Peter O’Mahony is to Munster what Paul O’Connell was for over a decade

Forget about the bonus point, the seven tries scored or the margin of victory, the most pleasing and significant moment of Munster’s comprehensive 49-5 win over Zebre on Saturday was the return to action of their captain Peter O’Mahony.

For me, the season starts in earnest when Munster rock up to the Aviva Stadium to take on arch-rivals Leinster on Saturday afternoon in the perfect dress rehearsal for both sides with the opening round of European competition arriving a week later.

Up to this point, the season, for all our provincial sides, revolves around getting players up to big match intensity along with the incessant drip feeding of the international contingent back into the match-day squads.