IT MUST BE Heineken Cup time at UCD. The marquee players are training with gusto and the scrum to chat to Martin Moore is more daunting than the broken men of Northampton Martin Moore faced at the weekend.
The Leinster tighthead entered the field of play at Franklin’s Gardens with Leinster 26-0 up and hungry for more. The three-time champions finished with 40 points but Luke Fitzgerald was not the only man who rued the failure to rack up a half century.
“It was fantastic but we know this weekend is going to be an even greater challenge,” said Moore. he Aviva Stadium has set to sell out for Saturday’s return fixture so Moore must have been doing his bit to get bums in seats.
Northampton prides themselves on their power up front, says Moore, so Leinster simply decided to get the ball into Eoin Reddan’s hands and feed a backline brimming with attacking intent. The 22-year-old is convinced, however, that the English side will put up a bigger fight in Dublin.
“They’re going to have a tough time of it all week and their fans were giving them a tough time as well,” he said. “We’re ready at the weekend and ready to do the same thing.” The Lansdowne clubman is demanding more of the same from Leinster but insists there will be no talk of bonus points in the camp.
On a personal level, Moore was satisfied with his second contribution to an away day win in the Heineken Cup. He recalled, “We played Northmpton there in a preseason game a couple of years ago and it was one of my first involvements in the team. That was a tough lesson at the time a the scoreline was reversed.
“It was good to go over there in a big competition, and stage, and get that win under the belt.” The defeat in question was a 43-0 reversal at Franklin’s Gardens. Five of the Leinster players that featured in the game featured in the 40-7 thumping on Saturday.
Moore was involved with the Ireland squad for the November Series but released for the Pro12 fixtures that have added up in Leinster’s eight game winning streak. “That was very important. There was 18 lads away in national camp so there was an onus on us to keep the momentum building for these two weeks.
“We eeked out some results; they were tough games but they gave us the belief.”
