McGahan believes the impressive levels of performance Leinster have produced against Munster in recent seasons is a better guide to the type of challenge Joe Schmidt’s side will provide this weekend rather than the stumbling start to their Magners League campaign.
Munster occupy top spot in the league table with four straight victories while Leinster are languishing in ninth place having already lost three times.
However, Leinster boast an impressive record against Munster in recent seasons, winning all four of their most recent clashes in the Magners League and Heineken Cup.
“Really all that we go on is the games that we’ve played against Leinster in the past, and how they approach us and how we approach them,” Tony McGahan said.
“If we were playing Connacht or we were playing Ulster, there would be that same mentality.
“We don’t really draw any conclusions from where they are in the table or how they’ve done in past games.
“All we know is that we expect them to be at their best on Saturday and we’re sure they’ll be expecting our best too.
“You can’t argue with history, you can’t argue with the stats.
“They have four wins out of the last four encounters and we’re zero, and that’s the way it stands. There is no argument there and we certainly don’t have any qualms.”
McGahan believes this weekend’s sell-out attendance at the 50,000-plus capacity stadium are set for a mammoth battle.
The fixture will be Munster’s final competitive outing before their Heineken Cup opening round tie away to in-form London Irish on Saturday, October 9.
Tony McGahan said: “I think there is an extra edge in training. I don’t think there is any hiding from that. These games correspond to ERC time so certainly there is a spring in the step,” McGahan admitted.
“One thing we really have tried to do over the last couple of years is to try and keep that going every week. Obviously, there are weeks with huge intensity and motivation, but trying to keep that consistently through the season is a real theme of what we are trying to do. We’ve done that so far.
“Obviously, different opponents bring out different emotions, so certainly today was a good training session,” he pointed out.
Updating a number of injury concerns with the squad at the Munster pre-match press conference in Cork yesterday, Tony McGahan said he expected winger Ian Dowling to be sidelined for three months and for the luckless Felix Jones, due to undergo an operation on Friday, to be ruled out of action for up to six months due to injury.
He hoped that both Keith Earls and hooker Jerry Flannery would be available for selection within the next two weeks.
McGahan says Munster’s run of four defeats against Leinster over the past two seasons, three in the Magners League as well as the 2009 Heineken Cup semi-final, will act as a major motivating factor this weekend.
“It’s always a motivation when you lose against anyone, but especially someone very close to you with regards to Leinster,” Australian-born McGahan said.
“Last year we lost to Glasgow badly away, we lost to Edinburgh, we lost to the Ospreys at home, and we’ve been lucky enough to play well enough and get the results in those games.
“But this game will be judged on its own merits, judged on its own environment which is different to where we have been for a period of time playing back at the Aviva Stadium. It’s one we are eagerly looking forward to.”
Munster Squad V Leinster: Wian Du Preez, Marcus Horan, Mike Sherry, Sean Henry, Damien Varley, John Hayes, Darragh Hurley, Tony Buckley, Billy Holland, Donnacha Ryan, Donncha O’Callaghan, Mick O’Driscoll, Alan Quinlan, David Wallace, Niall Ronan, Denis Leamy, Peter O’Mahony, James Coughlan, Tomás O’Leary, Peter Stringer, Ronan O’Gara, Scott Deasy, Paul Warwick, Danny Barnes, Lifeimi Mafi, Johne Murphy, Sam Tuitupou, Doug Howlett and Denis Hurley.
Colm Kinsella
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