Leinster-Munster rivalry hasn't lost its edge - Cullen

The basic numbers of the Leinster-Munster rivalry paint a picture of a one-sided fight.

Their last 11 meetings are weighted 10-1 in favour of the blue corner, while they've lifted silverware nine times since Munster last got their hands on a trophy.

That doesn't seem to be putting off the punters; more than 45,000 turned up for their early season meeting at the Aviva, while Thomond Park was a 25,600 sell-out for their annual St Stephen's Day clash.

At the time of writing, 26,300 of the 29,000 tickets available for this evening's URC semi-final have been sold, a considerable bump up on the 14,642 that came in the gates a week ago to see Leinster ease through the gears against the Sharks.

The results might be one-sided, but Leinster-Munster is still the URC's big ticket game.

Asked for his thoughts on the opinion that the rivalry has lost it's edge, Leinster boss Leo Cullen replied: "I personally don't see that now."

And he admits results may be weighted in his side's favour, he says the fire burns just as much for his squad as it did in his own playing days, when Munster were the dominant province.

"I think back to the most recent game on St Stephen's Day and it’s a proper cauldron down there in Thomond Park.

"We wanted to try out a couple of combinations that day, properly try them out in that sort of scenario, and it was positive for us. But it was the narrowest of wins, a one-point win, and it could have gone either way.

"They had some chances, they would argue. We scored from a couple of those tap penalty moves that day. The occasion had a bit of everything."

Since taking over as head coach in the summer of 2015, Cullen has won 17 of his 20 meetings with Munster, but says that record stands for little in his own mind.

"I am