Penney’s men lack killer instinct

Edinburgh 17 Munster 26

For those with short memories and pining for the Munster of old, this European campaign has been nowhere near as dismal as that in 2010-11, when Tony McGahan’s side bombed out at London Irish in their opening game and were shambolic when blown to smithereens by a rampant Toulon in round five.

This season’s away defeats in Paris and at Saracens means those nadirs of two years ago have been replaced by what could have beens, maybes, and what ifs? But the bottom line is that Munster need to finish their Pool 1 campaign in style next Sunday at Thomond Park against Racing Metro.