Brian O'Driscoll believes that the nature of Leinster and Munster's rivalry has changed in recent years.
He discussed the fixture following Paul O'Connell's comments at Off The Ball's show from Cork Opera House on Wednesday when he said that the games between the two provinces have lost their "niggle."
"You gotta have history to create niggle. That semi-final in 2006, that hurt us so badly. It hurt them hugely in 2009. Even going back to the Celtic League win in 2001 where we won with 14 men, that's what created it. We had a chip on our shoulder because they were getting to semi-finals and finals the whole time and we couldn't manage to get beyond a semi-final," the former Ireland captain commented.
He described the Munster pack of the 00s as "dogs" who brought ferocious physicality to the game and noted that the current crop is playing a different brand of rugby.
"We were building this hatred, for want of another word, of one of another. Envy is probably a better term because we were definitely envious of them - them probably less so of us. This was building and then because we managed to pick one off over the course of that seven or eight year period ... It added to the fixture for the following season," O'Driscoll continued.
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