'Hurt' Munster can use Edinburgh defeat as fuel 

The next couple of months will have a huge say in shaping the mood and mindset of the squad Clayton McMillan inherits.

Munster's Ben O’Connor claims a high ball. Pic: Bryan Keane/Inpho

For all the positivity of finding what they believe is the right man to take the Munster reins, it was hard for Ian Costello to see the bright side of life after a home humbling by Edinburgh in Cork last Friday night.

When a URC play-offs rival comes into your backyard and collects a try bonus point before half-time, as the Scots did at Virgin Media Park, thoughts on the mid-to-long-term future can seem moot. 

Yet the interim head coach who will make for his permanent replacement Clayton McMillan this summer did his best to return some perspective following Munster’s 34-28 defeat which puts a serious dent in their ambitions to secure a home quarter-final draw that only a top-four finish can deliver.

The next couple of months will have a huge say in shaping the mood and mindset of the squad McMillan inherits in pre-season after he says farewell to the Chiefs and begins a three-year contract as Graham Rowntree’s successor. 

Costello, in his full-time role as head of rugby operations, was part of the selection process that put the New Zealander in the hot seat for 2025-26 and beyond. 

The welcoming statement issued last Wednesday night also announced that Costello’s job title will change to general manager while attack coach Mike Prendergast, himself a candidate to succeed Rowntree, will be elevated to the enhanced role of senior coach.

It represents some solid manoeuvering behind the scenes since the abrupt departure by mutual consent four months previously, of the head coach who ended a 12-year wait for silverware by landing the URC title in his first season at the helm in 2023.

“As a club, and I suppose this sounds a bit hollow now, tonight, but it feels like we've done such good work on and off the field,” Costello said. “There's an awful lot of work gone in behind the scenes for the announcement that you saw, in terms of Clayton, in terms of our structure and we've been very confident. We've been building that in the background the last couple of months, despite a lot of external noise.

“And then on the field, we've been doing the business as well. At times it hasn't been perfect, but we've accumulated a lot of points. We've moved up eight places in the league. So what should have been a performance to cap off a really good block, that's disappointing and we don't play for three weeks and we’ve got to live with that now for our off week and we won't get a chance to fix it again until we travel to Glasgow in three weeks’ time.” 

Munster salvaged two match points as they rallied from a 29-7 interval deficit to collect both try and losing bonus points at the death through Sean O’Brien’s 80th minute try converted by Billy Burns. 

That helped Costello’s side hold onto fifth spot in the table with six rounds of the regular season still to play, though while the Sharks lie just a point ahead of them in fourth, there is a chasing pack all within touching distance themselves of home advantage when the play-off rounds get underway on the last weekend in May.

With 13th-placed Benetton just five points in arrears of Munster, there is still a lot of work to be done in order to make the knockout rounds, never mind nail a Thomond Park quarter-final.

“Tonight hurts and it should hurt and it should hurt for a long while to fuel us on for the rest of the season,” Costello added, “and hopefully in six games’ time we're still competitive for that top-four spot.” 

As for incoming head coach, Costello described McMillan as “a good fit” to lead the existing coaching group of Prendergast, Denis Leamy, Mossy Lawler and George Murray, as well as a yet to be announced forwards coach to replace Andi Kyriacou, who exited soon after Rowntree.

“I think we were probably being really consistent, I feel, in terms of taking our time to get somebody that we felt could complement the group that we had. 

"We had some really strong candidates, including Mike Prendergast, and if it was going to be someone external, they needed to fit with the skill set the group had.

“We need to understand who we are, what we're about, what our culture is, what our identity is, and then how they would build on that as an evolvement, I suppose. That’s really where Clayton stood out. He's obviously got a very strong record, been to a lot of finals with the Chiefs. And a lot of his back story, his background resonates with what we're about as well.

“It’s hard to be excited just right at this minute, but I think that was really important as a club that we got to that place.”