A searching summer in store for Munster

Peter O’Mahony’s assessment of the areas Leinster are currently leading the way in Irish rugby was as withering of his own team as it was complimentary of his frenemies in blue.

The team that had ended Munster’s bid for a first trophy in seven seasons with a 16-15 Guinness PRO14 semi-final win at Dublin’s RDS on Saturday had underlined they are the standard bearers to which the other Irish provinces must aspire.

Champions Cup final winners over a Racing 92 side which had dumped O’Mahony’s men in red out of Europe at the semi-final stage last month, Leinster had given the Munster captain a salutary lesson about where his side needed to improve if they are to finally scratch that seven-year itch for success in 2018-19.