This may be a pool of death Munster are facing into as the 25th Heineken Champions Cup campaign gets underway this weekend but the fixture schedule has at least handed Johann van Graan’s side the most palatable of introductions, albeit away, with a trip to off-form Ospreys.

Simon Lewis Rory Scannell embarks on his fifth European campaign this weekend confident that the value new attack guru Stephen Larkham can add to Munster’s arsenal could be the missing ingredient to

An hour's drive north of Yokohama, where tomorrow's Rugby World Cup final will be played, lies the Ajinamoto Stadium.

Jerry Flannery expects Felix Jones to take his experience of being involved in coaching South Africa to a World Cup final back to Ireland someday.

JP Ferreira, the Munster defence coach, has renewed his contract by another two years, while further positive news for the province is that Graham Rowntree, the former England prop, has arrived to take over from Jerry Flannery as forwards coach.

Munster coach Johann van Graan vows the province will ‘look after’ their shattered Irish players when they return from their World Cup heartbreak.

Brendan O’Brien The news that a foreign coach had been co-opted onto the Springboks ticket before leaving for Japan stirred fond memories for Bryan Habana.

Former Ireland international and Munster coach Felix Jones has joined South Africa's Rugby World Cup coaching ticket.

Felix Jones could join the Springboks coaching set-up ahead of the World Cup, according to reports in South Africa.

The ex-Ireland international left the Munster coaching team earlier this year.

Thirty years on from Tipperary beating Antrim in the All-Ireland final, there was a strong Saffron influence running through the team for Sunday’s All-Ireland win over Kilkenny.

With 15 players away with the Ireland team as World Cup preparations intensify, Munster front row forward Stephen Archer says there is a great opportunity for the province’s young stars to stand up and be counted.

So that’s nearly Tuesday wrapped up. Here’s some of the stories we published on irishexaminer.com today which we hope will help you make sense of it all this evening.

Jerry Flannery has spoken about his decision to leave his role as forwards coach with Munster.

Eir sport has unveiled a "new and fresh" looking Rugby World Cup team of experts, with Gordon D’Arcy, Peter Stringer and Jerry Flannery fronting studio analysis for Japan in the autumn.

Paul O’Connell feels Munster need to be mindful about the absence of any ‘locals’ on their backroom staff as they look to a new campaign with a new-look brains trust under Johann van Graan.

News of the Munster legend's Paris departure was announced at the end of March

Munster’s new-look brains trust will have little time to brace for their first intensive exam on the back of a Heineken Champions Cup draw in Lausanne yesterday which did the province few favours.

Munster Rugby’s search for a “next-level” experienced senior coach is close to a conclusion and will not be limited by financial considerations, acting CEO Philip Quinn has assured supporters.

Munster are set to complete their coaching set up by appointing Australian Stephen Larkham as their backs coach.

Graham Rowntree has been named as Munster's new forwards coach.

IRFU Performance Director David Nucifora backed Johann van Graan as the right man to take Munster forward and pledged to surround the head coach with experience and support in the province’s new-look backroom staff.

Mike Prendergast has been appointed as Racing 92's new attack coach.

When Scottish referee Mike Adamson blew the final whistle at the RDS last Saturday, it not only signalled the end of a somewhat underwhelming Guinness PRO14 semi-final, but also brought another Munster

Simon Lewis The Munster exit door kept revolving yesterday as exciting young fly-half Bill Johnston left for Ulster in search of more game time and Heineken Cup-winning legend Doug Howlett decided to return to his native New Zealand.

Johann van Graan admits Munster will find it difficult to build momentum for next season while having to bed in possibly three new coaches.

Leinster made light of their European final disappointment in Newcastle to brush past rivals Munster and ease into next Saturday’s Guinness PRO14 decider.

Peter O’Mahony is certain not only that Munster are going to need their best performance of the season on Saturday but also that the current turmoil behind the scenes will have no bearing on what his team produces in the Guinness PRO14 semi-final at Leinster.

Johann van Graan has urged Munster supporters to look at the positives of a playing squad in it for the long haul despite the “strange” situation of two key coaches deciding to quit.

“There is massive opportunity in this disappointment and hopefully we can see the bright side of it.”

Munster's strength and conditioning coach PJ Wilson seems set to follow Jerry Flannery and Felix Jones out the door this summer.

When you are idle in a hotel room in Johannesburg, the pre-match statistics booklet for the Heineken Cup final offers welcome respite from the boredom. Where’s the oul paddies out here when you need one for a chat? Which is why a mass of statistics has become my coffee buddy for part of the week.

In times of turmoil, and there has been plenty of that at Munster in recent seasons, the onus falls on the playing squad’s leadership group to pull the province through troubled waters, and it will be no different this time as the unexpected search for new coaches begins.

It is only a month ago that Munster Rugby was looking forward to a new era of stability, brought about by a settled coaching ticket.

So that’s Tuesday nearly wrapped up. Here’s some of the stories we published on irishexaminer.com today which we hope will help you make sense of it all this evening.

Munster Rugby and the IRFU have confirmed that Jerry Flannery and Felix Jones will leave at the end of the season.

Johann van Graan has hinted any additions to his coaching team will have an emphasis on bolstering Munster’s attacking threat.

Felix Jones looks set to extend his stay as Munster backline and attack coach beyond this season and fulfil Johann van Graan’s wish for continuity on his coaching ticket.

So, they meet again. Two years on from a semi-final encounter in Dublin that has proven significant for both sides, Munster and Saracens will be reunited at Coventry’s Ricoh Arena tomorrow for another Heineken Champions Cup knockout tussle.

Johann van Graan is hopeful his decision to stay on as Munster boss beyond his current contract can give the province the sort of stability that has propelled the likes of Saracens and the All Blacks to long-term and sustained success.

Munster touched down in the Scottish capital yesterday ready to make their European pedigree tell against a talented, up-and-coming team lacking their experience of closing out big games such as today’s Heineken Champions Cup quarter-final.

Head coach Richard Cockerill has reinstalled hooker and captain Stuart McInally to the side in one of four changes to the starting line-up which defeated Leinster in last week’s round of the PRO14.

Take a former Test player with an evolving philosophy about what it means to be a coach, send him on a mission to absorb the best a champion Super Rugby side can offer and then bring it back to an enabling environment with players just as eager to embrace anything that can help them develop their game.

The battered champions will be wincing through their pain today at a pearl of wisdom first spoken by an Anglo-Irishman just before he won the world heavyweight title: “The bigger they are, the harder they fall.”