‘One pass away’ from contenders

THE boxes have all been ticked and a return to the Heineken Cup quarter-finals after the misery of last season has been secured with five pool wins out of five.

And Munster being Munster, the focus has already switched to ensuring the victory that will make it six wins from six and a home quarter-final berth when the two-time champions travel to Milton Keynes on Saturday and bid to inflict more heartache on Northampton Saints.

Compared to a year ago, when Munster flew out of Marseille in the depths of despair following a thorough pounding at Toulon, this weekend’s defeat of Castres to book a 13th trip to the knockout stages of Europe’s premier club competition was a moment of triumph.