in the making

Munster need to beat Leinster before focusing on Clermont – James Coughlan