Sheehan's half-time reality check steers 10-man Leinster past Munster in Dublin derby

Leinster captain Dan Sheehan has credited a blunt half-time conversation for rescuing the reigning champions from a eight-point deficit and delivering a 24-18 bonus-point win over Munster at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin, in front of a crowd of 37,193.

Trailing 13-5 at the break, Leinster overhauled their arch rivals in the second half to claim the interprovincial derby — a result Sheehan described as “a massive win” for the province.

“Credit to Munster, they are a quality team, they are getting better every week,” said Sheehan, who was deployed at number eight rather than his customary hooker position. “They put it up to us in that first half. Conditions were a little bit tricky, playing against that wind. I thought our intent was right up there — we were smacking lads in carries and in tackles — but our breakdown just needed a lot of work.”

Sheehan singled out Munster and Ireland lock Tadhg Beirne as a key disruptor at the breakdown. “In fairness to Munster, they have got a lot of top-class poachers. Tadhg Beirne was all over it there, so we needed a bit of a reality check at half-time to make sure we got rid of him. In the second half we played in the right areas of the pitch, we used the wind and we took our chances.”

On his unfamiliar role at the back of the scrum for the full 80 minutes, Sheehan was candid about the nerves involved. “It was a bit nerve-racking on the first restart receive, but I was happy to be there. You feel like you get involved a lot more. I enjoyed every minute of it.”

The Player of the Match award went to Ireland scrum-half Jamison Gibson-Park, making his first appearance of the season. “I am very happy to be back. It was awesome to be back here in front of our home fans,” he said. “We didn’t start very well — Munster were the better team in the first half — but we were able to turn it around in the second half and get the result.”

Munster head coach Clayton McMillan acknowledged his side’s failure to convert a strong first-half showing, pointing to a costly run of conceded penalties after the break. “We conceded ten penalties in the first 20 minutes of the second half and against a quality team like that they are eventually going to make you pay,” he said. “At the end of the day, we pushed an international-quality side right to the wire, so there are things to be happy about — but our aspirations lie a little bit higher than just being gallant losers.”