Donal Lenihan: State of the provinces — heads must roll from sorry Munster saga

Given that Roger Randle has always expressed his innocence of an alleged crime and has received the full backing of Clayton McMillan, he will surely be seeking financial compensation from this poorly-handled affair.

Head coach Clayton McMillan and lead performance analyst and technical coach George Murray during Munster Rugby squad training at UL on Tuesday. Pic: Matt Browne/Sportsfile

As we begin the month of May, the business end of the rugby season has arrived. Every Irish province is in the spotlight for a variety of reasons, some good, some not so good. So where do they stand after recent events:

Leinster: Unfortunately, the only benchmark they’re judged on is silverware. After Saturday’s fraught four-point defeat of Toulon, a game Leinster led by 18 points with 13 minutes to go, Leo Cullen reverted to a backfoot message where the media never give them a break.

"No one likes us, but we don't care" was a famous chant coined by supporters of Millwall Football Club in the late 1970’s. The fact that Cullen would seek to create a siege mentality having just qualified for their fourth Champions Cup final in five years is revealing.

He knows Leinster are under huge pressure to deliver going into this final especially given the quality of their opponents, reigning champions Bordeaux Begles. The holders will be favourites. That will suit Leinster just fine. The biggest challenge is a growing injury list which has served to dilute the impact of Leinster’s bench in recent outings.

That was certainly the case against Toulon with the visitors bench carrying more punch which enabled them launch an amazing fightback in the final quarter. The fact Robbie Henshaw, Jack Conan, Josh van der Flier and Tommy O'Brien were all forced off due to injury also impacted on Leinster’s performance over the closing stages.

Leinster’s forward stocks had already been severely depleted by the loss of props Paddy McCarthy and Jack Boyle before Tadhg Furlong was ruled out for this one. Add to that growing list the massive presence of Springbok RG Snyman, Ryan Baird and Max Deegan. Leinster’s stocks up front have been decimated while Lions winger James Lowe has also been out of action since February. Hopefully some of those will return in time for the final.

For a tournament that failed to capture the imagination throughout the pool stage, we have arrived with the final every neutral fan was hoping for once Toulouse were eliminated. Leinster have no divine right to win this one and having lost their last three finals in 2022, 2023 and 2024 to French opposition - twice to La Rochelle and to Toulouse last time out - Leinster know what’s coming down the line.

Ulster: Given the stage of their development, reaching a Challenge Cup final, whatever the outcome, represents a hugely significant step for Ulster. Richie Murphy has worked wonders in the province.

Having slowly integrated a number of promising young players last season, taking a bit of pain on the way, that investment is beginning to pay off. Perhaps his most significant selection was managing to persuade his former Ireland U20 attack coach, Mark Sexton, to join him from Connacht.

Ulster have found a potent mix of experienced internationals in Stuart McCluskey, Iain Henderson, and Jacob Stockdale, augmented by quality overseas signings in Wallaby prop Angus Bell and powerful No 8 Juarno Augustus whose continued excellence may well earn him a call up to the Springbok squad.

With that solid base in place, Murphy had no hesitation in promoting a younger cohort of home grown talent in the Ward brothers, Zac and Bryn, along with recent academy graduates in David McCann, Charlie Irvine and Jude Postlethwaite. It has also helped that Cormac Izuchukwu and, up until recently, Rob Baloucoune have been injury free and finally in a position to show just how good they are.

Ulster play a brilliant brand of attacking rugby that was so evident in the four tries scored against Exeter Chiefs in their semi final.

Competing on two fronts may yet prove costly, as evidenced by having to send a second string side to Thomond Park recently, shifting a heavy 41-14 defeat. At least their final two URC games are at home, albeit to the top two sides in the league in the Stormers and Glasgow.

One win should be sufficient to secure a top eight finish in the URC and, with that, a place in next season's Champions Cup. Alternatively they could secure that by beating Montpellier in the Challenge Cup final. Given the way they’re playing at the moment, that’s not beyond the bounds of possibility. Ulster rugby is in a good place right now.

Munster: Didn’t have a game last weekend but still managed to dominate the conversation with controversy continuing to rage and the rumour machine in overdrive for all the wrong reasons.

Last Thursday, 300 people attended Cork Constitution’s annual Business of Sport lunch at the Maryborough Hotel. With Keith Wood as our special guest, his insights on recent events were fascinating. At the Aviva Stadium on Saturday, the most enquiries I fielded in the media area were on the current state of play in the province.

After confirmation that New Zealander Roger Randle will not be taking up his role as assistant coach by “mutual consent”, everyone is waiting for the inevitable fall out. Randle can’t be the only victim of an incredible sequence of events that saw him appointed in the first place.

An internal enquiry is being undertaken and heads will almost certainly roll with CEO Ian Flanagan and general manager Ian Costello directly in the firing line. I find it strange that, despite their key role in the appointment process and the failure to follow standard protocol in terms of consultation with the Professional Game Committee, Clayton McMillan has been the only person to face the media on the appointment.

At their best, the key trait in the Munster set-up was accountability. Everyone, players and management in particular, took ownership of their actions. Everyone makes mistakes. The thing that bound Munster was their honesty in taking ownership for their actions, good or bad.

Some weeks ago I made the point that Munster will have to reach rock bottom before essential change is imposed from above. We have now reached that point. At a time when a voluntary redundancy package is on the table, anyone in line to lose their jobs, either voluntarily or by imposition down the road, is entitled to know what the saga around Randle’s appointment may end up costing Munster.

Given that Randle has always expressed his total innocence of an alleged crime and has received the full backing of McMillan, a thoroughly decent man and a former police officer, he will surely be seeking financial compensation from this poorly-handled affair. At a time when Munster are short of funds to attract overseas signings and when sponsors and potential benefactors are watching this case closely, full disclosure is required. Otherwise the support of the public is likely to erode even further.

And what of McMillan? His confidence in Munster as an organisation must have been badly shaken by the events of recent weeks. Having lost an assistant coach that he clearly wanted, has his position become untenable? There was a time when Munster led the rugby standards in this country for all the right reasons. Sadly, that is no longer the case.

Connacht: Connacht’s recent 24-33 win over the Stormers in Cape Town, bagging five precious URC league points in the process, encapsulated the strides made by the province since the arrival of Stuart Lancaster.

Given the number of comparative rookies on board against a star-studded Stormers side packed with Springbok’s, not least half backs Cobus Reinach and Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, that result may yet prove seminal.

In comparison to their South African counterparts, props Billy Bohan, Sam Illo, starting half backs Ben Murphy and Sean Naughton along with three quarters Cathal Forde, John Devine and Harry West are hardly household names.

The only ones who fall into that category from a Connacht perspective are Bundee Aki, Finley Bealham and Mack Hanson but, on this occasion, all there were unavailable. That makes this win even more noteworthy and highlights the strides Connacht have made since Lancaster’s arrival.

One of his well documented strengths is developing young talent. If ever a win highlighted that it was this one. For me, most impressive of all has been the continued improvement and impact of Bohan and Illo.

Grandson of my former Irish coach the late, gregarious, Mick Doyle, 20-year-old Bohan has been sensational. In their recent Challenge Cup outing against the Sharks in Galway, Bohan and Illo more than held their own against multiple World Cup winning Springbok props Ox Nche and Vincent Koch. Andy Farrell must have been impressed.

On Saturday, Connacht will welcome Munster for the first time to the reconstructed Dexcom Stadium for what’s guaranteed to be a full house as both seek to lock in the top eight in the URC and, with that, Champions Cup qualification next season.

On current form and with all the baggage, through no fault of the players, Munster are carrying to Galway, you cannot discount Connacht’s ability to register another vital win.