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Brian O'Driscoll's noticed a promising evolution from Munster

Munster made a winning start to the Heineken Champions Cup and their evolution has intrigued Bria...



Munster made a winning start to the Heineken Champions Cup and their evolution has intrigued Brian O'Driscoll.

Johann van Graan's side beat Ospreys 32-13 to earn a bonus point on the road.

Over the summer, Munster also strengthened their coaching setup, including with senior coach Stephen Larkham.

Ireland legend Brian O'Driscoll joined us on Off The Ball to review the weekend's action and also shared his view on Munster's performance and evolution.

"I kind of liked Munster," he said.

Great Combination

"Munster - in this tournament with the way they have appeared to evolve as well and brought in a new coaching ticket that are very respected coaches in [Graham] Rowntree and Larkham, have a wealth of experience at the highest level - I just thought it's potentially a great combination.

"And I think they've come on no doubt from last year - and they've still been getting to consecutive semi-finals.

"I don't think they're the finished article yet. But I've definitely seen an evolution from them and a nasty edge to them that maybe was lacking in the last few years."

He homed in on two sides to Munster's game against Ospreys to highlight the evolution.

"They had a real ferocity to the way they were hitting rucks and counter-rucking. I think after 45 minutes, I heard Sam Warburton say that it was 10 offloads to zero. So they're evolving their game. They're pushing the pass a little bit more - a little bit like Leinster of a couple of seasons ago. That can only come from what happens at training throughout the week.

"So clearly they're practicing and working on their multi-phase and realising that's the way the game is going how they need to evolve with it. I think that's probably Larkham."

You can watch the full chat with Brian O'Driscoll below:

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Brian O'Driscoll Heineken Champions Cup Munster Off The Ball Pro14 Rugby Stephen Larkham