Darren Cave: Ospreys will smell Munster blood

Former Ireland international Darren Cave says the Ospreys will be smelling blood as they prepare to take on a Munster team who produced their "poorest performance" under Graham Rowntree in losing to Zebre Parma.

Rowntree's side went down to a shock 42-33 defeat in Italy last weekend, conceding six tries, while the Ospreys recorded a 37-24 bonus-point victory over the Stormers in Bridgend.

Now the two teams will lock horns in Cork on Saturday night (7.35pm, live on RTÉ).

Former Ulster centre Cave reflected on Munster’s headline-grabbing loss to Zebre.

"I was working on television for the game and I was on with Donncha O’Callaghan who is obviously one of Munster’s greatest legends and he was very scathing about them," he said.

"It was a dreadful day out. It was certainly the poorest performance Munster have had in the Graham Rowntree era.

We need your consent to load this YouTube content We use YouTube to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content. Manage Preferences

"From an Ospreys point of view, they will definitely smell blood, particularly on the back of a good win against the Stormers where they racked up a few tries.

"The Munster defence in the first two weeks of the season has been average at best.

"The Ospreys will see they are playing against a team that is conceding an average of 37 points a game so far. Munster also conceded 33 points at home to Gloucester in pre-season.

"So the Ospreys will be viewing this as a team that’s not defending well.

"They will feel if they can get Munster under pressure early, will the pressure of the past week tell because the team meetings will have been phenomenally hard