SIMON LEWIS: Reality check for Reds as Quins looming large

Munster supporters have been used to setbacks in advance of must-win Heineken Cup games but rarely can there have been one of such seismic proportions as the province experienced in Glasgow last night.

With a European quarter-final looming next weekend in London against Heineken Cup top seeds Harlequins, Munster slumped not just to their biggest defeat of the season but the 51-24 scoreline at Scotstoun in this RaboDirect Pro12 meeting represented the heaviest defeat for nine years.

Not since Cardiff scored a 60-14 end of season victory over a sorry Munster outfit at the Arms Park in April 2004 have the Reds conceded a half-century of points and head coach Rob Penney has an awful lot of work to do to turn this ship around before his side visits The Stoop next weekend.