Timing is right for Munster to correct Aviva record

There's a feeling in the air that Munster have got their timing right, both on and off the pitch.

At most, there are seven games left in the season, with a trophy to be handed out after two of them. If the wagon falls off the trail, Johann van Graan's side will have just three.

But as they head into the championship minutes of the campaign, they appear to be a side with momentum.

With a game plan often cut to fit the opposition and conditions, the better weather and faster tracks of the final third of the season have seen them raise the tempo of their game and play a more attacking, adventurous brand of rugby.

Despite losing three in a row in March and April to the Bulls, Lions and Leinster, they showed ambition on the ball in large chunks of those matches, and since the second half of their Champions Cup last 16 first leg against Exeter in Sandy Park, Munster have combined the attractive rugby with winning rugby.

From being in a position four weeks ago where they looked on the brink of elimination in Europe, holding onto a URC home-quarter final for their dear lives, and dealing with a growing injury list, three big victories have flipped it all around.

URC wins against Ulster and Cardiff have them back up to second in the table, and while Toulouse are still Toulouse, there has been a growing sense of belief in recent weeks that Munster can beat the defending champions, even without Dave Kilcoyne, Tadhg Beirne and Gavin Coombes.

It's not just on the pitch that's generated excitement though.

The appointment of Graham Rowntree (below) as the new head coach, just a few days after he was seen delivering blood and thunder to the squad at half time in their 13-8 at Sandy Park, has been universally popular, while the likely make-up of