Donal Lenihan: Munster need to look in the mirror

With a decent-looking schedule, a win over Connacht last Friday night would have made it very difficult for others to close the gap and put Munster in pole position for an enticing Rainbow Cup final berth

Munster's Tadhg Beirne and Niall Scannell dejected as Connacht's Jack Carty and Tom Daly celebrate winning the PRO14 Rainbow Cup clash. Picture: INPHO/James Crombie

Munster, once again, have to live with the consequences of bombing at the very moment when a PRO14 Rainbow Cup win at home would have all but guaranteed them a place in an enticing, first-ever club final between northern and southern hemisphere club sides.

With a decent-looking schedule of the Cardiff Blues at home and Zebre away, a win over Connacht last Friday night would have made it very difficult for others to close the gap. You can just imagine the reaction in the Leinster dressing room to the result from Limerick when news filtered through that Connacht, who they had filleted in Galway the previous weekend, had rocked up at Thomond Park and beaten Munster to offer Leo Cullen’s men a lifeline in advance of their game against Ulster.