Win or lose, Munster are making progress under Rowntree

From day one in the job, Graham Rowntree and his coaches made it clear: bringing Munster back to where they belonged would take time.

Two games into his tenure, the pressure was already mounting. A frustrating opening day defeat to Cardiff was followed by a rare loss away to the Dragons in Newport.

More concerning than the results were the performances, but ahead of their Round 3 game against Zebre at Musgrave Park in October, Rowntree was bullish that they were on the right track.

"I have absolute belief in the body of work we have gone through this summer," he said after those two opening defeats.

They got their win that weekend, although the quality of the 21-5 victory against Zebre raised more questions than answers, while an equally disappointing display in their 20-11 defeat to Connacht a week later left them staring down the barrel of a potentially disastrous season.

It's been seven months since that defeat at the Sportsground, and Munster are looking a lot more like themselves; a fifth-place finish in the BKT United Rugby Championship regular season ensured Champions Cup qualification, and they've a puncher's chance in this Saturday's semi-final against Leinster at the Aviva Stadium. Had you offered that scenario to most Munster fans back in October, they'd have taken it in an instant.

They're considerable underdogs to pull off a shock against the double-chasing Leinster, but barring a drubbing in Dublin this weekend, the province will likely head into the off-season with optimism for their future.

To compare last season and this season side by side, it may seem like little progress over 12 months, but a look under the bonnet reveals some big differences.

For a start, watching Munster is simply a more enjoyable