Leinster vs Munster

Stephen Keogh was one of them.
You know the type, a hard-nosed Limerick
man steeped in the best traditions of
Munster rugby which amounts to a blood
and guts approach to this game for
warriors.
Back in 2006, the back-row forward
crossed the great divide in order to
bring some of that meanness into a
Leinster pack of forwards that seemed
demoralised.
“I was playing with Bruff RFC, but my
school St Munchin’s was affiliated to
Shannon where Colm Tucker Senior, who
unfortunately passed away, was very
good to me in school. I lived out in the
country and he used to drop me to the
bus. So, naturally, Shannon was always
in my mind to settle into as my club.
“The world was a much bigger place
back then,” he recalls.
“When you travelled to play in
Clongowes or Blackrock - they were the
two big schools in Leinster at that stage - it
just felt like a different place. You had that
bitterness even then, going up to try and
win in those places.”
When school was done and a degree
pocketed from UCC, Keogh returned
home to the bosom of all-conquering
Shannon.
Stellar form for the club led to 54
Munster caps between 2003 and 2006,
marking Stephen as one of the up-andcoming
forwards in Irish rugby at the age
of 23.
“At one time, it was one culture versus
another culture. Dublin was moving
ahead in relation to the Celtic Tiger.
Limerick and Cork were that bit
behind.
“It was a clash of two different cultures.
You had that between Ireland’s two best
provinces and one of them, Munster, was
the best in Europe.
“You always look over the wall at what
the neighbour has and Munster had
Heineken Cups when Leinster didn’t.
“Then, there was the importance of Irish
selection. When you throw all of that
together, sparks are going to fly and they
did back then.
“But, it was great. The public bought into
the rivalry and the atmosphere was all
the better for it.”
However, Stephen decided to take the
unusual move of signing for Leinster, just
weeks before sitting on the bench for that
epic 2006 Heineken Cup semi-final in
which Munster won the day once again.
“While I had played a lot for Munster,
I was ahead of the curve in my
appearances because there had been
a spate of injuries that opened up game
time for me.
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