JORDAN LARMOUR’S CHRISTMAS wasn’t all that different to most of ours.

It consisted of “a lot of food”, “food comas” and “a few naps”. The one difference was that he could pass it off as “carb-loading” without completely fooling himself.

Larmour’s body absorbed worse abuse a few days after the big dinner, however – Munster proving too ravenous for their eastern rivals in Thomond Park and claiming the spoils from the fixture for the first time since 2016.

It was Leinster who wound up sticking a fork in themselves, to some extent. A first half in which they received three cards — one of them red — helped their hosts to build upon an early momentum earned with even numbers despite Larmour and co’s best efforts in the second stanza.

In that sense, Larmour’s first defeat to Munster was a sore one on two counts.

Energia, Official energy partner of Leinster Rugby, announces a multi-year partnership with Jordan Larmour. The agreement allows Energia to deliver its vision through their new campaign #ThePowerBehindLeinster, powering rugby from grassroots through to the European stage. Source: Billy Stickland/INPHO

“There’s always a bit of niggle between Leinster and Munster in these big derby games,” he tells The42′s rugby podcast, Heineken Rugby Weekly. “We pride ourselves on our discipline and we let ourselves down at times throughout the game.

“Giving away that many penalties to a team like Munster — like, they’ll rip you apart.

“You know…” Larmour pauses, then tuts to himself. “We had a review on Monday and went through it to see where we can get better. There were a few key moments in the game that we didn’t get right, and we put ourselves on the back foot.”

Leinster’s atypical propensity on the day for “compounding errors” was the most striking takeaway from Monday’s sit-down, as well as one particular incident — still fresh in Larmour’s mind — during which Leinster could have made a clean exit but wound up conceding a penalty and, subsequently, a score.

“Those kind of errors that we made throughout the game didn’t help us. At the end of the day, they cost us.

“Maybe just the passion that we had, and I suppose just being up for the game… You’re playing against players that you’re competing with [for international spots], so you want to play well. And maybe that had an influence on it.

“But I think it’s important to do your own thing. Like, when you’re playing against them, you’re not thinking, ‘Oh, we’re friends,’” Larmour smiles. “You’re enemies. But then once the game is over, you can laugh and joke about it — you’re back to normal.

“But there is a rivalry between the two teams and you want to play better than your opposite number because you’re competing with him for an Ireland spot.”

Tempers flare at Thomond. Source: Dan Sheridan/INPHO

All in all, last Saturday was but a bump on a road which has seen Larmour burn his way into a position of potential stardom over the past 18 months: a phenomenal 2018 kicked off in earnest with his international debut — the highlight, as far as he’s concerned — and culminated some three trophies and 11 blistering senior tries later in his being nominated for World Rugby’s Breakthrough Player of the Year award.

In the greatest understatement of the new year to date, he describes that breakthrough as “pretty cool” and “good fun so far,” before reflecting upon it in greater detail — something which he hasn’t had much of a chance to do given the speed with which he has ascended to prominence in club and country colours.

“All through school, all I wanted to do was become a professional rugby player,” he says. Born in 1997, he’s of a generation where that makes sense.

“I don’t really know how it has happened so fast, actually. Maybe it’s just practising the skills, training hard and then once you get an opportunity, try and take it. It’s probably also [about] having the mindset of knowing there are better players out there and trying to get up to their level.

As it turns out, he’s well able to bury himself in the books, or an iPad at least.

“It’s needed at this level. For big games, you need to know your opposition inside out so you can come up with a gameplan to beat them.

“Maybe now that there’s more footage of me, people are studying me more as well. But all I’m going to try and do is keep doing what I’m doing, keep trying to get better, and keep trying to play well.

“You’ve got to work on everything; I’d be practising my kicking, my high-ball work, my passing, my ruck clearouts, tackling.

“You might be in certain defensive situations, and if you make a mistake you’ll learn from that mistake, and next time you’ll do better.

“But you’re always going to be working on skills, no matter how senior you are — whether it’s your first cap or your 100th cap.”

Jordan Larmour has been hesitant to reflect too much on his last 18 months. Source: Ryan Byrne/INPHO

He was just a couple of years removed from St. Andrew’s College when he first exploded onto the scene with his province, but he did so as part of an emerging Leinster crop for whom such severe baptisms of fire have become commonplace.

The seamlessness with which Leinster now move youngsters all the way through their ranks has seen the European champions become the envy of clubs at home and abroad, but Larmour doesn’t see this success as anything especially peculiar.

“I think if you’re good enough, you’re ready,” he says. “Scott Penny is 19 and he’s class! You’ve seen it in the games he’s played so far. I think he has two caps and two tries, so he’s going well at the moment.

“If you’re good enough, you’re ready, like,” he repeats firmly. “They’ll give you a chance, they’ll give you an opportunity. It’s just about taking it.”