Reds must grab that bonus

Such is the plot being outlined as Heineken Cup Pool 6 leaders Munster gallop towards Kingsholm to confront a side battered and beleaguered after a thorough going over on the same ground by Saracens last weekend. A bonus-point victory this evening will see Munster charge into the knockout stages a week ahead of schedule, but, given their inconsistency of performance in recent weeks and the still precarious balance of this European group, that is a storyline that will only have been considered by the most optimistic of the Red Army.

Munster can and should win at Gloucester tonight but if the events and exploits of the last month alone have taught us anything, nothing is a given.