Munster showing signs of finest form

Munster head coach Anthony Foley says his side showed glimpses of their class, as they raced to a 24-0 halftime lead in their Pro12 win over Zebre on Saturday.

Foley's troops were coming off the back of an away defeat at the hands of Connacht and showed their intent early with tries from Felix Jones, CJ Stander and Conor Murray coming in the opening 40 minutes.

Simon Zebo made sure of the bonus point after the break but the Munstermen lacked the fluidity to make their victory even more emphatic in the secondhalf.

However, Foley admitted his side stand in good stead with the return of Keith Earls and James Cronin, the former making his first appearance of the season.

"The two boys have been training hard in the background, and it's a great opportunity for them to put their hats in the ring, particularly with next week in mind," Foley said.

"It was great for them to get a good hit out there, both of them to get over 20 minutes in the secondhalf. It was good to see Earlsy [Keith Earls] flying into a few tackles out there, and Jamesy [James Cronin] being his robust self.

"We felt that we needed a performance and we saw that, in bits and pieces. We wanted to build the game on pace and momentum, and we achieved that, and we were fortunate enough to get a couple of scores and maintain momentum on the game.

"Unfortunately we didn't do that in the secondhalf and it became a dour affair, but it's good to get back on winning ways."