Munster braced for bruising battle

Rassie Erasmus may still be learning the ropes as far as Munster’s Guinness PRO12 opponents are concerned but when it comes to today’s visitors to Thomond Park, the South African knows exactly what to expect from Edinburgh and his old coach Alan Solomons.

The Scots will pitch up in Limerick looking for their second win of the new season and to bounce back from last week’s 33-20 home defeat to Leinster. They have been far from convincing in this campaign, Ulster gaining a bonus-point win over Edinburgh in Belfast in the opening round before Solomons’ outfit eked out a 20-9 win at Murrayfield over a misfiring Scarlets.

Just three games into his term as Munster’s first director of rugby Erasmus has been leaning on the experience of head coach Anthony Foley and assistants Jerry Flannery and Felix Jones for the inside track on opposition teams. Yet he understands the challenge that lies ahead from a team coached by the man he worked with at Test level when Solomons was part of the Springboks backroom team in the late 1990s.