Munster head coach Clayton McMillan admits he's been "waiting for this week to come" as his team prepare to take on rivals Leinster in round four of the BKT United Rugby Championship.
The New Zealander, who joined from the Chiefs at the start of the summer, had led his side to three wins of varying quality to start off his first season.
However, he knows that, in the face of what is practically an international side with Leinster providing 21 players for Andy Farrell's latest Ireland squad, things are about to ramp up when the teams face off in Croke Park on Saturday afternoon (5.15pm).
"Yep, there’s definitely been that [extra buzz]," McMillan (below) told RTÉ Sport.
"I’ve sort of been waiting for this week to come because, as you guys will be aware, we’ve been trying to drive a mindset of 'it doesn’t matter who we play, what we do here from Monday to Friday sets us up for a performance on Saturday'.
"I know we haven't been perfect over the last couple of weeks but we’ve managed to get across the line and learn some things.
"It’s always interesting for me to see how the week would look, feel, playing a game of this calibre.
"There’s been a noticeable excitement around the group, a lot more questions being asked, leaders really stepping to the fore, some real clarity around how we want to play the game so it’s been good, it’s been enjoyable."
For the second week in a row, the Kiwi has made 10 changes to his side, with captain Tadhg Beirne making his first appearance of the season, while Craig Casey and Tom Ahern remain unavailable through injury.
"We’re fully aware of the challenge that is ahead of us and we’ve plumped for a bit of experience," he said.
"It’s great to have Tadhg back in leading the team.
"We’ve rewarded people that we think have earned the opportunity to go out and play against Leinster at Croke Park, and that’s what we want when we play these types of games."
Scrum-half Casey, who has a hamstring injury, and forward Ahern, going through return to play protocols following a head injury, were both selected in Andy Farrell’s Ireland squad and McMillan confirmed they wlli join the international camp on Monday, and not be considered for Munster’s derby with Connacht on Saturday week.
"Craig is back at training, we’ve had to keep him on a tight leash actually," he said.
"He’s dead keen to go [against Leinster] but he’s got the international stuff coming up and that’s the priority for him now but it’s tracking along nicely.
"Same thing [with Tom].
"All of those guys that were named in the squad yesterday, including the two travelling reserves [Edwin Edogbo and Brian Gleeson], will depart with the Ireland team on Monday and we’ll solider on without them."
Winger Calvin Nash, meanwhile, was ruled out after taking a "decent whack" to his shoulder against Edinburgh but McMillan said he didn't believe it was anything too serious although the province didn't provide a timeline for his return.
Munster, last champions in 2023, began their season with an impressive victory at Scarlets but laboured for large parts of the subsequent home wins over Cardiff and Edinburgh.
"We’ve talked a lot around the rugby team we want to be, and we are honest with ourselves around things like performance," added the 51-year-old.
"It’s nice to have won the games but you can’t get consumed by looking at the points table and thinking you are the finished product.
"There’s a really good awareness around this team that there’s a long way to go.
"In some respects we’ve been lucky to pick up the wins but we have learned some good lessons, we have turned over a high number of players, we know that we’ve got some coming back in the near future.
"At half-time in the last couple of games, it has just been evident.
"We haven’t been there physically. And to get an outcome in either of those games we needed to see a sharp shift otherwise we would be at the wrong end of the scoreboard.
"It hasn’t been anything magical happening at half-time. It’s just about being honest and getting an adequate response.
"As long as we keep making incremental gains each week, we’ll set ourselves up for later in the season. That’s our belief."
Listen to the RTÉ Rugby podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.
Follow a live blog of Leinster v Munster in the BKT United Rugby Championship on Saturday from 5.15pm on on rte.ie/sport and the RTÉ News app. Listen to live radio commentary on RTÉ Radio 1
