Munster will stutter on but it feels like a fatally unstable campaign

That’s three handsome leads coughed up now leaving Munster squeezing through the door and into the vagaries of an away tie, against a side as yet to be confirmed (Leinster?)

TOUGH SPOT: Munster’s Tadhg Beirne dejected after the game

League tables never lie, we know. One look at the Champions Cup Pool C standings on Saturday morning would have taken the most casual of reader that bit deeper into the story of Munster’s fitful efforts across the opening three games.

A win, a draw and a defeat pretty much summed up the fluctuating fortunes – the good, the bad and the indifferent – as they faced into their last pool tie against a dangerous Northampton Saints at a close-to-full Thomond Park.