"We got embarrassed today by a number of errors and I think it was on the back of a general malaise, a bit of flatness in the group for some reason."

Munster head coach Rob Penney was publicly critical of his players after the 29 - 23 loss to Edinburgh.

But there is an inherent risk when doing that according to Liam Toland who was on Off The Ball with former Ireland head coach Eddie O'Sullivan.

"He's making a hard sell for himself. There's no doubt Munster under-performed against a side that should not have posed that amount of problems. They missed 11 tackles and that shouldn't happen in the Heineken Cup. Penney really put the onus of the blame on the players which is a little bit unfortunate in many ways," said Toland who felt there was a certain naivety about the performance.

"There is no doubt that the closer they play to the Munster style, the more successful they are. That's what they did at The Stoop last year when Munster players went back to what they knew. The danger is that the Munster players might think that they win if they do it their way and are less successful with new ways. If the coach then talks in the manner that he did, it puts a potential wedge between himself and the players. It's a dangerous game to publicly talk like that."

Munster's Paul O'Connell dejected at the final whistle ©INPHO/Dan Sheridan

O'Sullivan felt Munster looked "rudderless" but he felt that after the poor start, that a switch to old-school direct Munster rugby saw them improve in the latter portion of the first half. But he said a return to a lateral game, blunted their attack in the second half.

"They were caught cold. The management staff were expecting a fairly torrid day from Edinburgh. They talked and dwelt on it all week but obviously the message didn't get through and they made a bad start to the game. It was a poor performance in the first half without the ball and a poor performance in the second half with the ball," he said.

Many people were worried about Leinster ahead of the Ospreys game. But Leinster ultimately came out on top and Toland and O'Sullivan reserved plenty of praise for them.

"I think it was an excellent win," said O'Sullivan. "Leinster have struggled against Ospreys many times and Ospreys seemed to have the hex on them. I backed Leinster to win but when I learned that Brian O'Driscoll was missing, I was certainly worried. I thought that might tip it in Ospreys' favour. You've got to give credit to Leinster. They really suffocated the Ospreys and got one try. Mission accomplished."

Leinster's Jimmy Gopperth kicks a penalty ©INPHO/Billy Stickland

He also lauded New Zealander Jimmy Gopperth who started at 10 but conversely it "doesn't look good" for Ian Madigan or Ireland who "might not get a look in again." 

Toland also felt Connact deserved to get something out of their game against Saracens and he saw it as evidence that the "Irish provinces get the Heineken Cup that bit better than the other teams."

Ulster have progressed in recent years and are one of the favourites for the trophy and although O'Sullivan is cautious about their "mental weakness" he thinks they are definitely contenders.

Listen to the full interview below or download the Monday Night rugby podcast on iTunes:

Main image: ©INPHO/Dan Sheridan