It mightn’t have been a performance to set the pulses racing but Munster still got the new campaign off to a five-try, bonus point start by hammering the hapless Dragons - even without a dozen of their World Cup-tied players on duty in Japan.

Dragons new head coach Dean Ryan has described this afternoon’s Guinness PRO14 visit to Thomond Park as “a massive challenge”. His forwards coach, Ceri Jones, went a stage further in calling it “the acid test”.

Connacht got the result, but not the performance they required in this fraught win over Michael Bradley’s Zebre.

Munster head coach Johann van Graan reserved special praise for his young players and the experience of scrum-half Alby Mathewson after his team survived a big scare in Newport.