Rugby Celtic League previews It's an impossible juggling act, all the more so with a World Cup to follow in just over 12 months' time, and there is undoubtedly merit in the Irish frontliners having a delayed start to this campaign, but it's hardly any wonder that the Magners Celtic League launch suffers for a relative lack of profile.
In what might otherwise have been an intriguing start, Munster begin life as reigning European champions by returning to the city of their finest hour, but pretty much in name only.
Their 13 Ireland squad members - some of whom are in pre-season training in the ice chambers of Spala, Poland - have been sidelined for the first month of the campaign.
This even included the trio who had no game time in Australia and New Zealand: Anthony Foley, Alan Quinlan and Anthony Horgan. And they are joined by the injured trio of Trevor Halstead, Denis Fogarty and Eugene McGovern.
Hence only three of the starting team in last season's Heineken European Cup final at the Millennium Stadium will be lining up for their seasonal kick-off in Cardiff this season: Shaun Payne, Ian Dowling and John Kelly, who captains the side on the night he makes his 138th Munster appearance, eclipsing Mick Galwey and now second only to Foley.
Federico Pucciariello, who played the final half-hour that day, and a couple of unused replacements, halfbacks Tomás O'Leary and Jeremy Manning, are also named, but this constitutes a severe-looking early test of their resources, needless to say, especially up front.
The 20-year-old ex-CBC, UCC and Irish schools Academy duo of loosehead Darragh Hurley and flanker Ross Noonan make their competitive debuts, as do the 25-year-old development contract backrower James Coughlan of Dolphin and the 31-year-old ex-Welsh lock Chris Wyatt, ironically back on his old stomping ground.
The 22-year-old lock Donncha Ryan makes his first start after two appearances late last season as a replacement.
Alongside all of them, the long-awaited return of Frankie Sheahan for his first competitive game since last October after overcoming a career-threatening injury will be widely welcomed (all the more so with Jerry Flannery and now Denis Fogarty undergoing shoulder reconstructions).
By all accounts, Sheahan was throwing himself about with customary gusto in last week's friendly defeat at home to another of their prospective European pool opponents this season, Leicester.
This, therefore, will be the first of four meetings with Cardiff this season and it is a backhanded compliment of sorts to the European champions that the Welsh outfit have decided to play their home pool game against Munster at the Arms Park, rather than risk having the tie turned into an away game by profiting from a switch to the Millennium Stadium - as they have done with Leicester.
The Blues have never won their opening match of a league season, whilst Munster have won on the opening weekend for four of the past five seasons.
But against that, Cardiff haven't lost at the Arms Park since January, a home run that was the springboard for a sequence of seven wins from their last nine games last season, which propelled them to fourth in the table, three points behind third-placed Munster.
Comparatively inactive in the transfer market, after that one outing against Leicester, Munster also look relatively undercooked given Cardiff have had a couple of pre-season friendlies at home to Worcester (41-19) and Bristol (3-20). Furthermore, Cardiff are far closer to full strength, coach David Young naming three of their summer signings: Fao Filise, Scott Morgan and Mosese Luveitasau.
Last season's leading scorer, Nick Robinson, resumes his Welsh halfback partnership of the summer in Argentina alongside Mike Phillips, while the influential Tom Shanklin, effectively ruled out all last season, is on the bench after emerging unscathed from his comeback game against Bristol.
On the face of it, it looks like far too worldly and talented a concoction for this relatively callow Munster squad.
The Statistics
CARDIFF: R Williams; C Czekaj, J Robinson, M Stcherbina, M Luveitasau; N Robinson, M Phillips; G Jenkins, T Rhys Thomas, T Filise; D Jones, R Sidoli; S Morgan, M Williams, X Rush (captain). Replacements: J Yapp, G Williams, B Davies, R Sowden-Taylor, W Evans, N Macleod, T Shanklin.
MUNSTER: C Cullen; S Payne, J Kelly (captain), J Downey, I Dowling; J Manning, T O'Leary; D Hurley, F Sheahan, F Pucciariello; D Ryan, C Wyatt; R Noonan, J O'Sullivan, J Coughlan. Replacements: S Cronin, K Ryan, S O'Connor, B Cuttriss, G Hurley, E Hickey, M Lawlor.
Referee: Rob Dickson (SRU).
Previous meetings: (03-04) Munster 31 Cardiff 10; Cardiff 60 Munster 14; (04-05) Munster 49 Cardiff 18; Cardiff 30 Munster 20; (05-06) Cardiff 16 Munster 18; Munster 37 Cardiff 8.
Last season's leading points scorers: Cardiff: Nick Robinson 173, N Macleod 57. Munster: Ronan O'Gara 80, Paul Burke 56, Jeremy Manning 53.
Last season's leading try scorers: Cardiff - Chris Czekaj 7, Nick Robinson 6, Craig Morgan, Marc Stcherbina 5 each. Munster - John Kelly 6, Federico Pucciariello 5.
Forecast: Cardiff to win.
Celtic League:Round One
Cardiff Blues v Munster
At Arms Park, 7.10pm
On TV: live on BBC Wales
