Much has been made after Saturday's Twickenham rout of how Ireland couldn't cope with England's sheer size and physicality.
It was the same in Europe last term, with Munster and Ireland failing to contain Saracens in the latter stages of the Champions Cup.
Himself a former World Cup winner, new Munster attack coach Stephen Larkham believes what the Reds and Ireland have got to compensate for a lack of sheer bulk and raw power is mental toughness.
He claims that can be enough to gain success at the top level.
“That’s probably the difference between Ireland as a national team, and Munster and some of these other teams, we haven’t got those big bodies," Larkham acknowledged.
"But I tell you what they have got, they’re tough. They’re mentally tough.
"They’ll throw their body on the line again and again and again. They just get up and go again and again and again.
“That’s what I’ve been impressed with since I’ve been here. You’re not going to be able to put size on people.
"We’re not going to get a different roster for the year now, but it’s about working with what you’ve got, and where those guys are bigger, we’re going to be tougher."
Munster are trying to sign a number of players on short-term contracts to alleviate the loss of frontliners at the World Cup and are awaiting the green light from the IRFU.
Landing Larkham from the ARU was a big coup for Munster, but he's happy to be in Limerick after his 12 and 16 year old daughters were happy to move to the other side of the world.
"We’ve got Saracens in Europe this year, two games (in December), so that will be our test," the 45-year-old admitted.
"It's going to take a little bit of time, so we're not being unrealistic about it, but there is a good base there already, I would say, in terms of points scored and the way that we've attacked.
But it's something that we'll chip away at. We're not unrealistic - you usually find gains in a long season.
"The challenge will be trying to maintain those standards and continually finding improvement through the season".
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