His favourite memory from Irish Rugby’s biggest rivalry was Brian O’Driscoll’s intercept in the 2009 Heineken Cup final.
With Munster pressing on the Leinster 22, Ronan O’Gara threw a spiral pass towards Paul O’Connell that was plucked out of the air by O’Driscoll who then ran the length of the field to put the nail in the Heineken Cup champions’ coffin.
“The one that stands out to me was in the Heineken Cup semi-final, when BOD got the interception from Ronan O’Gara,” he recalls. “I was there with my friends, and when I saw that I knew ‘that’s what I wanted to do.’”
Eight years later and Larmour had progressed from the stands of Croke Park to centre stage in Thomond Park.
With Leinster leading by eight points with just over 11 minutes to play, Larmour killed the game off with a stunning solo try.
Starting in the first Munster-Leinster derby of his blossoming career, Larmour caught the ball just outside his 22 before leaving Sam Arnold in the dirt, Rory Scannell in his wake and Ian Keatley on his stomach before then beating a covering Simon Zebo to the try line.
Buaicphointe an chluiche!
No obstacles got in Larmours way! Dochreidte! #MUNvLEIN @leinsterrugby pic.twitter.com/dCse4VnBOy— Spórt TG4 (@SportTG4) December 26, 2017
It was a sensational score for the 20-year-old and mirrored a similar try he notched at the Kingspan Stadium earlier this season when Leinster defeated Ulster.
Larmour has shown an ability to score from anywhere before, but it’s not just his capacity to step off both feet that has earned him rave reviews this season, it’s his all-round skillset and his rugby nous that has made him one of Irish Rugby’s brightest prospects.
In the build up to Dan Leavy’s opening try of the game, a well-taken try from a brilliant Ross Byrne crosskick, Larmour hovered around James Lowe and surged into the Munster 22 with a burst of acceleration.
His physical gifts allowed him to cover nearly 30 metres from the time he received the ball to the time he was taken down in a two-man tackle just inside the Munster 22, but his support play and positioning was exceptional.
In the build-up to Leinster’s second score of the half, a penalty try where Lowe was taken out just short of the line by Andrew Conway, Larmour created the scoring opportnity from seemingly nothing when he pinned a grubber kick in behind the Munster defence and towards the corner.
The Munster defence came up hard and fast, and with space on the fringes at an absolute premium, Larmour was able to exploit the space behind the defence by taking the only logical option available to him.
His positioning in attack was excellent. His decision making was exceptional. His ability to clean up tactical kicks and counter was brilliant, and his pace and finishing was simply outstanding. His only real mistake was a sliced clearance off the outside of his boot towards the end of the first-half, but otherwise, he was superb.
“He was covering the backfield really well, he was very good in the air, his positioning was good, the step off his right foot was ridiculously good, he doesn’t lose an ounce of pace,” former Ireland winger Shane Horgan said on Sky Sports post-game show.
“That was a world class try from a guy who is 20 years of age in his breakthrough season. He looked entirely comfortable, and again, like in the backrow, you look at the names that weren’t there in the back three for Leinster with Carbery, Kearney, Isa Nacewa and Fergus McFadden, and you think how can they do this?”
Leinster have a similar predicament in the backrow with Jordi Murphy, Josh van der Flier, Sean O’Brien and Dan Leavy all competing for places on the side of the Blues scrum, but Leavy has certainly emerged as a certain starter following his man of the match performance on Tuesday.
Comhghairdeas le Laoch na himreatha Dan Leavy #MUNvLEIN pic.twitter.com/98U8TIegJv
— Spórt TG4 (@SportTG4) December 26, 2017
The 23-year-old was exceptional off the bench against Exeter a fortnight ago, providing the assist that ultimately sealed Leinster the come-from-behind win at the Aviva Stadium, but in a feature role at openside flanker against Munster he was even better.
10 runs in attack (second to only Jordi Murphy). 13 tackles in defence (second to only Devin Toner in the pack). Another huge turnover at the breakdown with the game in the balance and the opposition pressing closer towards the line.
His workrate is phenomenal. He’s a genuine hawk over the top of the ball. His support lines are excellent. He still has some work to do on his defensive positioning at times, as evidenced by last year’s semi-final loss to Clermont, but he has what all great openside flankers have in them, he has some genuine dog in him, that uncoachable trait that generally separates great from gifted.
Leinster’s depth has received a lot of praise over the last few weeks, and rightfully so, but depth implies that the province are well stocked behind their first-choice starters.
Larmour and Leavy may have made Leo Cullen and his coaching staff reassess their definition of ‘first-choice’ heading into 2018.
As Horgan said in commentary: “What’s the conversation? It’s very, very difficult to say ‘listen you’re on the bench this week’ or ‘you’re not going to be given a number of opportunities by the end of the season’.
Difficult conversations made tougher by enviable decisions.
