McMillan praises Munster group's ability to 'shut out the outside noise'

Munster head coach Clayton McMillan. Pic: James Crombie/Inpho

Clayton McMillan praised his players for blocking out the outside noise surrounding Munster Rugby in recent weeks as he named a side showing just one change for Saturday’s must-win URC derby at home to Ulster.

The head coach admitted that his divisive appointment of fellow New Zealander Roger Randle as his attack coach for next season to replace the Bath-bound Mike Prendergast had given everyone within his organisation pause for reflection. 

Yet on Thursday he spoke of his satisfaction that the controversy of the 1997 rape allegation against the incoming assistant, which the current Chiefs staffer has always denied, has not allowed his squad to be distracted from their bid to secure a top-eight finish in the URC in order to qualify for both the end-of-season play-offs and the 2026-27 Champions Cup.

Munster lie in sixth place in the standings with three rounds to play, two points out of the top four, where finishes guarantee home quarter-final draws, but also two points out of a season-ending ninth place, which would also consign the Reds to Challenge Cup rugby for next term.

Ulster visit Thomond Park on Saturday a point ahead of their hosts in fifth while Munster’s penultimate opponents Connacht, whom they visit in Galway on May 9, currently occupy ninth.

Last Saturday’s 45-15 victory over Benetton in Italy ended a three-game losing run and was a much-needed tonic following news of Munster Rugby seeking voluntary redundancies from staff members outside the professional playing and coaching squad and forwards coach Alex Codling’s still to be confirmed exit at the end of the season in the wake of Prendergast’s decision to quit.

“I'm sure everyone will go away and reflect on the last couple of weeks and how we can be better as an organisation, how I can be better,” McMillan said. “But right now we're still in a bit of a race to make the top eight, and all of our focus is going towards putting in a performance against Ulster. That's all we can really do.” 

As for the impact on his players and efforts to keep them focused on performance, the head coach said: “It's difficult to shut out the outside noise. There's no denying that, but you have to do that.

“The thing that we can control is how we prepare and focus on what's directly in front of us. I know that sounds pretty cliché, but the staff and the coaching group and playing group, I think, have done an exceptional job of doing that.

The bonus-point win over Benetton has lifted spirits within the Munster squad ahead of in-form but injury-hit Ulster’s visit and McMillan named the same matchday squad for the second week in a row, rotating only at tighthead prop, where Oli Jager starts ahead of Michael Ala’alatoa after a return from injury off the bench in Treviso.

“A confident team is a tough one to beat, and we've certainly taken a lot of confidence out of last week's performance, and we hope that that stands to us,” the Munster boss said.

“But the learning really was how we applied ourselves in a big pressure week to be able to deliver that performance.

“It wasn't perfect, but there were good learnings from that, and a repeat will give us a chance on the weekend. Ulster are a good side. I know there's probably been a bit made about them bringing down...less than their strongest side.

“We wait to see. End of the day, they're Ulster. They'll be wearing a red and white jersey, and when you talk about confidence, they're a team that's full of confidence.

“We've seen their coach come out and talk about them being the number one-ranked team in Ireland, and at the moment we're the worst team in the world so there isn't too much problem for us to get motivated for the game.” 

MUNSTER (v Ulster): Shane Daly; Calvin Nash, Tom Farrell, Alex Nankivell, Andrew Smith; Jack Crowley, Craig Casey; Jeremy Loughman, Diarmuid Barron, Oli Jager; Jean Kleyn, Tadhg Beirne - captain; Tom Ahern, John Hodnett, Gavin Coombes.

Replacements: Lee Barron, Michael Milne, Michael Ala’alatoa, Edwin Edogbo, Brian Gleeson, Ben O’Donovan, Dan Kelly, Alex Kendellen.