Munster need Red Army more than ever

THE enormity of what Leinster achieved in last season’s Heineken Cup can only be fully appreciated through the quality they dispatched on the way to lifting the trophy for the second time in three seasons.

By the end of last season, Leinster’s pool opponents Saracens had been crowned Aviva Premiership champions while their other two pool opponents, Racing Metro and Clermont Auvergne, had finished second and third respectively in the Top14 championship after 26 gruelling rounds of competition.

In addition they beat eventual French champions Toulouse in a classic Heineken Cup semi-final in Dublin having already disposed of English Premiership runners-up Leicester Tigers at the same venue a few weeks earlier. Factor in that amazing second half comeback against Northampton in the final after trailing by 16 points at half-time and one begins to fully appreciate the magnitude of what Joe Schmidt’s men accomplished last season. They were the undisputed kings of Europe.