Jack Crowley's 12 cameo deepens roots of Irish rugby's Plan B

Munster put themselves back in a strong position at the weekend following an away win against Northampton in the Champions Cup.

With the structure of the competition including only four pool games, an away win is crucial, especially after Munster gave up their home ground to Toulouse last week. It means if they can beat Northampton at home, they should be in a realistic position to go through.

It was their dominant, second-half defensive display that will steal the attention. However, their breakdown was dominant throughout the game and Northampton really didn't have the answer for them. Both of those aspects went a long way to ensuring that Northampton failed to score a try, only the first time in their last 50 matches at Franklins Gardens.

It was Munster’s selection and how they set up for an attacking and fast-paced game that caught my eye. The selection of Jack Crowley at first centre, after a cameo appearance there last week against Toulouse, showed the intent of their fast attacking game.

If you know anything about the changes in personnel at Munster at the moment, you’ll know that they are training faster than ever and really putting pressure on their skills and transition on the training pitch. It might be taking a bit of time to come to fruition on the pitch but the selection itself shows that the coaches have stuck to their guns and backed this transition.

If ever there was a time to play around with Jack Crowley starting at first-centre, this was the game for it. Northampton aren’t particularly physical on the tackle line. In fact, they struggled all day to cross the advantage line on Sunday afternoon, something that will please Denis Leamy.

Northampton also regularly play with a second distributor at first-centre,