URC action comes back with a bang as joint leaders Munster and Stormers collide at Thomond Park this Saturday (kick-off 5.30 pm).
It promises to be a cracker.
Home advantage is always a benefit to the Munster men, and after a lengthy lay-off they will be expected to put in a strong performance.
So far, this competition has been of a stop/start nature with long breaks contributing to a certain amount of frustration for fans.
For this weekend, Munster welcome back internationals Tadhg Beirne, Craig Casey, Jack Crowley and Tom Farrell, while recovered from knocks are Thaakir Abrahams, Diarmuid Barron, Conor Bartley, Mike Haley, John Hodnett, Alex Kendellen and Niall Scannell.
After this weekend Munster’s next fixture will not be until December 20, away to Ospreys in Wales, and then the mouth-watering tussle with Leinster on St Stephen’s Day.
Sandwiched in between is Bath/Munster in the Champions Cup.
Meanwhile, it is a long time since I witnessed such a chaotic rugby encounter as the Ireland v South Africa fiasco in Dublin at the weekend.
It certainly did little for the game, but don’t blame the players.
Both sides were ‘at it’ tooth and nail but there were so many stops and starts, with the added introduction of the new laws, that there were times when even referee Matthew Carley looked rattled.
If there was an up-to-date ‘Rules of Rugby’ book on sale it would be perfect for a Christmas present.
The Boks deserved their win; they outscored us on the try count four to one, but Ireland’s stub-born defence prevented what could have been a much higher defeat.
With Ireland reduced to 12 players, the current visitors and former Munster coach, Rassie Erasmus, played his trump card by sending his reserve pair of props into action to ensure the victory.
Footnote: Pity the commentator who had to pronounce the full name of the Boks out-half Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu.