Although the last of Munster’s two European titles was in 2008, they have qualified for the knockout stages in eight of the 12 seasons since.

“I know they’re [the youngsters] obviously not getting any game time at the moment, but the work they’re putting in [during] the week makes us play better on the Saturday,” said the 29-year-old South African.

“They don’t get seen or get any praise, but we know that, in the bigger picture, they’re the ones who are actually pushing us and building us to make our team a lot better.”

De Allende, who is in his first season of Heineken Champions Cup rugby following 47 caps for the Springboks, was reluctant to pick out Munster players to watch, but did eventually settle on back-row forward Gavin Coombes, 23, and scrum-half Craig Casey, 21.

Casey made his European debut last season against Racing 92 and now has four appearances to his name, while Coombes’ Heineken Champions Cup bow came this term against Harlequins, when he also scored a try.

“There are guys who are playing very good rugby who’ve come through the academy, or who aren’t even in the academy anymore and are still very young – guys like Coombesy and Craig Casey,” said the 2019 Rugby World Cup winner.

“They’ve been playing very good rugby and I would think that soon they would be at international level. Hopefully they’ll just keep on playing the way they are and keep the momentum going.”

De Allende went on to give an inside look at the Munster squad.

Who’s the hardest trainer?

Probably Craig [Casey]. Craig is very energetic in training and just always energetic in the gym as well.

Who do you think is the strongest?

Definitely Roman [Salanoa]. He’s pushing like 70kg on the dumbbell press, which is quite impressive.

Who is the fastest?

There are quite a few fast boys, but I’d probably go with Calvin Nash.

Who is the most skilful?

Shane Daly is very skilful. At training there are good highlight clips of him getting nice touches in, with one-hand pick-ups and flicks with the foot.

Who has the best banter, so far?

Probably me! I think I’ve got the best banter.

Who do you think is the most likely to be a future coach?

I would say Ben [Murphy] or JJ [Hanrahan]. I think they will not just be head coaches but somewhere on attack [too]. I think they both have the brains for it.

Munster Rugby centre Damian de Allende has pinpointed the club’s youngsters as the main reason why the Irish province are so consistent in the Heineken Champions Cup.