Redemption can take many forms.

In sport it is usually the opportunity to get right back on the horse, and in recent days Paul Townend has been a welcome example of that. I hope Munster were watching because this weekend that door opens for them.

The equation is simple. Win in Thomond Park this Saturday against Edinburgh and their season can be salvaged from the wreckage of Bordeaux. While the Champions Cup is the holy grail, victory this weekend offers the chance to go to the RDS to take on Leinster in a Pro14 semi-final.

While we all craved an all Irish Champions Cup final in Bilbao, a sold out RDS wouldn’t be a bad second prize, especially if Leinster come into that game as European champions.

Of course come the month of May it is always dangerous to look past the game right in front of you and Irish sides, in particular Munster, do not need reminding of that, having lost far too many Pro14 play-off games in recent years.

End of season contests are notorious for throwing up strange results, the fast ground, a litany of injuries and general mental fatigue have all combined to make Limerick a non-fortress once the weather gets warmer.

But it can’t be this year.

The loss to Racing 92 and the nature of it was hard to stomach for the supporters, so we can only imagine how the squad themselves feel. The Pro14 has now assumed huge importance for them because they badly need to banish the Champions Cup memories and this offers a viable and almost instant way back.

Simon Zebo, much maligned in recent weeks, has always had the cut of a player who would like to sign off in style and surely he can end his Munster career with the swashbuckle that he arrived with. If Munster can’t find that spark then Zebo’s last time in the red jersey will be this Saturday. Surely the Munster scriptwriters can do better than that?

Edinburgh are sticky opponents who will be suited to the better climate. They like to move the ball and they like to invent.

That style of play can go two ways in Thomond Park. The first and obvious one being they get stopped on the spot, hammered, turned over and by half time they have their tail between their legs.

That scenario has played out a couple of times for the Scots in Limerick, but behind door number two is a Munster side who might be a little fragile. If that is the case, the frailty will spread to supporters and the home side will be in trouble.

In such potential quicksand, Munster are notorious for extricating themselves and I have a sneaking suspicion there will be a kick in them this month.

Surely Ian Keatley and JJ Hanrahan are fed up with hearing about how Joey Carberry and Ross Byrne could also come to Munster and solve all their problems in lieu of doing the same in Ulster. Are Keatley and Hanrahan happy with that prospect, which would see at least one of them consigned to the very outer fringes of the first team squad?

With the inevitable build-up to the European Cup final for Leinster, along with the aftermath, the long grass could take on knotweed proportions as far as Munster are concerned and they could emerge into the RDS sunshine and spoil the celebration party.

Remember that Leinster will hopefully be seeking the double and there is definitely one team who could summon the reserves and the sum of their parts to scupper that plan. Motivation should never be an issue in the big games, but the extra dollop now and again can’t hurt either!

Championship season is finally here

IN quiet corners of north London and the Bronx this Sunday the All-Ireland football championship officially gets under way when the Connacht championship Throws in.

America and England don’t roll off the tongue as traditional championship venues, but Ruislip and Gaelic Park will have plenty of exiles on hand to cheer on their home counties.

In a previous life I attended many Connacht openers at the London venue and it used to be the biggest day of the year for the locals. The travelling counties would bring thousands from all over Britain to see their heroes from home, it wasn’t just a football match, it was reunion.

That was 25 years ago and thankfully the likes of Ryanair have shortened the road home. This Sunday it will be more about football than celebration when Sligo will be the nervous visitors.

Ditto for Leitrim in New York, as the guests will be more than aware that the New Yorkers are due a win at this stage of the competition.

While it is an underwhelming start to the summer, it is a reminder that April is behind us and the big games can’t be far away.

Exciting times

Once we get over Sunday, the mouth-watering clash between Mayo and Galway is just around the corner, so too are the new Leinster and Munster hurling round robin groups. So the games will come thick and fast.

Until they do the underdogs will get their brief time in the spotlight, with a couple of fascinating tales in the papers this week about who is now lining out for New York or London and how they got there.

I always pay attention to those insights because for a long time I was that soldier, starved of home news and GAA talk, soaking up all I could in both Gaelic Park and Ruislip.

Back then there was no Facebook or Twitter to tell us everything, so we hoovered up any first hand information from home on such occasions.

It’s different now for sure, but the importance of these two games this weekend cannot be understated to those Gaels living in foreign climes.

Good luck to the home sides, victory could mean a trip home and Ryanair or not, that was always a decent carrot!