It’s two wins from two and it’s eight points on the board, but a trip to Ravenhill with the return of some first team stars will be the first real test for Rob Penney’s new-look Munster.
Only once in their last five visits have Munster returned from Belfast with a win, and if Penney’s side are to change that trend, they will need to improve vastly on last Friday night’s scrappy victory against Treviso at Thomond Park.
At times last Friday, everything looked right. In the tight, Stephen Archer looked leaner and fitter, while new signing Sean Dougall continued his impressive start, often landing seamlessly on the side of ball carrier after ball carrier.
Outside him, Keatley’s kicking was sharp and shrewd, while Downey, Laulala, Howlett and O’Dea often found gaps in the visitors’ defence, but were just lacking in sharpness to turn the eventual four points into five.
Ulster, like Munster, have started with two wins from two under new coach Mark Anscombe, who will be expecting his opponents to make some changes, with Conor Murray, Ronan O’Gara, Keith Earls and Simon Zebo all available for selection.
To counter that, Anscombe can welcome back Dan Touhy and Chris Henry, after Stephen Ferris, Tom Court and Andrew Trimble all returned to action in the victory against the Ospreys on Saturday.
