David Corkery: Irish rugby fans must look outside 'D4 bubble' and at bigger picture

When it rains it pours. However, in Munster and Ulster’s case, they both seem to be submerged in a once-in-a-lifetime monsoon that looks like it will never stop.

As they face off in tonight’s round eight of the United Rugby Championship both sides will want to stop a rot that has the ability to end their season very early on.

Two weeks ago the Investec European Champions Cup commenced with Munster playing Stade Francais in week one and Castres Olympique six days later.

Ulster on the other hand had the unenviable task of travelling to Toulouse for their first game and then welcomed Bordeaux-Begles to Ravenhill.

Thankfully for Munster, Stade Francais got the sport that they were playing mixed up with something you would only see in an MMA octagon and Munster were easily able to capitalise on their visitors' shocking ill-discipline.

Fast forward six days and all the good work that was done in round one goes up in smoke with a performance that will rank up there with Munster’s worst-ever showings.

You might think that losing by two points away to any Top 14 side is not that bad a result, but it was the mixed-up and at times incompetent performance that screamed the loudest.

It must also be mentioned that Castres had three yellow cards issued against them, which means that they were down to 14 men for 30 minutes of the game and Munster still couldn’t find a way to dominate.

SERIOUS IMPACT

On top of the loss, Munster also shifted a raft of injuries that are going to have a serious impact on the rest of their season.

Gone for the medium to long term are Craig Casey (meniscus tear to his knee), Thaakir Abraham (dislocated shoulder), Dian Bleuler (concussion), Peter O’Mahony (calf), Diarmuid Barron (head and shoulder), and to top it all off Jean Kleyn who has missed all of the season so far is now having to have surgery on his quad.

Conor Murray also remains unavailable due to an elbow injury, while Liam Coombes underwent surgery last week after he sustained a chest muscle injury during an AIL game.

At times you would need to remind yourself that these injuries are happening on a rugby field and not in a war zone, or as Dr Lorenzo Masci, consultant sports physician at the Institute of Sport Exercise & Health, tells us: "Players are getting so big now we are often seeing injuries that we only usually see in motor vehicle accidents."

I don’t think anyone would have fancied Ulster’s chances in their first European Cup game away to Toulouse. However, I also don’t think anyone would have envisaged that Ulster would have been heading home having conceded 61 points.

Having watched that game it really looked like Ulster had conceded that battle long before it commenced, but when Bordeaux arrived in Belfast a week later and inflicted another hammering on Richie Murphy’s men, the alarm bells truly started ringing.

D4 BUBBLE

I don’t recall any province conceding more than 100 points/15 tries in two weeks and if people are saying that Irish rugby is in good health, perhaps they should have a close look at what is happening outside the D4 bubble.

Yes, the national team are doing well, but I can guarantee you that if Irish rugby is going to continue to grow and prosper, all four provinces will need to be playing and contributing at the very highest level.

Putting all your eggs in one blue basket is not a wise decision and I’d like to think the blazers who call the shots are cognisant of this.

In the past, any time Ulster and Munster faced off it was always viewed as a great occasion, but considering what has happened in recent, weeks, months, and years, gone seems to be the spark of historical relevance that once made this derby a thing of beauty.

For either of these sides to get the stone rolling again it is imperative that they register a win tonight.

Apart from last weekend, Ravenhill is normally a very difficult place to win.

The fans can be very vocal and at times slightly too patriotic albeit, confidence in camp Ulster has to be at an all-time low and Munster must strike early to make sure that the likes of Stuart McCloskey and Michael Lowry are not allowed shift beyond second gear.

Earlier in the week Iain Henderson, Ulster’s captain, issued a war cry to his players that they need to turn up tonight and show that they have learned something from their recent losses.

For me, the winners will be the side that has been embarrassed the most and that is Ulster. A loss tonight would signal their fifth straight loss on the bounce and that is simply unacceptable.