Defiant Munster focus on positive side

Nobody within the Munster setup has tried to put a gloss on the performance in last week’s European Champions Cup defeat by Saracens. But end-of-an-era talk? They are not buying into that.

Denis Hurley, who has given yeoman service to the province as full-back (where he did himself proud in the 2008 Heineken Cup triumph), wing and centre, struggles to conceal his annoyance on hearing this kind of gloom.

“We are professional players and if we believe this is an end of an era, then there is no point in us turning up this weekend or training tomorrow,” he says forcefully. “We have to go forward in the belief that we are a good enough squad to perform and to achieve at the top levels in Europe.