With it just about to start, here's my preview of Munster's 20/21 season.

First off, what issues do I think Munster need to address coming into the new season? We'll start off with the one that is most often discussed: the gameplan. Most complaints about it are on how conservative it is, mine is more about how it's so unclear as to what it is.

Last season, I heard much talk about forward pods, depth, handling, momentum (that last one was even one Larkham himself used to descibe it) as to what we were going for. To me, I just struggled to identify things we were consistently looking to target in games.

Some matches we'd focus on kicks, sometimes on our work post turnover, sometimes move it through the hands. More than most of our recent seasons, you'd struggle to figure out what we were about.

Probably the one thing you could see that resembled a consistent feature was that we focused a lot more on trying strike moves post set piece. Wasn't quite as unequivocally successful as we'd have liked, hopefully we'll have things tightened up next season.

In essence, what I'd like to see is us settling on what the Van Graan gameplan is once and for all and just do it. No time for transition anymore, we need to know what we're about. Larkham was brought in to put structures in place, we need to see those take shape.

One more note on this: I'm not sure putting Rowntree in charge of attack within the opposition 22 was the right call. Working scores in the 22 shouldn't require as much exertion as we seemed to always resort to last season.

I know we seem to have abandoned going after an additional assistant coach, but maybe even just some minor shuffling of remits mightn't be such a bad thing. Like I know Van Graan likes coaching the lineout (even indulged in calling it the best in the league this week),

but it might help if he just focused a bit more on the parts of his job that aren't on the training field. I mean, wasn't part of Munster's hiring strategy for the new coaches to do just that, so that it'd take some of the pressure off of him?

Anyways, onto the other key thing that needs addressing by Munster: squad management. While not everyone agrees with me, I think last season brought into focus how Munster really haven't been managing the lower layers of the squad (in particular the younger players) properly.

To keep it short, we are going to have to accept that there are a fair few must-win games where we won't always be able to count on the more senior guys. We've already lost games like those because of our caution around giving players chances.

And if we don't do more in this area, we'll continue to lose them. I'm not saying it's been all bad, Daly and Casey's massive strides forward have been really heartening. It does highlight how quickly giving a decent run to someone can lead to the 1st team becoming more dangerous

And shows what kind of rewards might await if Munster do more in this area. So what do I think Munster need to do in this area this season? Well, there are a few players I'd have in mind where I'd regard them being developed/getting minutes big time as a major priority.

First, at least one of Knox or Salanoa. Archer and Ryan weren't too bad post lockdown, but you'd still crave a tighthead that could offer what the likes of Furlong and Porter do around the field in the big games, which I think the two younger guys have more potential to do.

Second, Fineen Wycherley. Mostly because I think he's at a stage where he needs decent minutes in the big games to push on, partly because I want him and Beirne's attempts to take on lineout calling responsibilities to accelerate this season.

Third, Gavin Coombes. Like Wycherley I think he's been ready for more minutes for a while now, but I'm still not sure Munster know what to do with him. He could become a major part of our carrying rotation with his effectiveness in the tight exchanges.

Fourth, Jack O'Sullivan. While what Munster are trying to do with the back row isn't entirely clear to me, it does seem a lot like they've made the ballsy call to make him Stander's main backup. In which case, the need for him to develop quickly doesn't need much elaboration.

Fifth, John Hodnett. This is the one I'm most unsure about. It seems unfair to expect a second year academy player to be starting in the big games. It's just that he seems to be the closest thing we have to a player that can actually complement Stander and O'Mahony.

While O'Donoghue's clearly our third best back rower, having him alongside them isn't an effective enough combo. Perhaps we'll see a totally different kind of arrangement there this season. But for now, Hodnett seems closest to solving our issues.

Sixth, Ben Healy. This should have happened before now. It didn't, and it'll make doing it now that bit harder. But we'll just have to swallow it and crack on with getting him to push on. The situation at 10 is too risky to do anything else.

And those are the guys for which major development is vital if we're to compete on both fronts to the degree that we're expecting. There are a few where I think a bit of an uptick in minutes would help a lot but are not as urgent (Josh Wycherley, Ahern, Flannery at 15,

Sean French, Nash). 6 pushing on big time and another 5 getting involved more too sounds like a daunting challenge alright. But the 1st team needs freshening up and we need plenty in the lower strings to perform if we're to fulfil our lofty goals.

So those are the challenges from within to overcome, but what to expect from the challengers? I'll try and give a brief run through of where I think they are.

Edinburgh. They were definitely happy to achieve their main goal last season of topping the conference ahead of us. Yet given how they seemed to show mental fragility in knockouts like they did the season before, you'd wonder whether they're learning from their past.

I do suspect that a fair chunk of their improved points total was down to not having the HC to deal with, making it easier to stack their Pro14 selections. Perhaps I'm wrong on that, or perhaps their depth is better than in 18/19. I'm certainly hoping neither are the case.

Scarlets. Logically, you'd think that losing a quality head coach in Mooar after one season and similarly to Edinburgh having the HC to deal with after not having it last season would spell for a fall back season. I'm not totally convinced tho.

Firstly, having his replacement come from within will make cohesion easier to maintain. Especially when Delaney did such a good job on the defence last season. Plus, their squad does still seem to have depth that can make challenging on both fronts realistic.

Connacht. Normally when a side has major player turnover and most of the incoming guys aren't yet the finished article, that doesn't bode well. I think their recruitment approach is pretty astute tho. If the coaches succeed in the enormous development challenge they've

set themselves, Connacht could end up with a deep squad made up of pretty young players with major room to push on further. You'd imagine it might take time before you see this approach being fully rewarded alright.

Beyond that, I'm a bit concerned that while they've a lot of up and coming talent there, the tight five will need to offer a lot more grunt. Connacht will never be a bish bash side, but the tight five will need to put the hammer down a bit more.

Benetton have fallen a bit off the radar again, but with a settled playing and coaching staff, they might feel like another season of upsets could be in store.

I'll admit that Cardiff didn't do quite as well as I thought they might last season. Weirdly enough, I'm actually even more confident about their chances this season. They've made a couple of canny signings and you get the feeling Mulvihill's got something brewing.

Not sure what'll happen on the SA front. The four SA teams will hardly be there this season surely, perhaps they'll have the Cheetahs and a Currie Cup side play a few games? But as I say, I really don't know what the plan is there.

Our opponents in Europe have yet to be decided, but we can look at who we might face. We will have two matches against a Top 14 side and two against a GP side. The two Top 14 teams we could face are La Rochelle and Clermont.

Clermont aren't quite what they once were, but they've so much European pedigree, you'd think them the ones to avoid.

La Rochelle haven't that pedigree, so you'd favour them. One thing they do have though is a pretty formidable first choice side. Antonio, Skelton, Alldritt, Gourdon, Vito, Kerr-Barlow, Retiere, Rhule to name just a few. If we get them, we need them disinterested, and big time.

The way the GP table is, we could have two totally different teams in the frame next week. Right now, it'd be one of either Bristol or Harlequins. Whilst I think Harlequins are doing some interesting things, this is a pretty easy choice of preference right now.

And that's the teams that we will/might face. I'll need confirmation on who our HC opponents are before I estimate our chances. I'd like to think we should top the conference in the Pro14, but I said that for the previous 3 seasons and we always seem to find a way to fall short.

At the end of the day, the pressure we face this season will be immense. Like it or not, this season will, more than any other, be used as a measure of how successful Van Graan's tenure has been. Far too much money and time has been poured in to allow any more excuses.

It's do or die time. And if we don't do it now, it's difficult to imagine it happening any time soon after that. End of thread.