Darren Cave believes Munster are primed to move up a gear when they host the Glasgow Warriors in the semi-final of the BKT United Rugby Championship this Saturday (6pm).
The defending champions stretched their winning run in the league out to ten games when they defeated the Ospreys 23-7 at Thomond Park last Friday.
Munster's attacking game didn't click to the same levels it had in the last couple of months, but Graham Rowntree's side showed impressive composure to keep the Welsh side at arm's length in the second half, with a pair of Jack Crowley penalties ensuring there would be no late drama in Limerick.
"I think there's more to come from them," Cave told RTÉ's Against the Head, as he previewed Saturday's semi-final with the Warriors.
"Typically before games we like to talk about the June rugby and flowing style, but [they played] 'cup rugby', Graham Rowntree said it after the game.
"From an Ospreys point of view, they're a belligerent bunch. They did slip into eighth and don't offer a lot in attack, they're not a team that's going to win championships but they're not easy to beat and I think that was how the game panned out.
"I felt like Munster always had enough even though the score was close.
"Obviously there's no bonus-points available, there's no prizes for playing good rugby in the knockout, it's just about winning games. Rowntree said it, it's fact.
"I still think Munster, in Limerick, will be difficult to beat, and I just feel they have another gear in them."
The former Ulster and Ireland centre believes much of Munster's composure is coming from out-half Jack Crowley, who scored 13 of their 23 points last Friday, kicking two conversions and three penalties to keep the province's tally ticking over.
And Cave says the 24-year-old's growth as a leader is a reflection of the game-time he's gotten this season with both Munster and Ireland
He said: "We spent most of last week talking about Leinster's number ten situation. That's a good example of the benefit of just playing and playing.
"Ever since Munster decided to back him a couple of years ago, that game experience, he definitely drove that Munster team home.
"If I'm a Munster player, feet up, watching the other teams play, and as a Munster fan I'm not overly concerned.
"Ultimately someone still has to go to Limerick and beat them. Ten games in a row, the first time they've won 10 games in a row in 13 years, and they look like they're going to be tough to beat."
Meanwhile, Glasgow's defence coach Peter Murchie doesn't expect Saturday's semi-final between the pair to carry the same "needle" as previous encounters.
Murchie was part of the Warriors squad that defeated Munster in the final in 2015, while the sides have developed a frosty relationship throughout the last decade.
Recent history between the sides points to this being a close game, with Munster defeating the Warriors at Musgrave Park earlier this season, while ambushing Glasgow in the quarter-final at Scotstoun last season.
The Scottish side, however, were impressive 38-26 winners on their previous visit to Thomond Park in March of 2023.
"You're actually looking at quite a long time ago now since there was that particular needle," Murchie told the BBC.
"It's a big game in its own right, forgetting whatever's happened in the past. It's a new set of players, they're not thinking about those things that may or may not have gone on.
"It [last year's quarter-final] was another really close game and we know what ended up happening with [Munster] and the run they went on, winning three games away from home on their way to winning the title.
"You have to take your hats off to them. We moved on and we had a [Challenge Cup] final after that as well, which we had to concentrate on. It'll be a different game."
Follow a live blog on the URC semi-final, Munster v Glasgow Warriors, on Saturday from 6pm on rte.ie/sport and the RTÉ News app and listen to commentary on Saturday Sport on RTÉ Radio 1
