Munster head coach Tony McGahan says his side need to respond positively and quickly following Saturday night's crushing defeat to Leinster at the Royal Dublin Showground.
McGahan's men were comprehensively outplayed by the current Heineken Cup holders as they prepared for Saturday's European opener at Northampton in the worst possible manner.
Munster meet up again on Tuesday to begin training ahead of their Pool 1 trip to Franklin's Gardens, with McGahan knowing a huge improvement must be made if the 2006 and 2008 champions are to get back to winning ways in the East Midlands.
"We have a quality dressing room with quality senior players so you would expect that we would get a response this week," said McGahan after Leinster ran out 30-0 winners at the RDS.
"We thought coming here… that we'd put in a really resilient performance at the least. To come away with nothing to hang on to at this stage, we'll need a response this week."
Friday night's fixture was the first time Munster had failed to trouble the scoreboard in Celtic League history. Instead of providing an opportunity for revenge for last season's Heineken Cup semi-final defeat to the same opposition at Croke Park, the match brought more questions than answers for McGahan and his men.
But despite admitting his frustration at the performance, McGahan believes the vast amount of European and international experience among his squad will ensure they bounce back.
"In every facet we were second best and I think that's a bit of us but I think you have to pay credit to Leinster too, I thought they were excellent. The scoreboard doesn't in some cases reflect but I thought it certainly did.
"We certainly thought there was no part of our game that was anywhere near where it needed to be and I think against a good side we were badly exposed.
"The dressing room was very frank and I'm sure the players, when we get together on Tuesday, will come together and we'll go forward from here."
