Foreign legion
Munster and Leinster have benefited greatly from the added spice that overseas players have brought here
Stan Wright of Leinster takes on Paul O'Connell during the Heineken Cup semi final match between Munster and Leinster at Croke Park on May 2 2009. Photo: David Rogers, Getty Images
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WHEN Thai boxing sensation Poonsawat Kratingdaenggym was produced for the Irish media in Dublin last week ahead of his world title bout with Bernard Dunne, the location chosen for the press conference was ... wait for it ... Jimmy Chung's Chinese emporium.
This led to the (entirely reasonable) query of why the event was not staged in a Thai-based location and a response along the lines of: "Ah sure, 'tis all the Orient". Quite.
As a nation, we have no problem spreading ourselves around the globe but are less comfortable when foreigners arrive over to Irish shores (there is little doubt part of the reason we have to vote on the Lisbon Treaty again this Friday is attributable to the misguided notion that a No vote would help control our borders).
The foreign influx into Irish rugby has proved less unsettling. It began in the early 1990s with the clubs and has increased in frequency and influence as the game has developed over the intervening two decades.
ladder
Since professionalism came along in the mid-1990s, the Irish provinces have leaned heavily on overseas supplements as they attempted to work their way up the ladder.
Munster and Leinster owe a huge debt to foreign expertise -- coaching and playing -- in their graduation to the status of European heavyweights and the outside influence will again be profound when the provinces clash at the RDS this Saturday.
Munster's New Zealand trio of Doug Howlett, Lifeimi Mafi and Nick Williams were stand-out performers in their thumping win over the Dragons on Sunday, while they were also able to give a debut to South African colossus Jean de Villiers.
For Leinster, Fijian international Isa Nacewa has been one of their best performers during the early Magners League exchanges while Aussie-Scot second-row enforcer Nathan Hines could be a valuable weapon in their battle to subdue the Munster pack.
The top two provinces now have world standing and are able to attract the highest-quality overseas players (Leinster also have injury-stricken South African World Cup-winning prop CJ van der Linde on their books) but, in the early days, it was more journeymen than giants that rocked up in Donnybrook, Musgrave or Thomond.
Back-row Dean Oswald and centre Rhys Ellison were a couple of unheralded, hard-nosed New Zealanders who brought an edge to Leinster and Munster respectively in the mid-1990s and played with a physicality their Irish team-mates were not accustomed to.
One of Declan Kidney's most astute moves as he began the Munster revolution at the end of the last decade was to build his midfield around Mike Mullins and Jason Holland.
This canny Kiwi pair helped Munster reach two Heineken Cup finals and a semi-final between 2000 and 2002 while Australian John Langford was not only a superb operator in the Munster engine room, he also helped raise the professionalism bar and was instrumental in bringing on Donncha O'Callaghan and Mick O'Driscoll when they were cubs learning their second-row trade.
Christian Cullen did not work out as injuries decreed the full-back could never regain his best form but Shaun Payne, Jim Williams, Trevor Halstead, Federico Pucciariello, Rua Tipoki, Howlett and Mafi have all been major players in Munster's rise to prominence.
Their rivals on Saturday have less names to reference in reply but Argentinian Felipe Contepomi is rightly considered a Leinster legend and the startling performances of Wallaby wonder-man Rocky Elsom last season were crucial in dragging the team over the Heineken Cup finishing line.
Of course, for every Contepomi, Elsom, Williams or Howlett there has been a Bryce Williams, Owen Finegan, Tom Bowman or Clinton Huppert and it has been proven that the critical element in the success of the import process depends on the extent to which it is bought into -- lack of commitment is quickly exposed.
There is an argument that Munster and Leinster have reached a level where their home-grown stars are capable of carrying the team and of passing on the wisdom to up-and-comers.
And, with the depth of young Irish talent available to both teams, even if there was a total ban on foreigners in Irish rugby, there is no question but that Munster and Leinster would still have the indigenous ability to be at the business end of the Magners League and Heineken Cup.
However, the provinces cannot be blamed for operating within the existing rules and, overall, the overseas effect on Munster and Leinster has been hugely positive, stretching to off-field benefits also as Tri Nations stars such as Howlett, De Villiers and Elsom are massively marketable commodities.
There will be plenty of Irish Grand Slam-winners on display in the RDS this Saturday, along with potential future Ireland stars in the likes of Cian Healy, Sean O'Brien and Felix Jones.
But, though not oriental in origin, it cannot be denied that the foreign flavour to this weekend's outstanding sporting showdown will lend the occasion extra spice.
- Hugh Farrelly
