Munster are crying out for purpose, clarity and a system

Another loss and perhaps another false dawn for Munster following their 35-25 defeat to Leinster at the Aviva.

They secured sixth place in a competition with three of the new South African teams taking the three spots above them, then Ulster and Leinster.

That has been the way for the past few seasons anyway so maybe it's just another standard finish in the URC with the addition of a South African presence.

After Munster's heroic loss to Toulouse, you empathised because of what might have been.

They nearly got there, were hard done by, went down gallantly. Is that part of the DNA? At some stage, that DNA gets modified and they get over the line. However, that’s not happening for this group and I’m not sure how it will.

The sound of 'Zombie’ raged around the Aviva stadium in Munster’s last appearance in Dublin; this time the performance was a bit more lifeless. Inconsistencies have typified this Munster team. One week you’re going to penalties against Toulouse and the next you’re losing out to a very weakened Leinster team.

Peter O'Mahony, Jack O'Donoghue, Alex Kendellan - lifeless? You can’t say that lifeless is a characteristic of a lot of this team. It spans three different eras of development in just those players alone. However, does it mean the same amount to the whole group?

When Munster were winning trophies, they had a talented bunch of players. But it wasn't just ability. They had they everything outside of talent as well - hard work, desire, ruthlessness and belief. These are crucial ingredients for success.

The current crop have talent. A World Cup-winning centre, a generational scrum-half, individual tries aplenty in the back three positions, no matter who plays there. Munster have some of the most exciting young