Munster embracing the challenge of keeping European hopes alive

CHALLENGE: Players, from left, Joey Carbery, Craig Casey and John Hodnett during a Munster Rugby squad training session at Thomond Park in Limerick. Pic: Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile

Heineken Champions Cup rugby is littered with examples of teams abandoning hope of success at the first setback yet Munster could never be accused of such a policy.

Prioritising league form over a run in Europe is a logical decision for coaches once qualification for the knockout stages appears to have eluded them and the precarious nature of the current format of the pool qualification process, with just four games to plot an escape route from a 12-team group, will no doubt have seen the issue raised in coaches’ meeting rooms across the continent earlier this week if the opening weekend did not go according to plan.