Jared Payne content Munster attack heading in the right direction 

Having enjoyed coaching spells with Ulster, Clermont Auvergne and Scarlets, Munster are set to reap the rewards of Payne's journey.

Munster coaches Jared Payne and Clayton McMillan. Pic: Dan Clohessy/Inpho

Munster’s season may have opened with a home defeat to Glasgow Warriors last weekend but there were genuine grounds for optimism that Clayton McMillan’s squad laid down some exciting markers for the months ahead, not least in attack.

The 26-20 loss, while delivering a losing bonus point also signposted just how difficult it will be for the 2023 URC champions to compete at the higher end of the table if they are unable to field their strongest side but there was enough in their offensive set-up to suggest they can pose plenty of questions with ball in hand.

Head coach McMillan reconfigured his backroom staff in the wake of Mike Prendergast’s departure for English powerhouse Bath, and despite the province’s botched attempt to appoint his former Chiefs attack coach Roger Randle, the New Zealander appears to have landed on his feet with a twin-pronged approach to the role. 

With Mossy Lawler, Prendergast’s assistant and skills coach, placed in charge of Munster’s multi-phase attack, the appointment of former Ulster and Ireland centre Jared Payne from Scarlets has been hired to concentrate on strike plays and the first three phases of Munster attacks and the early signs are of an immediate impact from the Kiwi-born Irishman.

Payne’s is a coaching philosophy formed by extensive exposure to his former Ireland boss Joe Schmidt, a world-renowned master of the strike play, and also his experiences coaching both defence and attack since his retirement due to a head injury on the 2017 British & Irish Lions tour to New Zealand.

Now, having enjoyed coaching spells with Ulster, Clermont Auvergne and Scarlets, Munster are set to reap the rewards of his journey.

His and Lawler’s ideas seemed to have already translated into a fluent gameplan exemplified by Munster’s first-half try against Glasgow, a strike play off a lineout finished on the opposite flank to the set-piece by wing Ben O’Connor.

“I think there's been some good bits,” Payne said. “It's definitely that the guys have embraced what we're going after. I think in that Glasgow game we saw a couple of moments of that, which was nice. So, yeah, I think it's transferred across to the players. They're getting behind it.

“It's still very early days. But no, we've really enjoyed wanting to get a mindset to score tries a bit quicker, ideally within the first three phases if we can. And the guys are really getting behind that.

“They're a smart bunch of players. They understand how we're going to do it. They get in and get in front of their work each week and it gives them the best chance to execute, as you saw on the weekend once or twice when we got the opportunities.

“I think we put Glasgow on the back foot a couple of times, which was nice.” 

Explaining that mindset to score tries quicker, Payne said: “You don't want to burn up a lot of energy in your own half, do you? So the game in this day and age, everyone battles for that middle part of the pitch and sometimes the easiest way is to kick the ball down there.

“You kick smart. At times where you have to pull up and do a box kick, there will be times you can shift it to the edge. Like JJ (Hanrahan) did on the weekend, kicking on the edge. There's different ways to do it, but you don't want to over-exert yourself 50 metres out. You want to be able to transfer a bit of pressure onto them and then hopefully get a few opportunities and better positions to launch some attacks.” 

A couple of weeks short of his 41st birthday, Payne has settled comfortably into life in Limerick, though it was a return to Ireland he never envisaged.

“My wife (Christina) is from Belfast. My two boys (Jake, 10, and Tyler, 8) were born up there. I might not be full-blooded Irish, but I definitely could consider myself very Irish.

“But I never could have foreseen what was going to happen. It's been awesome. I've got plenty of opportunities, plenty of good memories. I'm very thankful for that.” 

Joining Munster, he said, had not needed a hard sell.

“The missus was obviously very keen when she heard that we might be able to get back to Ireland. Her ears perked up pretty quick.

“Clayton's obviously got a great reputation, so learning off him was pretty awesome too. You take all that away, you look at what Munster are, the history here and the opportunity here. You don't say no to that sort of chance. Not a lot of persuasion was needed.”