Gerry Thornley on how the province aim to beat Perpignan with their own brand of total rugby

It was the week Munster were about to embark upon their eighth Heineken Cup sortie to France. They had lost the previous seven. The then coach Declan Kidney called a team meeting inside the main stand in Thomond Park and encouraged the players to draw up a list of their perceived problems when going to France.

Back in that same room this week Anthony Foley reflected on that list. "We looked at them all and it turned out that none of them were relevant. When you cross the white line you go out and play a game. We wouldn't have been used to the atmosphere in the ground, we wouldn't have been used to the hotels, we wouldn't have been used to the toilets in the changing room. But they had nothing to do with what was going on once we got out on the pitch."

Little things helped, like bringing their own chef. Most of all it needed a win, and as Foley admits, it also helped their cause that week four seasons ago that Colomiers were hosting Munster in Toulouse as opposed to their own ground, where they'd beaten Munster in a rancorous quarter-final a year before.

"We knew it wasn't as intimidating a ground, and it was the first time we had a big band of supporters with us," recalls Foley.

Keith Wood was inspired, scoring a memorable try en route to what one might call a ground-breaking 31-15 win.

Better followed with the 31-25 semi-final win in Bordeaux over Toulouse, possibly Munster's finest hour in Europe. Foley lists off the celebrated names in that Toulouse team and recounts the day's events with pride. There was John Hayes's try, "after he was lying on the ground for about 20 seconds," quips Foley. Most of all there was Munster's unyielding defence. "You could still bring it out now on video and sell it," he reckons.

Foley is now Munster's most capped player in the European Cup, having started in all bar one of the province's 49 ties to date. That he was "rested" against Harlequins five seasons ago, you sense, still rankles with him.

It means though that, like Mick Galwey, he has played in all 12 of Munster's previous games in France and it's incredible to think Munster have won on five of their last seven visits.

"Basically, Declan got our attitude right. We used to go out there thinking we might win. Now we think we're going to win. We'll have total respect for Perpignan, but they're not an unknown quantity to us. Leicester won there by a point on the way to winning the European Cup last season so maybe it's a stick we can be measured by."

A major factor has been the travelling Red Army, and the cord that joins fans and players. "Seeing the red jerseys in the ground is something that gives you a big lift before you play. Even seeing familiar faces is a great lift. It means you're not alone. These people have made a big commitment following you and it's our duty to produce a performance that befits their sacrifices, so to speak."

Foley well remembers where family and friends were positioned in Toulouse when they beat Colomiers four seasons ago, and the support in Bordeaux for the ensuing semi-final was extraordinary. "We used to say when we went out on the pitch that we didn't know where or how we were going to score tries. So if we didn't know the opposition hadn't got a clue. They could analyse us all they want. We had a couple of set plays but after that it was just go out and play rugby."

Nevertheless, you sensed last season Munster had long since lost their surprise factor, and even if Kidney had stayed they would have had to significantly change their game.

"We had to add to the style that was there, using Wally (David Wallace) to take it up; we had to have other options," says skipper Jim Williams. "Axel and Quinny have been superb in the way they've taken on that role. We needed that variety, and we definitely needed width to our game, and to have different players in more positions to use that style of play. I think it's just a case of having more than one option.

"The ball going back to Ronan and kicking it out - we're just trying to give ourselves a few more options. We definitely have the option of keeping the ball in hand a bit more. We've got some very good ball runners and the potential is there to use them.

"Paul O'Connell is one of them - before he was injured - and so is Donncha O'Callaghan. You've got second-rowers there who are like back-rowers and I think modern rugby is going that way. Backs have got to be very tall and very athletic, and learn to be interchangeable. We've been working on guys' skills so everybody can get the ball in hand, and it seems to be working."

With a new coach and a new captain, there had to be a period of adjustment. The training schedule has also changed, encompassing an additional session earlier in the week, and while it would be profligate not to use O'Gara's world-class tactical kicking - especially to establish a foothold on a game or close one out - Munster are keeping the ball in hand more this season. The figures have assuredly been inflated by the meetings with Viadana, but even so Munster have scored 56 tries from 13 games this season, as against 37 from their first 13 last season.

It was always felt Alan Gaffney's highly technical, one-on-one coaching would help develop players individually, and Williams reckons that is what has happened. "I think that's been down to Gaff's personalised sessions and getting expert coaches in and stuff like that."

Gaffney's influence has been subtle, though at times watching Munster this season has been a bit like watching Leinster. Munster seem to be setting up running targets further away from the breakdown, with Jason Holland - the teams' most regular ball carrier - taking wider running lines than before.

The problem with this heretofore for Munster is they haven't generally had the pace in the back-row or a continuity specialist à la Keith Gleeson to ensure quick recycling of the ball. To compensate for this, back-rowers have been employed away from the breakdown, with Munster attacking in set clusters wider out, while the rucking and workrate of the backs has also been intensified, as evidenced by the number of rucks Mike Mullins hit against Ulster.

"It's a case of using the players' attributes we have to the best of our ability," says Williams. "We haven't got an out-and-out seven, so we're obviously trying to keep the ball off the ground, to get it away from (opposing) players like Gleeson, try to spread them out wider and try and work two or three players into a good position where we can score tries. That depends on quick recycling of ball and going to our strengths is what we've got to do."

A good example was the Alan Quinlan try against Ulster last week off Foley's telepathic, one-handed inside pass, when the ball had been moved from left touchline to right, where all three Munster back-rowers were stationed. Munster don't have players to run it in from 30 or 40 metres out like Denis Hickie, Brian O'Driscoll or Gordon D'Arcy. For example, witness the overlap against Ulster created from fourth-phase ball and O'Gara's long cut-out pass to Holland which the latter was unable to score off. So, two more quick recycles later, and John Hayes was rumbling over from much closer in.

"We've worked on our setpieces and on getting quick ball off first phase, and we do a lot of work off phase play as well, backs and forwards being interchangeable - backs going into rucks and forwards staying out, so we can get quick ruck ball and being able to use quickly recycled ball," says Williams.

"When you're playing from side to side, not everybody has got to be in the right position all the time. We haven't got the game-breakers to score from 50 metres, so we work very hard on our support play and our running lines, and on our gameplan to get ourselves into position to score tries from closer in."

It's harder work, but they're getting there.