After the Pro14 semi-finals were officially confirmed on Sunday, former Munster and Ireland flanker Alan Quinlan joined Monday's OTB AM to discuss player turnaround for Munster and Leinster.

Munster confirmed their place in the semi-finals by claiming a 49-12 victory over Connacht in a match that was filled with discipline issues.

This result sees them take on Leinster in their semi-final on Friday, leaving them with just a five-day turnaround from their previous match.

Despite the short time to prepare, Quinlan does not think that this will be much of a factor going into Friday.

“I don’t see it as a major problem, they’ve been off for nearly five months,” Quinlan said.

“You can’t say that they’re tired and that they’re fatigued from a number of games.”

Quinlan expects the strain to be felt less physically and more mentally for the players with such a short turnaround.

“The most important thing for them is the mental approach this week,” Quinlan said.

“They won’t do anything too physical; they’ll walk through some plays and try and do some team stuff together. They’ll be no contact.”

With play being stopped for almost five months, Quinlan mentioned that the short turnaround might actually work well for Munster.

“Sometimes it can work in your favour, where you get a little bit of that battle-hardened, and you get that little bit more energy and fitness you can take from that game,” he said.

He added that a poor start from Munster could be written off as fatigue where Leinster might just come out stronger.

“If Leinster start great on Friday night [against Munster, KO, 7.35pm] and are up a number of scores in the first-half, inevitably everybody will say ‘Well, Munster are tired; Leinster are fresh’.

“Munster have just got to try and make sure that they start the game well and that that notion doesn’t come into the game.”

Leinster and Munster went head-to-head in the first week back for Irish rugby, putting on a thrilling match that made spectators question if the players really hadn’t played rugby for almost five months.

Tadhg Beirne of Munster beats the tackle of Bundee Aki of Connacht on the way to scoring his side's fourth try during the Guinness PRO14 Round 15 match between Munster and Connacht at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin. Photo by Brendan Moran/Sportsfile

However, Munster’s second game back looked like a very different affair, with Connacht receiving two red cards and Munster also being reduced to 13 men for a time with two yellow cards on the stroke of half time.

“That game was probably one you just throw in the bin,” Quinlan said.

“I think it went pretty crazy when the Connacht players were sent off… the cards ruined that game.”

Neither side were able to get their discipline in check, with 36 penalties in total between the two teams; something that Munster will have to mentally get right on Friday.

‘Strength in-depth’

Leinster, on the other hand, have the benefit of a six-day turnaround and were fortunate enough to rotate their entire squad in the past two weeks.

Quinlan noted their strengths over the past number of years, in particular their composure in crucial matches.

“Leinster are so good, they’ve so much experience and their biggest strength in the last couple of years [has been] their composure and the patience that Leinster have,” he said.

“They don’t panic if someone gets a score, they back themselves to go up the field if they concede and fix that situation and get a score themselves.

“They score at the right times in games.”

Cian Kelleher of Leinster is tackled by James Hume, left, and Matt Faddes of Ulster during the Guinness PRO14 Round 15 match between Ulster and Leinster at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin. Photo by Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile

However, one of Leinster’s biggest advantages heading into their semi-final is their strength in depth.

“They are very well-coached,” Quinlan said.

“There is a standard there and there is a template there that the second string players come up and adhere to.

“There is a massive hunger and desire, and that is great for any coach to have young players coming into a side trying to prove a point.”

Leinster will be looking to continue their impressive winning streak, while Munster hope to dust off from a slightly dirty game over the weekend.

Either way, Quinlan expects Munster to "throw the kitchen sink" at Leinster.

Kick-off will be at 7:35pm on Friday, in an empty Aviva stadium.

Download the brand new OffTheBall App in the Play Store & App Store right now! We've got you covered!

Subscribe to OffTheBall's YouTube channel for more videos, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter for the latest sporting news and content.