McMillan accused Munster of letting 'special' travelling fans down

Alex Nankivell explained head coach Clayton McMillan used video review to remind his players of the passionate support they enjoy

Munster's Gavin Coombes walks through Munster fans ahead of the clash with Bath. Pic ©INPHO/Dan Clohessy

Alex Nankivell has explained his “hurt” at letting the Red Army down in Bath last weekend after Clayton McMillan left the Munster players in no doubt about how much they owe their supporters a performance against Gloucester on Saturday at Pairc ui Chaoimh.

Following a chastening 40-14 Champions Cup pool defeat to Johann van Graan’s English champions last Saturday night, Munster will pitch up in Cork needing a victory over their second-round Pool 2 rivals to get their European campaign back on track and hopes of reaching the knockout stages alive.

So it was telling while head coach McMillan highlighted his team’s technical difficulties in conceding a try bonus point to a rampant Bath after just 18 minutes during Monday’s performance review, he also chose to remind his players of the passionate support of around 4,000 travelling Munster fans, by showing them a video of the hundreds who formed a guard of honour for the squad for their three-quarter mile walk from the team hotel to The Rec.

Munster's Alex Nankivell meets Premier Sports presenter Simon Zebo before the match. Pic: ©INPHO/Tom Maher

Veteran fly-half JJ Hanrahan, now in his third spell at his home province, described walking through a tunnel of chanting supporters as his best experience as a Munster player over a 147-cap career while former head coach van Graan said: “It was quite hostile when we walked in, which is typical Munster. I think that’s why they are so renowned for their travelling support and I think that’s what the Champions Cup needs is that travelling support.” 

Munster have long enjoyed fervent backing on the road in Europe, not least in La Rochelle last April where they were met with a sea of red on their arrival at Stade Marcel Deflandre ahead of a famous Round of 16 victory. Last Saturday on the streets of Bath city centre was, however, something else.

“It's amazing, isn't it?” centre Nankivell said, “but that was one of the things (McMillan) brought up yesterday. He showed a video of that, of the tunnel. 

“And like a reflection of the game, and review of the game, and bringing, I guess, the fans into it, and our support into it. He just said we pretty much let them down. And we did.

“When you put something up like that, it actually hurts. It's something deeper than just you dropped the ball here, or you missed a clean here. It’s something a bit deeper than that.

“So as a player, I know for me, I don't want that to feel like that again. You know what I mean? They do that for us, and then we're not reciprocating it around how we play.” 

The New Zealander added: “I probably haven't experienced something like that since I've been at Munster. You experience things that are similar, and just how much the fans get behind you, and things like that pre-game and during the game.

“But that was unbelievable, honestly. Like the tunnel, I'd say it would have been 40 to 50 metres, just the tunnel, them all chanting, and then they walked with us the whole way. It took 10 minutes to get there, and they walked with us chanting the whole time, all the way to the stadium. It was pretty special.” 

Nankivell said those pre-game experiences as well as the match outcome would act as motivation this week on Leeside, where a record crowd for rugby in Munster will gather, with ticket sales having already topped 35,500 and capacity capped at 40,000 due to the installation of a mandatory big screen at the City End Terrace.

“100 per cent, yeah, because we want to make them proud. And we didn't as a team. We didn't make them proud in our performance against Bath. So we want to rectify that.

“That adds to it... around just being off on our performance, and then obviously playing in Páirc Uí Chaoimh down in Cork. It's pretty special to be able to play there, the biggest stadium for the Cork fans, and sometimes they might miss out on the opportunity to come to Thomond Park with the timings of the games, so it's really cool that we can play down there and I'm sure they'll love having us down there too.

“We want to do right by the fans pretty much this week, that's another thing. We felt like we let them down, especially all of them turning up to Bath and walking us from the hotel to the pitch. So, we want to do right by them and make them proud this weekend as well.”