Near perfect performance needed to beat Europe’s best

Munster face into the second game of their double header with Saracens knowing that they will need to pull out a display of years gone if they have any hope of beating the current Champions Cup holders.

One man that was in thick of it throughout the 80 minutes in the win at Thomond Park on Saturday was Jean Kleyn. The recently Irish capped second row and his partner Billy Holland faced up against England’s Maro Itoje and the man mountain and more than held their own. Kleyn knows that the contest will be even more difficult second time around.

“The big thing is to put out an 80 minute performance. Against sides like Saracens you can’t really slip up. There is no room for error. Give them five minutes when you have switched off and they will score a try or score two tries and you will be chasing the game.”

“It’s about being switched on for the entire game and basically not making errors in our side. If we do make errors then not to follow them up with another one. You look at the teams that are playing. You have international players on both sides. The teams are fairly stacked.”

“It’s teams that you could arguably put out at international level and they would do well. It is definitely at that level and I would say that the back to back ones are even more so because there is a little bit of a sting to it and hurt from the previous week carrying over.”

“If you can win a back to back it’s incredible. It’s an incredible feeling. We beat Leicester Tigers back to back a couple of years ago and that was a tremendous week for us so we are hopeful that we can repeat the victory.”

To pull off a pool against Saracens in the Champions Cup era, Munster would be emulating French side Clermont Auvergne who have done so twice in recent years. Mark McCall’s side also crushed Munster on a 33-10 scoreline the last time they played at the venue in the 2014/15 season. Kleyn added that motivation is never an issue when these kind of games come around.”

“There is no need to get yourself up for games like this. It’s automatic. When you play these big games there is no psyching yourself up or working towards being in the right mental state, you are just in it. European Cup weeks just have a different feel to them.”