Munster gaining momentum at the right time - Van Graan

Munster's season has had more ups and downs than one of Graham Rowntree's lineout sessions, but in recent weeks their trajectory has been steady and upward.

Their wins against Exeter Chiefs in Europe, and Cardiff and Ulster in the URC, see them well-placed heading into the business end of the season, while their often criticised attack has started to fire the right shots.

Since their tour of South Africa in March, Johann van Graan's side have looked to take more risks with the ball in hand, taking advantage of the more favourable conditions in the final third of the season.

On Friday night, Van Graan's side played to the conditions - a mild evening and an artificial pitch - scoring five tries in a 42-21 win against Cardiff, with the likes of Mike Haley, Ben Healy and Craig Casey exceling in attack, and Jack O'Donoghue and Thomas Ahern showing versatility as both ball-carriers and distributors.

And after a season in which Munster have often been criticised for showing a lack of ambition, their head coach says their game is evolving at just the right time.

"In terms of our development through the year from our attacking game, our kicking game, and our defensive game I felt we had a good balance again tonight," he said after the bonus-point win at Musgrave Park.

"We scored some fantastic tries, we defended really well at stages and we put the ball behind them strategically and went short from kick-offs so good variation in our game.

"I think since the Dragons and the Edinburgh game at home at the back end of February and March we've played some good rugby.

"The Bulls and Lions, we had some good passages, the Leinster game was the one when we didn't perform well enough and the last four weeks specifically I thought we’ve certainly