'A good night, but we’re far from the finished product' - McMillan keeps Munster grounded
Jack Crowley's performance epitomised a Munster side with a renewed sense of purpose under Clayton McMillan. Pic: ©INPHO/Dan Sheridan
Jack Crowley cupped an ear to the Leinster supporters, Dan Kelly grabbed the crest on his jersey, and Gavin Coombes stirred up the travelling fans in red. This was a night to relish and remember for Munster at Croke Park as they finally rose to the occasion in a derby fixture they have so often played second fiddle over the last dozen years.
That Munster won with a bonus point having scored 31 unanswered points between the URC champions’ seventh and 80th minute scores and did so against a stacked Leinster side was all the more impressive. After a week in which Ireland head coach Andy Farrell nailed his colours firmly to the mast by selecting a squad containing 21 Leinster players and just four from the southern province, Munster stuck a defiant two fingers up in the most positive of fashions on Saturday evening.
It was not a perfect performance, although Tadhg Beirne’s first outing of the season following his player of the series turn for the British & Irish Lions was pretty close to a 10 out of 10, but having been bossed time and time again by Leinster on their trips to Dublin, this was the ideal moment to stand up and deliver a first win in the capital since the 2023 URC semi-final and end a losing run of regular season visits that dated back to 2014.
When Ronan Kelleher broke loose from a Leinster lineout drive to open the scoring on seven minutes and Sam Prendergast’s conversion opened a 7-0 lead there was an ominous recollection of the previous year’s first-half masterclass from the home side. Three converted tries had given Leo Cullen’s men a 21-0 lead after 15 minutes and the game was all but wrapped up by half-time at 26-5. It would finish 26-12 and that same 14-point margin was the way the bookmakers saw Saturday’s rematch.
They were not the only ones to underestimate what this Munster side was capable of under new management and a renewed sense of purpose, epitomised by fly-half Jack Crowley, who has emerged from last season’s intense scrutiny on his battle with Leinster’s Sam Prendergast for the Ireland number 10 jersey looking and playing sharper than ever.
While Beirne led with distinction as he spearheaded the breakdown battle and disrupted the Leinster maul, Crowley directed with poise, composure and attacking verve, as well as converting first-half tries from Brian Gleeson, Tom Farrell and Ethan Coughlan.
“I didn’t think we started the game poorly,” Munster’s new head coach Clayton McMillan said. “I thought we did all right. Just think RG (Snyman), once he got going and was able to free his arms and get a couple of offloads away, that it put us under some real pressure and that resulted in a try for them. But I didn’t at any stage in that first 10, 15 minutes think that we weren’t up for the game or we weren’t right in the contest.
“Then we had a couple of moments go our way, we were good enough to cash in and that’s exactly what we want to be as a team.”
A Crowley penalty just after the interval stretched the lead to 24-7 before a penalty try followed four minutes from time, Ciaran Frawley having led with his knees as he attempted to halt Farrell’s dive for the line, preventing a certain try. Victory was complete, Scott Penny’s last-minute score a mere consolation as the champions slumped to their third defeat in four and Munster extended their winning start to four under McMillan with 19 league points from a possible 20.
Now the New Zealander’s next trick needs to be building consistency of performance, starting with this Saturday’s home derby against Connacht at Thomond Park.
“It’s actually hard,” the former Chiefs boss said. “That’s why you applaud teams like Leinster, who continue to win and keep finding a way to win, and they stay on the top of the heap. That’s not an easy thing to do.
“We’ve found a little bit of a way at the moment, but we’ve got to find other ways to keep getting better and to get closer to that level.
“Again, it’s a good night tonight, but we’re far from the finished product. I think we’ve got a big ceiling. We just keep working every day to try and get closer to it.”
The shame for McMillan will be losing both Crowley and Beirne to Ireland camp this week, with Tom Ahern and Craig Casey joining them on the plane to Chicago on Tuesday after being kept out of the line of fire. One senses, however, that feelgood factor generated by this emphatic statement victory can carry Munster forward quite some way.
J Osborne; J Larmour (J O’Brien, 22 - HIA), G Ringrose, R Henshaw (C Frawley, 57), J Lowe; S Prendergast (C Frawley, 39-ht - HIA), J Gibson-Park (F Gunne, 70); P McCarthy (A Porter, 16 - HIA), R Kelleher (D Sheehan, 45), T Furlong (T Clarkson, 62); RG Snyman (B Deeny, 43), James Ryan; A Soroka, J van der Flier – captain, M Deegan (S Penny, 72).
Yellow card: C Frawley 77 mins
S Daly; A Smith (A Nankivell, 9), T Farrell, D Kelly, T Abrahams; J Crowley, E Coughlan (P Patterson, 56; JJ Hanrahan, 76); M Milne (J Loughman, 53), D Barron (L Barron, h-t), John Ryan (R Foxe, 62); E Edogbo (J Kleyn, h-t), F Wycherley; T Beirne – captain (John Ryan 64 – HIA), J O’Donoghue, B Gleeson (G Coombes, 28).
Yellow card: G Coombes 80 mins
Gianluca Gnecchi (Italy).
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