'Bitter is better' - Ian Costello wants Munster to make it 'personal' against Northampton Saints

Munster interim coach Ian Costello is challenging his players to make Saturday's Investec Champions Cup Pool 3 finale against the Northampton Saints "personal" as the province look to secure top spot and home advantage in the knockouts.

While Munster aren’t officially qualified for the next round, they do know a win against the Premiership champions would likely be enough to have a home tie in the next round, while they could even top the pool depending on results elsewhere.

Saturday’s game at Franklin’s Gardens will be an eleventh meeting of the sides in the competition, and their fifth in just over two years.

Munster won home and away against the Saints during the 2022/23 pool stage, but lost twice to the English side last season, beaten in their final pool game at Thomond Park, before losing again in the Round of 16 in Northampton.

And Costello believes that familiarity is sure to add some more heat to an already spicy rivalry this weekend.

"It’s always in the best sense of the word when we use it in Munster: Bitter is better," Costello said.

"It’s personal. We made last week [against Saracens] personal, it was personal in front of our fans, 22,000 people, we hadn't given the best in their eyes, we hadn't produced a performance worthy of that type of crowd on the 27th against Leinster, so we made it personal in terms of the battles on the field and what we wanted the crowd to see.

"It’s personal again this weekend; personal in that they knocked us out of the Champions Cup [last season], it’s a tough place to go and we know what’s at stake.

"The carrot if we win, we find ourselves back in Thomond Park in April in front of a crowd like we had on Saturday night, and everyone wants that, everyone craves it. We just want more of