Graham Rowntree fills his Munster glass half-full

Rarely can a loss to Leinster have given so much cause for optimism in the red corner

GLASS HALF-FULL: Munster head coach Graham Rowntree before the United Rugby Championship match between Leinster and Munster at Aviva Stadium in Dublin. Pic: Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile

It will not be a view widely circulated around a sombre visitor’s dressing room on Saturday after an inexperienced Munster side digested yet another defeat to Leinster. But rarely can a loss to the old enemy have given so much cause for optimism in the red corner.

Graham Rowntree certainly felt that way as his young and injury-hit side came up short in Dublin but the new head coach found more positives in his team’s implementation of a fast-developing gameplan than his old Leicester Tigers packmate Leo Cullen did from an often wayward execution of a tried and tested formula in the opposite camp.