'More pressure' but Munster will stick to what we know, says Denis Leamy

Despite a Thomond Park draw with Bayonne, Munster won't change tactics or targets for Sunday’s Investec Champions Cup clash with Exeter.

Had the match gone to plan, Graham Rowntree’s side would have gone on their travels to Sandy Park with four or even five points in the bag.

However, two second-half tries by the Top14 side, who were making their debut in the tournament, meant the game finished all square.

Rowntree said the 17-17 result felt like a defeat but defence coach Denis Leamy says although it puts a bit more pressure on, they won’t make big changes.

"It doesn't really change anything," he told RTÉ Sport.

"Ultimately, you want to go and win in these places. Whether you are at home or away.

"Not winning at home does put a little bit more pressure on, absolutely, but it doesn’t change our mindset, it doesn’t change what we were going to do.

"We would have always gone to Exeter in a frame of mind that we want to win the game, getting as much as possible out of it.

"We’ve been there before, we just have to go there with confidence, believe in the work that we have done over the last 12 months."

On last Saturday’s match in Limerick, where Munster led 17-10 with five minutes to play, Leamy said: "It was tough, we didn’t help ourselves at times.

"We got a number of chances and didn’t convert them into scores. We can be better in areas, we were a little bit off.

"Credit to Bayonne, they were very good, they came to play, a really strong performance physically. We struggled with their weight in the close exchanges, on the gain line, in the tackle. We struggled to manage them.

"Sometimes there’s a perception that teams come to Thomond Park and they are going to roll over and get their belly tickled, that’s never going to be the case."