The new Thomond Park - the scene of Munsters cavalier display against the Sharks when the home side ran in six tries in a 37-14 victory thus guaranteeing a place in the knock-out stages of the European Cup for an incredible 11th successive season - was the setting yesterday for the European champions final training session before the squad regrouped today before departing to southwest France.

Talk of a bonus point win wasnt discussed at yesterdays press conference either, though such an outcome would certainly guarantee a home quarter-final for Munster on the second weekend of April. However, a win and depending how the other pools finish, might also be enough to hand Munster a much coveted last eight home fixture. 

McGahan described the prospect of a home quarter final as a fantastic reward but he knows better than most the extent of the challenge against Montauban - a side that has won its last three home games against credible opposition in Sale, Biarritz and Bayonne.

A home quarter would be fantastic, admitted the head coach. Thats an outcome at the end of the eighty minutes, but we have to navigate through that eighty minutes first. Its going to be extremely tough because Montauban are an extremely good side at home. Their results have been excellent so far this year: they had a good win against Sale there in the Heineken Cup. Theyll be sticky and they certainly have our number after losing here. Maybe (theyll think) the result could have gone their way.

McGahan was referring Munsters opening Heineken Cup game this season when the newcomers to the competition produced arguably their best display of the season coming within minutes of shocking the home side. A late Ronan OGara penalty handed Munster a 19-17 win and that display by the small French club coupled with other notable displays in the Heineken Cup confirmed that theyre a side to be treated with respect.

And its why McGahan is taking noting for granted after naming his strongest available XV for Munsters sixth and final pool match this season.

Well be picking our strongest side, he said. Its a Heineken Cup game and we need to make sure that we finish well. That has always been our intention to finish as high up as we can. Every opportunity out there to get a result, we need to take it and theres an opportunity to play well and well take that opportunity.
  
The players have come back into training this week and theyre very motivated to finish off this campaign very well, because as we know the internationals will depart for the Six Nations. Well split up soon, so its important that we maintain and finish on a real high. Its about maintaining focus this week.

He added: The players certainly know what is at stake and they certainly know that their standards and the way they perform are always on show. Its very important every time we run out on the field, the Munster brand or the Munster players is put out front, so we must play accordingly.

Meanwhile, Munster captain Paul OConnell recalled the night the Reds played a get-out-of-jail-card against Montauban last October  but admitted that while Munsters performance was below par, it helped them refocus and find their direction for the season.
 
It was a close night, but I suppose those nights are all part of the process of getting to where we are at the moment and figuring out what were good at and what we need to do, said OConnell. I think those nights  while there were a few close calls - helped us find our direction as a team and what weve needed to do to play better.

It was a very bad evening. We really needed to take teams on first and foremost and, while we would always try to do that, I think theres specific ways to do that and weve done that a lot better in the last two weeks.

OConnell is also expecting Montauban to give his team a searching test in what will be the Top-14 clubs final Heineken Cup game this season.

Montauban have said a lot that theyre ready for us. They didnt have the strongest team out against Clermont last week, but theyve a very good record at home.

Theyve won their last two home games against Bayonne and Biarritz and theyve been playing very well at home.

Ive talked to Prendy (Mike Prendergast) about his time in Bourgoin. He says the French team that plays away from home and the team that plays at home are different.

Its the last game of the European Cup for them. The European champions are in town and weve no doubt about the level of motivation theyll have for the game. So its to make sure were mentally right ourselves to perform this weekend.

Munster prop Marcus Horan also admitted that Munster probably didnt give Montauban the respect they deserved in October, adding that therell be no complacency in the Reds camp on this occasion.

I suppose if we were being very honest, we probably didn't show them the respect that they deserved. I think we played well in patches and the performance as a whole wasn't up to standard.

"But having said that they're a good side and many people probably underestimated it, even ourselves. I think that they would be a very similar team to ourselves in that they play with great passion and a huge amount of pride, and I think this weekend will be no different, especially because they are at home.

"They have the European champions coming to town and they will try to get a scalp of the season for them. They're bottom of the table and will want to get something out of it. I suppose there would be no better scalp for them. They beat Sale down there and only lost to Clermont by a few points. It's definitely a tough place to go, they're very strong in certain areas and I'm sure there passion and pride will drive them on.

I think we have our own demons to deal with and I suppose one of them is the fact that we want to get a bit of consistency and get two good performances running together. On top of that as well, I think we owe it to supporters to try to fight for a home quarter-final, especially in today's climate. People are having to dig deep and they have dug deep over the last 10-11 years now.

It's one thing that is always on players' minds - if we can help in any way by making people walk to the stadium rather than fly, it will make a huge difference to people. That's definitely a driving force for us and there's definitely no complacency amongst the players as regards the task ahead of us on Saturday and what's at stake.

Munster: P Warwick D Howlett, K Earls, L Mafi, I Dowling, R O'Gara, T O'Leary, M Horan, J Flannery, J Hayes; D O'Callaghan, P O'Connell capt, A Quinlan, D Wallace, D Leamy. Replacements: D Fogarty, F Pucciariello, D Ryan, N Ronan, P Stringer, B Murphy, D Hurley