Firstly, Christian Cullen made his first competitive start in a red shirt for 13 months and showed that with a little bit more game time under he's belt, he could be a viable option in the Munster backline come 20 May.

There's little doubt that the injury scarred former All-Blacks full-back still has it.

At least three times in the first 20 minutes Cullen could be seen hovering on the shoulder of a Munster ball carrier and although he wasn't found on any of those occasions, Anthony Horgan did offload to him a couple of minutes later and the 30year-old (yes, he's still only 30) finished off a searing Munster break-out.

Besides the try, Cullen contributed a couple of decent breaks over the course of his 80 minutes on the pitch and there's little doubt that he'll be a serious option to start against Biarritz if he gets more time on the pitch in Munster's two upcoming Celtic League games, against the Ospreys and Llanelli.

Besides the re-introduction of Cullen to serious action, the second-half experiment of playing Jeremy Manning at outside centre proved that playing the New Zealander out of position may have some merits.

The young out-half had a superb first-half in the number 10 shirt and it was something of a surprise when Ronan O'Gara appeared for the second-half. But Mike Mullins . . . not at his sharpest or best . . . was the one to make way and the Manning-Trevor Halstead midfield combination looked bright on the front foot, even if they were slightly disorganised in a defensive sense. It also gave Munster an extra kicking option in midfield and with John Kelly and Rob Henderson both still on the mend following the injuries they picked up against Leinster, at the very least it gives the Munster management another option to fill that number 13 shirt (or as Kidney now wants it to be called, the 12A shirt), for Munster's big day in Cardiff.

And besides all that Heineken Cup talk, Friday's 41-25 victory also puts Munster in strong contention to claim their second Celtic League title. They have three league games left to play, all against Welsh opposition, but most crucially they still have one free weekend left on the agenda. The guaranteed four points that bizarre concept brings with it puts Munster in prime position to pounce should either Leinster or Ulster allow a couple of points to slip through their grasp in the coming weeks.

But switching the focus back to the Heineken Cup final, Munster's double header of Celtic League games in south Wales, against the Ospreys and Llanelli, has afforded them the opportunity to hold a mini-camp in the Principality in advance of the much talked about final. The whole squad, lock, stock and barrel, will head off to Wales on 4 May, the day before their game against the Ospreys and will return on 10 May, the morning after their game against the Scarlets.

Besides the games, the time together as a squad should prove invaluable, while escaping the pre-final hype down in the province will also be a boon. You never know, they might even get the opportunity to have a runabout on the Millennium Stadium pitch.

It will be a crucial six days for them.