Rassie Erasmus says Munster will face a “hell of a good team” in Racing 92 on Saturday evening.

Munster face into their second European Champions Cup pool contest on Saturday when Racing 92 roll into town.

The Irish province have won three out of the four meetings between the sides in the past with two of those wins coming in last year’s competition.

Munster legend Ronan O’Gara makes another return to Thomond Park as part of the Racing coaching ticket and despite bine handed an ten week touch line ban by the Top14 only yesterday it will have no effect on Saturday’s European affair. The number 10 made 110 appearances in Europe for the province and scored an unrivalled 1,365 points.

The club that ‘ROG’ now represents will always have a special place in the hearts of the Munster faithful. The support, empathy and overall handling of the untimely passing of the late Anthony Foley showed by the club and its fans was exemplary. It’s quite fitting that the first game played at Thomand Park since Axel’s one-year anniversary should be against the Top 14 side.

Munster come into the game off of the back of a draw away to Castre Olympique, a game that Director of Rugby Rassie Erasmus thought could have gone either way.

“If you analyse the game, five minutes from the end we could have put the game away. Ian Keatley’s kick for a penalty, a try we could have scored at the end with a turnover from them, it wasn’t one of our poorest performances, it’s a tough team to play away against but there were opportunities we left on the field.”

A home win, even at this early stage of the competition is crucial for Munster this weekend, as they attempt to get their footing in pool 4.

“You’re going to get less and less opportunity as the European Cup drags out. If you didn’t get it right in round one you must try and get it right in round two. We’ll work on our execution and our communication.”

Leone Nakarawa was a standout performer for Racing 92 in their win over Leicester Tigers, the second row is a unique talent. He showed his outlandish offloading ability in the win, ten times over, at times while under immense pressure by several Tigers. The former Glasgow Warriors forward is no stranger to the reds, who’ll need to be extra vigilant in defence against the big Fijian.

“We played him last year, it’s like he has four arms. It doesn’t make it any easier but we know him. We’ll have to work hard but the thing is the moment you focus two or three guys on him then you get other explosive runners to do the job.”

The star studded Racing 92 team that will face Munster on Saturday

Racing have had an underwhelming Top 14 campaign so far this season, winning three and losing four. They sparked back into life in Europe, following up three consecutive domestic defeats with that win over Leicester Tigers in France.

Overall, Erasmus is taking a positive view on the beginning of the Champions Cup pool stages, a home win would have Munster in a strong position going into the break.

“It would have been lovely to have four points after an away game but we’re still in a position which is really positive. If we win this weekend we’ll go into the break after playing two games at the top of our pool. That’s the silver lining or the glass half-full view of it but then again, we play Racing, they’re a hell of a good team and they will think they can go clear at the top because they’ve got four points.”