Munster v Saracens preview: Reds must roll back the years in must-win showdown

The English outfit come to Thomond Park on Saturday evening. 

FIRE AND ICE: Attack Coach Mike Prendergast. Pic: INPHO/James Crombie

Not for the first time in a long and storied timeline of European club rugby, Munster go into a penultimate round of pool play welcoming English opposition to Thomond Park on a winter’s evening needing to pull a rabbit out of the hat to keep Champions Cup hopes alive.

Yes, Saturday’s visit of a powerhouse and free-scoring Saracens side has all the hallmarks of a famous night in store for Munster supporters under the Limerick lights, and with 20,750 tickets sold as of Friday afternoon the fixture has caught the imagination. Yet such has been the home team’s inconsistency over the opening five months of the season to date, both from week to week and across an 80-minute game, that a backs-to-the-wall, us against the world performance from the men in whatever shade of red the current competition jersey is far from guaranteed.