Eddie O'Sullivan: Long road back if Munster lose to Ulster

Eddie O'Sullivan says Munster’s interprovincial derby against Ulster could be a watershed game in their season.

Munster fell to their fourth defeat in six games as a patched-up side went down fighting against Leinster at the Aviva Stadium, where they took a surprise lead on 45 minutes only to then concede 20 unanswered points as the home side powered to a sixth successive victory.

Graham Rowntree’s men tackle Ulster at Thomond Park on Saturday, live on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player, in their final game of the opening block of BKT United Rugby Championship fixtures and O’Sullivan believes it could make or break their season.

Speaking on Against The Head, the former Ireland head coach said: "At the moment we don’t know where Munster actually are. We know they’re hamstrung by a horrendous injury list, that they’ve had bad performances and have a new coaching team in. There’s a lot of variables there that does nothing to stabilise the ship.

"Can they get to a point where we see a progression in their game, which means they’re going in the right direction? I would argue, and it’s harsh to say, we haven’t quite seen it yet.

"We’ve seen them pitch up and put their bodies on the line, which is expected, but they couldn’t break Leinster down last Saturday. Their scores came from two penalties from poor discipline by Leinster and a ball that was turned on the ground and hacked up the pitch.