Rassie Erasmus pointed to a strengthened mental fortitude when explaining Munster's upturn in form over recent months.
As a province, the side continue to mourn the loss of Anthony Foley and his passing seems to have galvanised the team.
Speaking after Monday's victory over Leinster, Erasmus explained the difference in their attitudes last year compared to the new term.
"There were so may ups and downs that the guys told us about last year and Axel had told me so much about bad calls going against us," he said.
"Sometimes we didn't handle it well. Axel and I would always say we need to handle those moments, put it behind us and move on.
"We talk about Axel's legend and the things he leaves behind. Those are the small things that we need to continue to do. Keep talking to each other, if something happens, move on. We go into the next battle. These are the small things that make us proud."
Simon Zebo touches down for Munster in front of a record crowd at Thomond Park. Image: ©INPHO/Gary Carr
Following their interprovincial derby win he said: "You know, [Leinster] beat us convincingly when we played them [in the Aviva]. They were on a run of consecutive winning games. They will have been confident coming into this game and we had to bounce back from a close loss last week [against Leicester].
"Trying to keep momentum is a tough thing to do. I thought the performance was really intense match. I'm glad the boys stuck out there and got the four tries in the end."
He added: "We wouldn't like to say that there's expectation on our shoulders, but there's immense pride and opportunities when you get a crowd like that. There were even a lot of Leinster supporters here today.
"Credit to Irish rugby. The whole build-up for matches like these makes it special and then when you have two teams going out and putting it to each other physically, it makes for a good match. It wasn't perfect, but I think it was a good spectacle."
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