Gloucester are taking nothing for granted
Last season the Zurich Premiership side travelled to Limerick having won the home leg at Kingsholm. The rest of course is history as Munster went on to record a 33-6 victory that knocked the English champions out of the competition in the most incredible circumstances.
Henry Paul has good reason to remember Thomond - last season he was replaced after 61 minutes. Last Saturday, his man of the match performance went some way towards erasing the misery inflicted by Munster.
But he feels that the job is still to be completed. "Some said we were disgraced in Munster, but they played very well. They went for the game and we were naive and stupid. I remember getting a few high balls to deal with. You make mistakes, roll with it and get on with life," he said.
"Thomond Park is very similar to Kingsholm and I really enjoyed the atmosphere over there I was really buzzing.
"They really got in our faces and swamped us. It was good for the fans to see us beat them at home, but we still know that Munster are a threat.
"We are really wary about going back to Limerick because funny things can happen under pressure. We have got to put them under pressure and see how we can handle their pressure.
"We had a game plan at Kingsholm that I don't think will work over there. They will have worked us out after this defeat, although I'm sure our coaches Dean Ryan and Nigel Melville will have something new for us to take to Munster," said Paul.
"Munster are very good wide out. They are very good at covering both sides of the field. We ran them off their feet but they rolled with the punches like a good team. There were a lot of opportunities we didn't take."
Meanwhile Marcus Horan, who suffered a back spasm at Kingsholm, will be fit to take his place in the Munster front-row for next Saturday's clash with Gloucester at Thomond Park.
"There is no doubt that Marcus will be there," said coach Alan Gaffney. "He will train with the squad at Thomond Park today although he won't do any heavy work until our next session in Cork on Thursday."
Gordon McIlwham, the Scottish World Cup player who replaced Horan was commended by Gaffney. "A good tight head can do a job at loose head and Gordon proved that."
On the match as a whole Gaffney said: "We failed as a team. I felt a lot of guys played well as individuals but they just didn't perform as a team. We weren't smart and never got our patterns and structures right.
"We defended and scrambled well enough but we also dropped off a few tackles and that's an area where we could also be a little better.
"Our work at the breakdown was also disappointing and Peter Stringer was put under a lot of pressure and that then spread through the back line as a whole.
"We didn't attack them on Saturday and whether that was due to a certain lack of preparation I don't know.
"The nationals do one thing and we do another, and that certainly didn't help. That said, Gloucester may also improve themselves but our job is to get our side of the job right and not concern ourselves about them."
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
