Munster found form in Italy but there's no room for error from here

Last Saturday night in Treviso felt like the real Munster for the first time in ages.

The big question now is whether Clayton McMillan’s side can back up that display with another important victory over injury-hit Ulster at Thomond Park on Saturday night?

The win over Benetton felt like Munster’s first impressive performance since the 14-31 victory over Leinster at Croke Park last October.

Munster have won games since then, but even those were of the scrappy nature or achieved in third gear. Saturday was much closer to the standard required.

On paper an away trip to Benetton looked an extremely tricky prospect, but they dominated the opening exchanges and raced into an early lead through tries from Calvin Nash and Tom Farrell, before Gavin Coombes also crossed to ensure they led 3-19 at half time.

Further tries from Jean Kleyn, Alex Kendellan, Tadhg Beirne and Brian Gleeson completed the unexpected 15-45 rout, as Munster got their season firmly back on track and dispelled a lot of the negative energy emanating around the club in recent weeks and months.

One of the major upsides in last weekend’s performance was the display of the Munster back three, as Shane Daly, Calvin Nash and Andrew Smith came out on top, which few combinations of Munster back threes can claim to have done this season.

If the trio retain their form, then they should retain those jerseys for the remainder of the campaign.

It helps them that Jack Crowley and Alex Nankivell are pulling the strings as both are flying.

If the pack can get firing then that pair and the likes of Craig Casey and Tom Farrell can mix it with anyone.

Munster seemed eager to get the ball to Crowley quicker than usual in Treviso.

We are used to the Munster forwards hogging the ball when they get inside opposition 22’s and often these attacks end up losing momentum with Munster getting turned over.

Mixing it up by getting the ball into the hands of Crowley to either go wide or to using his kicking game gives the Munster attack more strings to their bow.

CONSISTENT

There was a noticeable improvement in tempo and accuracy in Italy but the team must prove that it was not a one-off.

The improved discipline and lack of basic errors must be the standard moving forward, as if Munster could achieve wins over Ulster, Connacht and the Lions then they could find themselves right back in the title frame for the URC and perhaps even sneak one of the top four berths.

That kind of thinking is getting too far ahead of ourselves, however, as a top eight spot is still far from assured, and failure to win this weekend would probably have Munster on track to miss out completely.

Ulster’s huge injury crisis potentially makes Munster’s task a lot easier on Saturday.

Munster’s front row issues this season has been well documented, with the scrum crumbling regularly all year. However, for once they are possibly meeting a side this weekend with worse issues as Ulster are struggling to find fit props for this fixture.

Angus Bell, Tom O’Toole and Scott Wilson are all out after picking up knocks in the defeat to Leinster last weekend and they are the main three props for Richie Murphy’s side.

You would expect that this should prevent Ulster from really going after Munster’s current Achilles heel, the scrum, which should grant Munster a foothold in the tie.

Centres James Hume and Jude Postlethwaite were also injured last week, while in-form back row Bryn Ward also picked up a knock.

Add these key players to the players who are already out and Ulster are entering full blown injury crisis. Nick Timoney, Rob Herring, Robert Baloucoune, James McNabney, Stewart Moore and Rory McGuire will not be togged out on Saturday at Thomond Park.

Their collective absences mean that there can be no excuses for Munster this weekend, as one thing Ulster does not possess is squad depth.

Two wins from the next three fixtures will probably be enough to guarantee a play-off berth and the Champions Cup qualification that comes with it.

Given Ulster’s issues this needs to be one of those.