Forward play evolves as corner turned and Munster head in right direction

The process of unlearning old habits and practices, learning new training methods, processes and a fresh gameplan inevitably brought teething problems, as forwards coach Kyriacou acknowledged this week ahead of Saturday’s return to the BKT United Rugby Championship.

HUGE IMPROVEMENT: Munster defence coach Denis Leamy. Pic: ©INPHO/Billy Stickland

YOU did not have to scour the videotape from last Sunday for too long to find evidence supporting the argument that the Munster forward pack has taken its game ùp a notch in the last couple of months.

There was plenty of proof in that narrow Heineken Champions Cup pool defeat, from the scrum penalty won on Toulouse’s put-in against a powerful all-Test French front-row, the efficient defence of the five-time European champions’ formidable rolling maul and, equally, the comfort displayed with hands on the ball and out of contact last Sunday.