Penney: Transition phase over

Rob Penney has declared Munster’s period of transition to be well and truly over as the province turns its focus towards Saturday’s meeting with Leinster and, beyond that, the opening rounds of the Heineken Cup.

The ‘T’ word was being bandied about the province long before the Kiwi replaced Tony McGahan during the summer but Penney could have been forgiven for leaning on it a while longer as Munster and their new head man get to grips with one another.

Joe Schmidt zeroed in on Leinster’s ball skills when he arrived in Dublin three summers ago and Penney has followed that blueprint with a Munster side that has changed considerably in terms of personnel from the one that delivered their last Heineken Cup back in 2008.