At the height of the rugby boom in the mid-noughties - most teams would look at their fixture list and groan when they saw a game against Munster. Such was their aura that they turned Thomond Park into a fortress, and regularly brought huge crowds to away games to sneak some huge results.
The Munster brand was well known throughout the world, and was the reason for players like Doug Howlett and Jean de Villiers signing for the province.
But that was the mid-noughties. Munster haven't won a trophy since 2011, and haven't reached the knockout stages of the European Cup since it changed from the Heineken Cup. The retirements of Paul O'Connell, Ronan O'Gara, and the Heineken Cup winning teams have seen a drop in standard. Teams that hadn't beaten Munster in Thomond Park for decades are now doing so on a regular basis.
Saturday's opponents, Connacht, won their first game in Thomond Park in 29 years in December.
Munster's best player CJ Stander admits that teams aren't afraid of Munster, and they can't just play to the name anymore:
That fear factor that teams had before isn’t there. We can’t play on that name any more.
Stander's only been in Limerick for just over three years, but is already a vital cog in the Red Army. For such an integral part of the machine to make such an admission - however obvious - really reflects where Munster are at the moment.
There's an argument for saying that while they are still the most supported team in Ireland, they might have been relegated to the fourth best province.
See Also: Ronan O'Gara's Dream Coaching Scenario Should Arouse Munster Fans
Picture credit: Diarmuid Greene / SPORTSFILE
