Eddie O'Sullivan believes Munster's defence will be the winning or losing of their BKT United Rugby Championship semi-final against Glasgow Warriors on Saturday night (live on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player).
The province travel to Scotstoun in good form after closing out the regular season with a win and a draw on their tour of South Africa, which saw them finish fifth in the table and secure Champions Cup qualification.
The Warriors head into the playoffs as arguably the form team of the championship though, winning their final four games of the regular season and losing just one of their last 18 in all competitions.
The Scottish side will also contest their first final in four years after reaching the decider of the Challenge Cup against Toulon in Dublin later this month.
It marks a turnaround in fortunes under head coach Franco Smith, who replaced the sacked Danny Wilson in the summer of 2022.
"He's done a good job and stabilised the programme and taken it forward," O'Sullivan told the RTÉ Rugby podcast.
However, the ex-Ireland boss also reserved special praise for a former Connacht and Ireland U20 coach who has played a major role in Glasgow's thrilling attacking game.
"We shouldn't forget Nigel Carolan [above], the attack coach," O'Sullivan added.
"The Glasgow attack is top notch. They'll rip you apart if you don't defend well. If Munster defend well, they'll probably win the game, because they'll score points."
It's just under six weeks since the Warriors were comprehensive 38-28 winners against Munster at Thomond Park, having torn Graham Rowntree's side apart in a 28-0 opening half.
That heavy defeat was sandwiched between two more other poor defensive outings, where they conceded 42 points in spite of a win against the Scarlets, before shipping 50 in their Champions Cup defeat to the Sharks.
And O'Sullivan believes if the Limerick-based side are to have any chance of keeping their season alive, it will come down to how they handle the prolific Glasgow attack.
"Munster's attack has developed really well under Mikey Prendergast but the problem is that their defence has been at times shocking, and at other times not so bad," he said.
"They still shipped a lot of tries in South Africa, but came out the other end because they scored.
"I'd be saying, 'It starts and ends with our defence.' To be fair to Nigel Carolan [at Glasgow], they're playing some great rugby, great option rugby off their rolling plays.
"You don't know if they'll hit you up [the middle] or out the back. There are some lively wrinkles in there. You really have to have your defensive headset on, or you're going to get caught.
"He [Carolan] has done a great job with them, and they've bought into his philosophy in attack and it's working really well for them.
"There's a risk there for Munster that they might come out the wrong side of this if they don't go in and defend really well. There are doubts around their defence, let's not gild a lily, they've had some poor defensive performances, that's the one thing that worries me."
Munster must respect Glasgow's thrilling attack
Bernard Jackman joined O'Sullivan on the podcast, and says the extra power Tadhg Beirne and RG Snyman can provide to the Munster pack makes them a dangerous prospect if they can overcome the Warriors at Scotstoun.
"I think he'll slip into the back row," Jackman said of Beirne, who returns from more than 10 weeks out with an ankle injury.
"He's very adept at both positions and I think that allows you to get a bit more power in the second row. It just gives Graham Rowntree a nice selection headache of having two players of that quality available.
"If they fire, and Munster get through this game, they're going to be a far better team with those two at their best. It changes the whole landscape, and then you have Ben Healy coming on to close out games.
"If Munster get through this, it'll be a very successful end to the season, and they would have a freebie in the semi-final.
"The idea of those two playing week-in week-out for Munster, from an option point of view, is certainly a real challenge."
However, while he believes Munster are capable of coming home with a win, the former Grenoble and Dragons boss believes the home side might just have enough to advance to the semi-finals against either Leinster or Sharks.
"It's going to be really interesting, Glasgow are a good side, they were very good at the weekend against Scarlets away in the Challenge Cup semi-final.
"I think this is a real test for Munster, and it's a game they can certainly win, if Munster are at their best, particularly when you see the players they have coming back. Tadhg Beirne being back fit, they reckon RG Snyman could be back, but it's an interesting game.
"On form, I still have to pick Glasgow; Glasgow have a much better attack than the Sharks or Stormers, they showed it over the last couple of weeks.
"Until they shut down a very good attacking team like Glasgow, you have to be fearful of that."
Listen to the RTÉ Rugby podcast on Apple Podcasts, Soundcloud, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.
Watch the BKT URC quarter-finals, Leinster v Sharks (Saturday, 5pm) and Glasgow Warriors v Munster (Saturday, 7.35pm), on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player, follow a live blog on the RTÉ News app or RTÉ.ie/Sport or listen to live commentary on Saturday Sport on RTÉ Radio 1.
Follow a live blog of Ulster v Connacht (Friday, 7.35pm) or listen to live commentary on Game On on RTÉ 2fm.
