Graham Rowntree predicts that Munster's finishers will be more important than ever against "gnarly" Glasgow with a place in the URC final on offer.
The Reds boss has loved the impact that his bench has made in recent weeks after a change in selection tactics that began on the successful trip to South Africa that yielded two victories to propel the province towards their top seeding for the play-offs.
The shift has seen the likes of regular No.8 Gavin Coombes and his back row colleague John Hodnett being kept in reserve and then unleashed early in the second half in some games. It's a ploy that has helped Munster to stretch their winning streak to 10 matches.
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"We had to find a way of conserving our energy and managing our energy," said Rowntree. "A lot of this has been hindered by guys being unavailable through injury.
"We hit South Africa and we delved into it the week of the Bulls game. That was the first time we really got the bench we wanted on the pitch. They all want to start. But they've all seen the benefit of the guys coming off the bench. It's a skill, that. Particularly for a big man, a 120 kilogram man, getting up to speed quickly.
"It's a challenge, you've got to get up to speed quickly. You can't be lagging behind play, otherwise the No.9 will just take you on at the breakdown, and they'll be away, you can't give a penalty away. It's a real skill to get up to that game speed.
"The thing the guys have recognised is that it's a special job coming off the bench. They all want to start a game but they've seen how important it is, guys coming off the bench."
Rowntree is full of praise for the contribution of Coombes in particular, who had to fulfil a different role again earlier in the campaign. The back row has come off the bench four times in the last six games - although both he and Hodnett started last week's quarter-final against Ospreys.
"He's punched some number for us, if you look at the minutes he played last year," he said of the Skibbereen man. "What's he's done this year is incredibly important to us. His tackling, carrying, lineout, maul, he'll slip into the second row and he helped us out there incredibly over the Christmas period when we were a bit barren in the second row.
"I'm a big fan of Gav, and you've seen how our bench philosophy has changed since South Africa, and what we've been doing there. He's been significant. What a luxury, to be able to bring that power on in the third quarter of the game.
"It's not yet finalised, selection, or indeed our bench split - but I think the ability to bring on forwards like him against Glasgow, around that 50-minutes mark, or even earlier will be vital to us this week."
Rowntree admits he'll never forget the Thom*ond Park dressing-room last season when Glasgow fired into a 28-0 lead at half-time before going on to win. "The term I've used widely, it gave us a punch in the nose," he recalled.
"Certainly, defensively, we changed some key elements of our game and how we were training, which stood to us. I say stood to us, we went to Durban and got beat by the Sharks the week after, but I look back at what we learned, and it has stood to us since then."
The Warriors delivered another lesson at the start of December, when they mauled their way over several times and, although Munster won on that occasion, the province had to recalibrate their defence again.
"They've got the full package, they can play, they're dangerous on the edge of the field, they kick a lot less than most teams, they have a dangerous breakdown, and they come here with - reading between the lines -quite a gnarly attitude, similar to us on the road last year," Rowntree added.
"We spoke about that mindset this week. That's what we're waiting for. "They have the best maul and scrum in the URC, and they're dangerous. They have depth at the edge of the field. They've already talked about what we did in the quarter-final last year, paying us back. I thought it was very impressive the way they stayed in the game last week."
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