'I'm really happy with the group that we've got' - Clayton McMillan on Conor Murray comments

INHERITED SQUAD: Munster head coach Clayton McMillan is happy with the squad he has inherited. Pic: Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile

Clayton McMillan insists he is happy with the Munster squad he inherited after Conor Murray criticised the province’s “penny-pinching” approach.

The long-serving scrum-half, who played his last game of rugby in May’s URC quarter-final defeat, felt let down by “skimping” on recruitment and a “far too conservative” financial strategy.

New head coach McMillan was asked if he was satisfied with the summer signings and playing budget allocated ahead of his debut campaign.

“I'm aware of the comments, but I haven't been here long enough to form an opinion around who's right or wrong,” he said.

“To be honest, I'm not concerned about what's happened in the past. I can't do anything about that. What I can do is influence what happens moving forward.

“I'm really happy with the group that we've got. I think they've got a lot of potential and upside. My job is to help realise the potential in the group. That's all I'm focused on.” 

In terms of that squad, John Hodnett emerged as the major concern out of Friday’s 28-all pre-season draw with Premiership champions Bath.

“John Hodnett is the one that may be the most serious. He's got quite a sore face,” said McMillan.

“He'll need to go for a scan on that, but potentially at least a couple of weeks (out), maybe a little bit more.

“John Ryan hyperextended his elbow. He's in a much better state now than what he was straight after it. We'll get that scanned and see what it's like, but I don't think it's anything serious.

“Michael Milne came off. His calf started to tighten up so didn't feel any need to push him any more than we needed to.

“Diarmuid (Kilgallen) had a little niggly ankle that we didn't want to risk.” 

Munster constructed a 28-7 lead against Bath before shipping three converted tries in an extended 90-minute contest. For context, McMillan noted the number of young players on the field in that final stretch.

Following on the heels of their late 14-12 defeat in Gloucester, the New Zealander hopes the late lessons can stand them in good stead when the season rolls around in a fortnight.

“There's certainly a lot more positives. There was a couple of opportunities in the last 10 minutes where some execution and perhaps some decision-making would have put us in the right parts of the field to just keep squeezing them and force them to overplay.

“We probably were guilty of overplaying a little bit, but that's the beauty of pre-season games. You're going to make a few mistakes, and we accepted that was going to happen. The key is to be able to learn from them. Put in the same situation next week or in a couple of weeks, we want to be better.” 

McMillan was content with the set-piece fundamentals he witnessed. The forwards won a few scrum penalties, including a penalty try, and produced some excellent maul defence.

“Everything pretty much starts up front, so I think it was really encouraging in the conditions that we got some good line-out ball, got a few mauls going, our scrum was strong. That's the foundation,” he said.

“It’s really hard to play any sort of rugby if you don't get your fair share of possession, so that was the most pleasing part.

“When we did have the opportunity to play, our skill set was pretty good. There were a couple of occasions where we kept the ball alive, we were able to play on top of them, and those things encouraged me.

“There's lots of improvement in us, but we're looking forward to Scarlets. We'll be head down, backside up for the next week and look for the growth that we need to get better.”