One of my favourite Twitter accounts is @ThreeRedKings, run by Corkman Tom Savage.

Born of a Munster-supporting blog the account gets great joy from attempts to wind-up supporters of Munster’s rivals – something which never seems to require much effort. The most recent of these has revolved around the production of a t-shirt for the site’s online shop, lauding the province’s out-half, Joey Carbery.

It proclaims; ‘Carbery: Munster’s own’ and, like all the best knowingly made jokes, the humour is in the reactions. However, there is more than an ounce of truth in the fact that Carbery has been firmly accepted in the south. There was never really any doubt that that would be the case, but more than a few column inches last summer were of the view that his relocation wouldn’t benefit Munster, Leinster or Ireland.

Given that the move was made under the recommendation of Joe Schmidt and the IRFU’s high-performance director David Nucifora, the green jersey – that of Ireland rather than the questionable Munster one worn against Gloucester – was the key motivation.

If the plan was to work out, then Munster would naturally benefit, too

Give Jonathan Sexton some stiff competition for the number 10 spot and he would be pushed even harder in a World Cup year, the logic went.

Coming off the World Player of the Year award, Sexton needs to match those displays in 2019, and having someone else properly vying for the position is the best way to bring that about.

Ronan O’Gara and David Humphries certainly brought out the best in each other, as Ollie Campbell and David Ward had before that, but, as long as Carbery was Sexton’s back-up at provincial level too, there was a clear hierarchy of master and apprentice.

If the plan was to work out, then Munster would naturally benefit, too.

Any commentators who felt that the ‘Leinsterness’ of the player – born in New Zealand, let’s not forget – would prevent him becoming a Thomond Park favourite had obviously never heard of Ian Dowling, Johne Murphy or Felix Jones, to name a few.

Another new addition this year, Tadhg Beirne, has also settled in well despite his Kildare roots.

Likewise, any suggestion that Carbery wouldn’t be able to buy into the Munster ethos or produce his best in red was – intentionally or not – making out that he wasn’t professional enough to settle into a new system.

It has taken time, but then any new player joining a new side is going to need an adaptation period.

While Carbery struggled in the Champions Cup loss away to Castres before Christmas, he has been in top form since, culminating in his orchestration of a superb win at Kingsholm last week.

The dead-ball play was excellent, a third game in a row with a 100% record, but that was only one part of a near-perfect playmaking display, with Carbery also getting in for two tries as Johann van Graan’s side won 41-15.

One by-product of Carbery’s move to Munster is the effect on the depth chart at out-half, with Ian Keatley the unlucky man

For Munster, it was one of the best all-round team performances in van Graan’s reign and leaves them well-placed to secure top spot in their pool with a win over Exeter in Limerick on Saturday evening.

The English side are in second following their win over Castres, four points behind Munster, and they need a win to keep alive hopes of qualification for the knockout stage, so it won’t be easy.

One by-product of Carbery’s move to Munster is the effect on the depth chart at out-half, with Ian Keatley the unlucky man.

After such a good season in 2017-18, he is now fourth in line behind Keatley, JJ Hanrahan and Tyler Bleyendaal.

A starter in the Six Nations against Italy in 2015, Keatley came off the bench against Fiji as recently as November 2017 and, at 31, he isn’t signing his pension just yet. However, he has continued to be a good pro and applied himself without any public complaints about his lot.

He is set to join Benetton of Italy next season, but on Friday, with the Munster first team in Gloucester, he was involved as Munster A beat Leinster A at Thomond Park.

Naturally, @threeredkings took the opportunity to remind Leinster fans of that result, though some replied by saying Leinster would have won except the players who would otherwise have been chosen were now being farmed out to the other provinces. To be fair, @threeredkings was happy to retweet these replies.

Superb weekend

Munster’s win at Gloucester formed part of a superb weekend for the Irish, as Leinster beat Toulouse and Ulster overcame Racing 92 in the Champions Cup while Connacht triumphed against Sale Sharks in the Challenge Cup.

Leinster now lead the French side by three points and a win away to Wasps will do them on Sunday, even allowing for an expected Toulouse victory at home to Bath.

While Ulster did come out on top in a shootout against Racing, the French side’s try-scoring ability saw them touch down four times and pick up two bonus points, while Ulster couldn’t claim one. That leaves Ulster three points behind ahead of a trip to Leicester.

Currently, they have the second-best record of the five second-placed teams, with three to qualify, but a lot could change.

Connacht are now level on points with Sale after their win, a better scoring differential leaving the Lancashire side on top, but the westerners have the consolation of the best second-placed side.

Saturday sees Connacht go to Bordeaux-Begles while Sale host Perpignan, who have yet to register a win and are unlikely to provide much resistance. In that regard, it’s hard to envisage Sale not coming out on top, but Connacht should still progress as one of the three best runners-up.