Munster hit reset for Gloucester after 'bordering on embarrassing' loss

Munster head coach Clayton McMillan has made nine changes to his side to face Gloucester from the one which lost heavily to Bath in the Champions Cup last week

Ben O'Connor will start on the wing for Munster in their Champions Cup clash against Gloucester at Páirc Uí Chaoimh. Pic: Tyler Miller/Sportsfile

Clayton McMillan believes Munster can earn back some respect from their supporters at Páirc Uí Chaoimh on Saturday after what he described as a “bordering on embarrassing” performance in their heavy Champions Cup defeat at Bath last weekend.

Munster’s first competitive outing at the home of Cork GAA is set to be in front of a near-capacity 40,000 crowd for a Pool 2 clash with old rivals Gloucester that the head coach agreed was a must-win fixture following the 40-14 defeat to Johann van Graan’s English champions.

McMillan pressed the reset button by making nine changes to side which started against Bath with Jack Crowley, Jean Kleyn, Michael Milne and Jack O’Donoghue all returning after being unavailable seven days earlier. There is a first start for new signing Michael Ala’alatoa while Mike Haley, Alex Nankivell, Ben O’Connor and Niall Scannell also come into the team to face an injury-hit and much-changed Gloucester side which defeated Castres with a bonus-point at Kingsholm last Sunday.

The New Zealander on Friday said he was pleased with the reaction shown from his squad in the wake of their poor start against Bath, who raced to a try bonus point in record time with a 28-0 lead after just 18 minutes.

"A really positive response,” McMillan said. “Clearly, we didn’t get anywhere near where we wanted to be in Bath last week, which was almost bordering on embarrassing for all of us.

"That embarrassment has been sitting in the pit of the stomach and there's been a good energy around the park and we know we're not going to get anything for free this weekend, so we need to see a response.” 

McMillan stressed the changes in a new-look back three as a key area of his selection having installed Haley at full-back, switched Shane Daly from 15 to the right wing and former Cork hurler O’Connor, an All-Ireland winner at both minor and U20 levels, on the left wing with Diarmuid Kilgallen and Thaakir Abrahams jettisoned from the matchday 23.

“Probably the most significant changes have been in the back three, anticipating that the weather's not going to be great in Cork and the guys that have been given an opportunity have probably demonstrated a real strength around their movement in the backfield, high ball catch, so that's why we've gone there."

Crowley has shaken off the ankle injury he picked up against the Stormers a fortnight ago to reclaim the number 10 jersey from JJ Hanrahan and resume his half-back partnership with fellow Ireland international Craig Casey.

Nankivell, a half-time replacement for Kilgallen on the wing in Bath, returns to the more familiar environs of inside centre as Dan Kelly switches to number 13, with Tom Farrell dropping to the bench.

Ala’alatoa made his debut as a replacement for John Ryan at tighthead last weekend and the Samoan international and former Leinster front-rower is handed a first start with Ryan dropping out of the 23 as Conor Bartley is named on the bench for a potential Champions Cup debut. Ala’alatoa joins an all-new front row with loosehead Milne, who was withdrawn following a knee knock in the pre-game warm-up in Bath, and hooker Scannell while behind them Kleyn and captain Tadhg Beirne start in the second row.

Kleyn missed the Bath game for personal reasons while Beirne was named at blindside flanker, McMillan having started with a lock pairing of Edwin Edogbo and Tom Ahern. Edogbo moves to the bench while Ahern switches roles with Beirne to start at number six, with O’Donoghue returning at openside flanker on his comeback from a concussion sustained against the Stormers after just 10 minutes.

McMillan was sufficiently impressed with the level of support from an estimated 4000 travelling Munster fans in Bath last Saturday that he used a video clip of them lining the squad’s walk from the team hotel to the stadium in his performance review to remind the players of the debt they owed the people who follow them week in, week out. And with 36,000 tickets already sold for Pairc ui Chaoimh on Saturday, already making it the biggest attendance for rugby in the province, the head coach wants his team to lean into the occasion as European rugby returns to Leeside for the first time in two decades.

"Absolutely. It was the same last week. We enjoyed phenomenal support in Bath.

"That's probably where the greatest embarrassment lay, that we gave them nothing to get excited about. There's an opportunity in front of us this week to earn a little bit of respect back.

“There'll be a lot of people in the team who are proud Munster men but they'd almost argue they'd be prouder Corkmen.

"They're fully fizzed, ready to go. Collectively, we just know what we're capable of achieving and we'd be disappointed if we don't give a performance this coming weekend."

Gloucester will pitch up in Cork with a completely different starting XV from the one which defeated Castres 34-14 on home soil six days previously. That means no return to Irish shores for former Leinster and Ireland fly-half Ross Byrne and Wales and Lions scrum-half Tomos Williams and a host of frontline players, though ex-Leinster speedster Rob Russell starts on the wing.

MUNSTER: Mike Haley; Shane Daly, Dan Kelly, Alex Nankivell, Ben O’Connor; Jack Crowley, Craig Casey; Michael Milne, Niall Scannell, Michael Ala’alatoa; Jean Kleyn, Tadhg Beirne - captain; Tom Ahern, Jack O’Donoghue, Gavin Coombes.

Replacements: Diarmuid Barron, Josh Wycherley, Conor Bartley, Edwin Edogbo, Ruadhán Quinn, Paddy Patterson, JJ Hanrahan, Tom Farrell.

GLOUCESTER: George Barton; Josh Hathaway, Will Knight, Max Knight, Rob Russell; Charlie Atkinson, Mike Austin; Dian Bleuler, Jack Innard, Jamal Ford-Robinson; Cam Jordan, Arthur Clark - captain; Josh Basham, Harry Taylor, Jack Clement.

Replacements: Kealan Freeman Price, Ciaran Knight, Afolabi Fasogbon, Danny Eite, Hugh Bokenham, Caio James, Rhys Price, Jack Cotgreave.

Referee: Ben Breakspear (Wales).