They may be the “Six Nations champions”, according to Rob Penney, but Leinster head coach Matt O’Connor is taking no chances with his selection for tonight’s top-of-the-table league clash with Munster, keeping several frontline players out of the inter-provincial fray ahead of European battle next weekend.

To look at the way Donnacha Ryan earned his Munster Player of the Year award you would never imagine the bristling, marauding forward ever experienced moments of doubt.