McMillan wary of threat posed by 'dangerous' Ospreys

Munster travel to Bridgend’s Brewery Field looking to resume their URC campaign on a winning note after losing their last league outing at home to the table-topping Stormers on November 29 but their hosts have deeper, existential objectives.

Fri, 19 Dec, 2025 - 01:00

Simon Lewis

Clayton McMillan has warned of the dangers posed to his Munster team on Saturday by an Ospreys side facing the axe from the Welsh Rugby Union.

The WRU Board voted unanimously on October 24 to cut its number of professional regional sides from four to three as its strategy for keeping elite men’s rugby alive and sustainable in Wales.

No decision has been made, in public at least, as to which of the four regions are most vulnerable to the axe but earlier this week, the fallout from that boardroom decision saw two of Ospreys leading internationals Dewi Lake and Jac Morgan announce their decisions to join Gloucester in the English PREM next season.

All of which makes the Munster boss wary of a side which won both its Challenge Cup pool games in recent weeks, beating Connacht in west Wales and Montauban in France.

“Around the Welsh teams, there's no doubt and we all feel for the current situation they're in,” McMillan said. “No-one likes to see rugby teams fold or get forced to reduce from four down to three.

“That's not a situation we like to be seeing in rugby and we feel for everyone involved, but it does create some internal motivation to go out there and perform and maybe force the hand of the decision makers.

“I'm not too sure if they've already made the decision around which team is staying in the competition but I imagine they've all got a lot to play for and you'd expect that emotion.”

Ospreys currently lie in 13th on the URC table with one win, a draw and four losses in their first six league matches, yet recent form suggests to McMillan they have turned a corner in recent weeks.

“I think they've got a good set-piece. I think their breakdown work is good. They've got some good, experienced players in those positions. They don't give you much for free.

“They fight for everything. I think they're a very tenacious team. As you saw against Connacht a week or so ago, even when they're down, they're going to stick in and fight the whole way and at home, in their cauldron, it's going to be a tough battle.

“They've got balance. They've got a good, contestable kicking game, but they've got threats out wide and a skillset to be able to hurt teams who get a little bit sloppy in their defensive system.

“They haven't necessarily had the wins, but they've been battling along and pushing a lot of teams close. You get the sense that they're turning a corner and that makes them a dangerous side.”

McMillan on Thursday named a team showing six changes and two positional switches from the line-up which started last Saturday’s 31-3 Champions Cup pool win over Gloucester in Cork, including comebacks from injury for Calvin Nash and Fineen Wycherley.

Yet the bonus-point victory at SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh was far from perfect and the head coach said it had made the switch from European action back to the URC a straightforward one.

“That's been an easy transition because it wouldn't have mattered if we were playing another European game or a URC game. The reality is you’re only judged on your last performance in this group.

“We just weren't happy with the performance, probably the last 20 minutes last week, but we know that we're a much better side than what we produced.

“We created ample opportunities, and it was a disappointment not leveraging or cashing in on those. People came in on Monday with a little bit of a ‘rock under the towel’ feel and I have to say that this week the mindset and the effort has been put in off the back of not only the challenge ahead of us, but the discontent of what happened last week has been second to none.”