How a team responds to a heavy defeat is a true test of its calibre.
Munster boss Clayton McMillan faced the task of steadying the ship after his side's 26-point loss to Bath in the opening round of the Investec Champions Cup last weekend.
The trouncing was somewhat of a surprise for McMillan’s side, who started their URC campaign strongly, even against the strong Premiership champions.
However, Munster have been dealt a difficult draw in the Champions Cup.
McMillan says he expects a positive response and admitted that the "embarrassment" of the 26-point loss will be used to their advantage in SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh this afternoon, where they face Gloucester.
"A really positive response. We didn't get anywhere near where we wanted to be in Bath last week, which was almost bordering on embarrassing for all of us," he told RTÉ Sport.
"That embarrassment has been sitting in the pit of the stomach and there's been a good energy around the park. We know we're not going to get anything for free this weekend."
McMillan is keen to emphasise that the loss to Bath doesn't require a seismic shift in tactics or mindset, suggesting only small tweaks are needed to turn their Champions Cup fortunes around.
Arguing that the margins are small in big games.
"The small things are the big things," said the Kiwi.
"In high-stakes games, those margins become pretty small and against good teams you get punished for errors. We just made way too many too early.
"It's important to recognise the stuff that's still going well, not lose confidence in the direction that we're heading. And not to go looking under rocks for things that you don't need to go looking for."
This week McMillan revealed they have been working on improving that high turnover rate that cost them dearly in the Rec, as well as the setpiece which he said "malfunctioned" despite the 77% return rate that wasn't reflective of the lost throws in the first quarter that cost them dearly.
He said: "We just set piece malfunctioned... 28 nil down after 18 minutes, it's a long road back from there.
"Bath didn't have to play a hell of a lot of rugby, they just went to the boot and, you know, made it a battle of the air and the ground.
"At this level, you just can't afford to have the turnover rate that we did, otherwise you can expect to be punished.
"A big emphasis this week has been around respecting the ball and building better pressure cycles where we can force other teams into mistakes and that will open up opportunities for us to score."
The head coach has made nine personnel changes and three positional switches to the side that faced Bath last week, with the biggest shift coming in the backline, which includes the return of Jack Crowley.
"Probably the most significant changes have been in the back three. Anticipating that the weather's not going to be great in Cork.
"The guys that have been given an opportunity probably demonstrated a real strength around their movement in the backfield, high ball catch, that's why we have them there."
McMillan admitted he was aware of the pressure surrounding the clash with Gloucester but said he is encouraging his side to lean into that.
"We're well aware of the pressure around the game, the need to win," he said.
"But we can't let that... we've got to lean into that. We can't let it push us into ourselves and become conservative and shy away from the big moments."
The fixture at the historic Cork GAA venue has been hotly anticipated. It is the first time Munster will play a competitive fixture in the stadium.
The crowd in Cork city will be the biggest ever in Munster for a Champions Cup game with 35,000 tickets confirmed to have been sold by the start of the week.
With home advantage on his side McMillan said hopes to give the crowd more to get excited about than they did last weekend and to regain respect.
"It was the same last week," he added.
"I enjoyed phenomenal support in Bath and that's probably one of the greatest embarrassments was that we gave them nothing to get excited about.
"There's an opportunity in front of us this week to earn a little bit of respect back.
"There's a lot of people in the team who are proud Munster men.... and so they're fully fizzed, ready to go. And collectively, we know what we're capable of achieving."
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