Clayton McMillan doesn't want Munster to put big European games on a pedestal ahead of Toulon clash

“We can't get excited when we're playing on a big stage in front of big crowds in the European Cup and then not show up on other nights when it's half-snowing, it's a five, six-hour bus trip away from where we are. These are the nights where we actually need to front up, and that's what disappoints me.”

Sat, 10 Jan, 2026 - 01:00

Simon Lewis

Clayton McMillan gets the excitement Champions Cup rugby generates in Munster players and supporters but as two charter planes of the Red Army prepare for take-off to Toulon on Saturday morning the head coach appears uncomfortable with emphasise placed on European competition compared to the province’s URC campaign.

It is a theme which surfaced in public in Belfast eight days earlier after Munster had delivered their worst performance of McMillan’s early tenure following the New Zealander’s move from Super Rugby’s Chiefs this summer. The dust had not yet settled on a miserable 28-3 league defeat to Ulster which sent his side down to sixth in the table having started the Round Nine weekend in second place and as the post-match press conference proceeded, his matchday captain Diarmuid Barron was asked about what was to come.