Like every coach, Jared Payne has his own philosophy in how he sees the game. "Play fast. Strike to score quickly. Play smart." It all sounds pretty simple, but having a philosophy and implementing one at the top level is a whole other ball game.

Payne made the move back to Ireland over the summer, having spent time with Clermont and the Scarlets following his departure from Ulster back in 2022. His new role sees him in tandem with fellow attack coach Mossy Lawler, as they work together to try and break down opposing defences.

The task at hand was bound to be steep, succeeding Mike Prendergast who helped Munster to URC glory in 2023, and who had been widely viewed as a potential future head coach at the province.

On the field, the Kiwi works on phases one to three, or your traditional striking phases; with Lawler taking the general phase play which follows. It is a setup which mirrors what Ireland have with Andy Farrell and Andrew Goodman, as the dual-coach role becomes more normal in the modern game.

When asked for what he wants from his side, he laid all of his cards on the table speaking to the media on Tuesday.

"Play fast. Strike to score quickly. Play smart," he outlined as his core principles.

"I want to make sure we try to play the game smart. We try to outsmart opposition with some of the things we do in the first couple of phases."

"We play with speed, we're unpredictable, and then we're pretty accurate with our basics, really."

Having represented the British and Irish Lions and Ireland in his playing days, and having worked as a defence coach at Ulster and Scarlets, it's fair to assume that the 40-year-old has the depth of knowledge necessary.

Not wanting to be tied down to any particular coaching tree, he mentioned that he took tid-bits from everyone.

"You take something from everyone you play under," the Munster coach said.

"Joe (Schmidt), obviously, when you're talking about the first couple of phases, he was great on that side of the ball, wasn't he? He was famous for that.

"So definitely you try and coach with some of the detail that he used the first couple of phases, the standards he expected. A guy like 'Faz' (Andy Farrell), the way he is with people, with the players, serious yet (we) enjoyed it.

"You learn something from everyone you're underneath, to tell you the truth. There's no one guy in particular. Even outside of rugby, Mike Ashford, has taught me a lot about the actual coaching process and things."

It's a wide base, with Payne having also worked under the likes of Les Kiss, Warren Gatland, Ian Foster and Pat Lam among others. A stellar list of top level coaches, who changed the face of the game across the past decade or two.

Now the task for Payne is to take his core principles, and translate them onto the training paddock and then into the match arena. Last Saturday's opening fixture of the season against Glasgow showed flashes of how Munster will want to play, but without the result.

The 26-20 defeat consigned Munster to a first loss in their home opener since 2016, and yet with the form of Ben O'Donovan and JJ Hanrahan in implementing their new style, many have echoed Clayton McMillan's claims of "green shoots" being visible.

Hanrahan also spoke to the media on Wednesday, and was full of praise for Munster's new attacking mind.

"(Jared) had a good defensive background as well and he knows the weak points in defences and how to go after them," the Kerry native said.

"He's been really innovative in terms of what he's added to our attack, how he's added to our mindset and challenges us in one or two areas and has added massively in a lot of areas, particularly around our strike plays.

"For me as a ten, it's excellent for me obviously to see the way he thinks about the game, how he coaches it, how he talks to us and how we get it on the field.

"So it's been really, really positive and really pleasing."

Munster will be hoping to show that shared vision on Saturday when they return to Thomond Park in round two of the URC against the Bulls.