Enigmatic Munster continue search for consistency as they visit Sportsground

The prospect of a game, any game, amidst this latest round of Covid interruptions is to be welcomed, but the scars left by the pandemic on rugby’s landscape are all too visible even here. Picture: INPHO/Billy Stickland

Alone it stands. Well, near enough as to make little difference. The prospect of a game, any game, amidst this latest round of Covid interruptions is to be welcomed, but the scars left by the pandemic on rugby’s landscape are all too visible even here.

This will be Munster’s first URC game since October 23 thanks in so small part to their aborted South African adventure. It is Connacht’s last in the competition for a month. Both sets of players spent Christmas Day carving an extra slice of turkey and doom scrolling through the TV listings rather than prepping for the usual St Stephen’s Day fare.