Munster defence coach Denis Leamy said that the arrival of Irish internationals Jack Crowley, Craig Casey and Jeremy Loughman in South Africa is a timely boost as they prepare to bounce back from their 45-0 mauling to the Sharks when they take on the Bulls next Saturday afternoon at Loftus Versfeld.

Munster have decamped south from Durban to Cape Town where they will be based at sea level until the weekend, travelling up to altitude in Pretoria on Friday afternoon for the clash with the Bulls.

The Irish trio, who were given a break last week after their exploits with Ireland, are set to feature next weekend. Casey joined the squad in Durban and Crowley and Loughman travelled direct to Cape Town and met the group there on Sunday before a squad meeting that night addressed the Sharks loss and started preparations for the Bulls.

“We met the boys here yesterday and they’ve come with a huge amount of energy and enthusiasm. Obviously, they’re bouncing back from the very successful Six Nations with Ireland,” said Leamy.

“So to have them back and their voices and their leadership is really critical to us. They’ve given everyone a bit of a bounce coming in and last night’s meeting was very, very good and they had a big part to play in that as well. So on we go.

“A big couple of days ahead of us and we look forward to the challenge that’s going to be the Bulls.”

Leamy said they have been in difficult binds before, particularly in South Africa, and found a way to work out of them and he’s confident they can do that again this time as the battle intensifies for knock-out places in the URC.

“Obviously, initially the reaction is always one of huge disappointment when something like that happens,” said the former Irish backrow.

“But over the last couple of days, we’ve gathered ourselves. We had a very good meeting here in Cape Town last night where the players led it and they analysed the game and they fed back really, really well.

“I think there’s an acceptance that we need to be much better than we were. Sometimes that happens in the game, but the focus is very much looking forward, getting a lot of confidence from each other through our training week and having a big bounce back hopefully.

“Look, I think ultimately the Sharks were very good on the night. We struggled in a number of areas. We didn’t take our opportunities when we entered their score zone. We gave away a number of penalties which gave them access into our score zone and they were very efficient in getting over our line.

“There’s a couple of tries at the end that were freakish moments, but that’s the game. You just have to try and limit opportunities to speedsters like [Makazole] Mapimpi and these sort of guys. So there’s no feeling sorry for ourselves.

“That’s the game. We know that’s what can happen when you step out on to the pitch if you don’t deliver. There’s quality teams, especially in this part of the world, that can hurt you badly and unfortunately we were on the receiving end the other night.”

Munster have now lost eight of their last 12 games and a Bulls side who occupy the final qualification spot on points difference from Connacht will be fired up, not least after their 40-7 drubbing of Cardiff at the weekend.

“Well, it doesn’t get any easier, does it? That’s a fact,” added Leamy. “Obviously, see what they did to Cardiff the other night. It’s a real challenge. It’s one of the toughest places in the world to play rugby.

“But look, we’ve been here before. We’ve won down here before. We’ll take belief from that. The great thing about being a rugby player is you get to have the chance week after week to put some of the wrongs to right and that’s what we plan to do.”