Munster still box-office as All Blacks arrival shows

For the third year in a row, Munster arrive into a high-profile and sold-out exhibition game against a southern hemisphere side with their season in chaos.

Two years ago, the province had won just two of their first seven games under former head coach Graham Rowntree when they welcomed a South African Select XV to SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh. The 28-14 win by a depleted Munster side flipped their season around, and just over six months later they were celebrating a league title.

Last January, they were back in Cork in front of more than 40,000 fans as they welcomed the Crusaders to the Páirc. Once again they were stuck in a rut with just one win in their previous five games, and once again they were deep into an injury crisis, but dug out a victory against the Super Rugby champions, and would go on to win their next ten URC games before falling short against Glasgow in the semi-finals.

So here we are again. This afternoon, an All Blacks XV will come to Limerick for a game that will certainly boost the coffers at Thomond Park, with the product on the pitch overshadowed by the latest drama unfolding at Ireland's most chaotic province.

It’s four days since Munster’s squad were summoned to an online call on their day off to inform them that Rowntree (below) would no longer be their head coach, with the Englishman departing by "mutual agreement" just six games into the season. The days since have been filled with questions, almost none of which have been adequately answered.

Naturally, there has been little focus on this weekend’s game, with the identity of who Rowntree’s successor will be a far greater concern to the general public. Inside the four walls of the province’s high-performance centre in Limerick, that search has been