It is one thing to know how hard Munster will come out; quite another to deal with it.
The home province put on early pressure in the first quarter, forcing mistakes and finding penalties for centre Kieran Dunne to slot in the fourth and tenth minutes.
Really, Leinster were living off scraps as Munster controlled the game through the aggressive work of their forwards
Slowly, the visitors shed their nerves and got into a rhythm in the second quarter to move into the right area of the pitch.
It was from there that scrum-half Cormac Foley created a try out of nothing, beating two defenders, for centre David Ryan to claim a 7-6 lead from the conversion in the 22nd minute.
Leinster began to find the territory they were after for Ryan to nail a penalty for 10-6 in the 26th minute.
It stayed that way to the break, Munster needing no second invitation to strike back with the wind in their sails.
The gritty work of their pack created pressure and Dunne landed a penalty from near halfway in the 43rd minute.
Munster managed to exert their superiority at the scrum and Dunne moved them back in front on the hour mark.
This was when Leinster showed true grit to soak up more pressure, hold their discipline and counter through a lineout and powerful maul.
When Munster couldn’t exit, Leinster forced a penalty for Ryan to hit the 68th minute winner.
“We were glad to go home with the win,” said Team Manager Noel McKenna.
“It was a win that was earned out of our defence and the character the boys showed.
“Munster were very good. They came at us with great intensity.”
Leinster had been completely dominant in their pre-competition matches and paid the price for those easy wins in the sense that Munster looked more battle-hardened.
Coaches Andy Wood and Simon Broughton won’t have to go back to the drawing board. But, they will drill down on where Leinster have to improve for Ulster at Donnybrook next Saturday.
“I just think the boys will go back to do what we have been working on in training which is doing the simple things well,” said McKenna.
“We are disappointed with the amount of mistakes we made. We know what we have to work on.
“We will have to go back to basics against Ulster, do the simple things well. Once we do that, we know we can create chances.”
At Cork Institute of Technology – MUNSTER 12 (K Dunne 4 pens); LEINSTER 13 (C Foley try; D Ryan 2 pens, con)
Munster U19
James McCarthy (Irish Exile/Wales); Conor Phillips (Crescent College), Sean French (PBC), Kieran Dunne (St Ambrose College/Irish Exiles), Jonathan Wren (PBC); Jake Flannery (Rockwell College), Craig Casey ((Ardscoil Rís, Capt); Josh Wycherley (Roscrea College), John Hodnett (Clonakilty RFC), Luke Masters (CBC); Luke Clohessey (Ardscoil Rís), Paddy Kelly (St. Munchin’s College), David Hyland (PBC), Daniel Feasy (Crescent College); Colin Deane (Bandon Grammar School)
Replacements:
Billy Scannell (PBC), Travis Coomey (Bandon Grammar), Ashley Deane (Bandon Grammar), Roy Whelan (Ardscoil Rís), Cian Hurley (CBC), Colin Sisk (CBC), Harry Byrne (Garryowen FC), Ikem Ugwueru (Ennis RFC).
Leinster U19
Robert Russell (St Michael’s); Jeff O’Loughlin (St Michael’s) / Brian O’Donnell (Gonzaga) Liam Turner (Blackrock) David Ryan (St Michael’s) Ruairi Shields (St Mary’s); David Hawkshaw (Belvedere, Capt) / Conor Kelly (Cistercian, Roscrea) Cormac Foley (St Gerard’s) / Hugo Lennox (Skerries RFC); Niall McEniff (St Mary’s) Richard Bergin (St Mary’s) / Declan Adamson (St Fintan’s HS) Michael Milne (Cistercian Roscrea), Adam Melia (Terenure) Ryan Baird (St Michael’s) Reuben Pim (Kilkenny) / Ronan Watters (St Mary’s) Scott Penny (St Michael’s) Ruadhan Byron (Belvedere) / Dan O’Donovan (St Michael’s).
Referee: Ben Carson, IRFU
