Confidence key to Munster kickstarting their season - Keatley

Sunday's BKT United Rugby Championship visit to Dragons presents Munster with a big opportunity to boost their confidence, according to the province's former out-half Ian Keatley.

After a coaching change in the off-season, Munster made a losing start to Graham Rowntree's reign last Saturday when they were beaten by Cardiff at the Arms Park.

They return to Wales this Sunday to face the Dragons in Newport (live on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player), and are likely to be boosted by the return of most of their frontline Ireland internationals, who were rested for the Round 1 defeat.

And with a run of difficult fixtures to come next month, starting with a Round 4 visit to Connacht, Keatley says they need to start putting Ws on the board now.

"They're lacking a little bit of confidence, they lost their two pre-season games, lost against Cardiff, and with their run-in before Christmas, they've got six derby matches which we all know are tough games to get through," the former out-half told the RTÉ Rugby podcast.

"They need to get a win or two, get a bit of confidence going and you'll see them playing a lot more freely, once they get wins under their belt.

"Hopefully they can beat Dragons this weekend, then they play Zebre, then they have Connacht and if they can get a bit of confidence going, you'll see that attacking Munster come out a bit more, which Prendergast is trying to instil in them."

Keatley, who is head coach of UL Bohemian for the upcoming Energia All-Ireland League season, believes that the players will need some time to adjust to the new coaching regime.

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