Leinster senior coach Stuart Lancaster is "really looking forward" to his first visit to Thomond Park and is expecting an entertaining encounter in Limerick.

Rassie Erasmus’ seven-game winning streak came to an end at Welford Road at the weekend as a late Owen Williams penalty gave Leicester a narrow Champions Cup win, and they will have little time to lick their wounds with the arrival of their interprovincial rivals on St Stephen's Day (KO 5.30pm).

It is a clash of first versus second in the Guinness Pro12 and the former England coach is anticipating a lively encounter in his first venture to Limerick.

“It’s the first time I have been away at Munster. It’s a new experience for me,” he told RTÉ Sport.

“You can sense it already in the week, I’m sure it’s the same down there.

"When the game comes around, I imagine they could sell that stadium out four or five times. It’s going to be a great game, I’m really looking forward to it."

Leo Cullen’s side will be looking to do the double over Munster after their 25-14 success at the Aviva Stadium in October and come into the game on the back of resounding back-to-back wins over Northampton Saints in the Champions Cup.

Lancaster however is acutely aware of the size of the challenge posed by the league leaders.

“They are playing really well. I thought it was real ‘nip and tuck’ against Leicester... they could have won it.”

Reflecting on their own form, Lancaster says he is seeing constant improvement from the squad, which is in turn breeding more confidence among the players.

The facile win over Saints will have added to the morale, and Lancaster rejects the notion that they simply beat a weakened Northampton side that had lost interest in the tournament.

“It wasn’t a bad side to be honest,” he said.

“They had their first-choice half backs, JJ Hanrahan at centre, the Pisi brothers, Calum Clark was starting and he’d been away, Kieran Brooks came in, an England international

“Northampton put a good side out, but we played well.”

Leinster host Ulster at the RDS five days after the Munster clash and with the Player Welfare programme in place from the IRFU, the coach says they will have to be careful in how they manage the squad for the two fixtures.

“You’ve got to juggle it and make sure we put out two good teams in the next two weeks because they are massive games.”

You can listen to Munster v Leinster live on RTÉ Radio 1 on St Stephen's Day