Injuries have afforded Munster's young guns a chance - one they've grabbed with both hands

Academy duo Edwin Edogbo and Brian Gleeson, and second-year senior pro Tom Ahern have shone in the Munster pack in recent weeks, enough to allow Prendergast to look forward to another Champions Cup campaign with relative relish.

FLYING HIGH: Munster's Tom Ahern taken in the air by Glasgow Scrumhalf Sean Kennedy. Pic: Kieran Ryan-Benson

It has long been a mantra within Graham Rowntree’s Munster coaching group that if a player is good enough, he’s old enough and nothing has changed in a Champions Cup match week.

Competition newcomers Bayonne’s first taste of European club rugby will come under the lights at Thomond Park on Saturday evening and though their hosts may be missing some key frontline players, assistant coach Mike Prendergast has seen enough of the next wave from within the Munster squad to be comfortable with the prospect of sending them into the cauldron during the upcoming Pool 3 campaign.