Munster ready for old enemy, says Downey

There will be more than just home comfort when Munster return to Thomond Park on Saturday to face inter-provincial rivals Leinster, with James Downey believing the southern province is in a much better place to finally beat their old foes than they were last season.

It has been five meetings and 29 months since Munster last defeated their bitter enemies, in the Celtic League final at Thomond Park on May 28, 2011. Two seasons of home and away defeats in the league followed.

Yet Downey believes much has improved at Munster since then, with Rob Penney’s efforts to broaden his players’ skill sets and add variety to the province’s game plan finally bedding in. Three wins from the opening four games in the RaboDirect Pro12 have shown some evidence of that and Downey, who is expected to make his third appearance of the season this weekend, believes Munster are in a far better position than a year ago.