Chest out, tails up for Munster

This may be the biggest game of his fledgling career as a head coach but five months into his tenure as Munster boss, Johann van Graan is finally in familiar territory.

A Champions Cup semi-final against French Top14 opposition in Bordeaux tomorrow may not seem like it as Munster bid to halt a losing run of five successive visits to Europe’s final four but there is little facing the South African that he has not already experienced since succeeding Rassie Erasmus in mid-November.

Be it the opposing club, the difficult away fixture or even the world-class quality of the squad lining up against his Munster team at Stade Chaban-Delmas, van Graan and his developing squad have already reached a point in their time together where those boxes have been ticked.