Leinster have beaten Munster in their last five meetings, but Paul O'Connell wants to prove that reports of his province's demise are greatly exaggerated. The Irish Independent's Hugh Farrelly reports.
"In years to come, it could well be logged as a seminal moment in the history of Munster rugby.
"Saturday, January 22, 2011, Thomond Park, 12 minutes left on the clock and Ryan Lamb has just converted Sailosi Tagicakibau's try to push London Irish into a 14-7 lead.
"The Exiles are on fire, smelling the glory that goes with becoming only the second team after Leicester in 2007 to win a Heineken Cup match in that famed Limerick stadium.
"Munster are in free-fall.
"The week has been dominated by post-Toulon fall-out, peppered with disturbing, unfamiliar words like 'crisis', 'revolution' and 'panic' as Irish rugby tried to get its head around Munster not making the last eight of the Heineken Cup for the first time in 13 years.
"Paul O'Connell stood tall as the players gathered behind the posts. Between injury and suspension, Munster's second-row and captain was featuring in only his fourth match of the season, but the gravity of the situation was not lost on him."
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