As Connacht, Leinster, Munster and Ulster prepare for a busy festive period of inter-provincial Pro 14 action, Alan Quinlan can't quite shake the sense of frustration surrounding last weekend's Champions Cup disappointment.
Although fine times were had for both Leinster and Ulster, Munster's defeat to Castres raised a number of questions: why had the Irish province not gone like-for-like with the French side's skulduggery? What reason could be found for the occasional imprecision in Munster's play? How come the TMO did not do more to help out match referee Wayne Barnes and, by extension, Munster?
Speaking to OTB AM this morning, Quinlan dealt extensively with the latter of these concerns.
"World Rugby came out this year with a directive calling for less involvement of the TMO and stronger on-field decisions," Quinlan stated.
"[The Rory Kockott] eye-gouge wasn't looked at, and Castres went on to score a try.
"There's a TMO sitting in the truck and his job is to look at that stuff.
"If we can see it, and he has the benefit of replays and going back over stuff ... I think the TMO must hold some accountability for that.
"A lot of people are blaming Wayne Barnes, [but the TMO] is giving him no assistance."
Despite such circumstances, critics wondered whether or not Munster had done enough to front up to the Castres aggression. Inevitably, this drew comparisons to how the Munster of old may have met this threat.
"Denis [Leamy] was a hard, hard bastard and he was someone you wouldn't mess with," Quinlan stated.
"He didn't say a lot, but his actions dictated a real physicality and a presence.
"Donncha [O'Callaghan] the same, Paul O'Connell, we had a pack that didn't want to be intimidated.
"That stuff takes a little time to get to that stage where you're really dominant and physical.
"It's not about being a hard man and standing up to people, it's about your actions as a unit."
Recalling how such a situation comes into being, however, Quinlan admitted that such a scenario took time.
"It gets misconstrued sometimes," Quinlan outlined with relation to the opinion that this current Munster crop had not showed the required aggression or physicality.
"I remember going to Castres in 2004 and we had a similar situation.
"We lost 19-12 and there was a lot of stuff going on off the ball.
"There's a perception there that the Munster team I played in wouldn't take that, and probably toward the latter stages when we matured [that was the case.]
"But we'd had a good few hidings."
Certain that the current crop of Munster players have the necessary talent and determination to reach the heights of previous sides from the province, Alan Quinlan believes such harsh lessons are simply part and parcel of getting there.
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