Clayton McMillan issues thinly-veiled back me or sack me message to Munster

Munster head coach Clayton McMillan. Picture: INPHO/Billy Stickland

The fallout from the abandoned appointment of Roger Randle as Munster’s next attack coach received fresh impetus Thursday after head coach Clayton McMillan effectively issued a ‘back me or sack me’ challenge to his bosses.

McMillan chose to continue expressing his disappointment that his former Chiefs assistant would not be joining him for next season, voiced his loyalty to the Munster players and the project they had embarked on since he joined last summer - and challenged his employers to show the same support for him.

The New Zealander, signed from Super Rugby’s Chiefs on a three-year deal last summer, had pushed for Randle’s hiring as a replacement for the departing Mike Prendergast from next season. 

But Randle was contracted without the usual approval of Munster’s Professional Games Committee, with reports the appointment had been presented to them as a fait accompli by chief executive Ian Flanagan, general manager Ian Costello and McMillan. 

It was a point which led to the resignations of former players and voluntary committee members Billy Holland, Killian Keane and Mick O’Driscoll from the PGC.

The resurfacing on social media of reports regarding Randle’s association with a 1997 rape allegation in Durban, South Africa, had coincided with the former New Zealand international wing being linked with the Munster vacancy. 

Disquiet, both inside and outside the provincial set-up about Randle’s link to the case, for which the then player did not face charges and has consistently denied the allegations, has been vocal and symbolic with members of Munster’s Commercial Advisory Group also resigning and widepsread reports of supporters choosing not to renew either season tickets for next season or Munster Rugby Supporters Club memberships.

Last Thursday, two weeks after Randle’s appointment, Munster announced the deal was being cancelled by mutual consent but seven days later the head coach and former police officer reiterated his backing for his former assistant and intimated that changes would be required to convince him to stay on as head coach beyond this season.

Speaking to media ahead of Saturday’s URC derby at Connacht, the Munster boss was asked if he had considered his own position at the province.

“Around whether I want to stay or not? Yeah, look, I imagine that there's a lot of people that are doing a fair bit of reflection around this,” McMillan said.

“Very early on, I communicated to the Irish Rugby (Football Union) and our boards and our players that if I'm not the right person to lead this team forward, then people can make that decision and I'll accept it.

“You'll need to speak to those people around how they feel about it, but I feel a huge sense of loyalty to our players who are looking to me in pressure situations to understand what my position is and I have their back in the same way that they have my back.

“Now, I think there's still a bit of water to run under the bridge and there are things that people are going to reflect on and I encourage that because there are changes that I think need to be made to give me the confidence that I have the support to be able to do the job that's needed.” 

What those changes sought by McMillan are remains to be explained but the head coach said he could not give a commitment to Munster beyond the end of the current campaign unless he was backed.

“I'm fully committed to the team until the end of the season. There's no doubt about that.

“Other people might make a decision around whether I’m here next year or the year after and if that's what people decide, if I'm not the best person to lead this team forward, that will be their decision.

“But I don't walk away from a fight easily and there are plenty of people in this building who, I believe, want me to stay here and believe in the direction that we are heading and to walk away would feel like I'm letting them down.” 

More practically, the U-turn on Randle has left McMillan still needing an attack coach for next season, and he wants the next person in to work alongside existing assistant attack and skills coach Mossy Lawler. Yet he admitted the timing of the search was narrowing the possibility of finding the right replacement in time for next season.

“Look, you're certainly running out of runway,” McMillan said. “I think when we started the process, we said there was a huge amount of interest and that was legit, but this is a dynamic business and people take up opportunities often when they present themselves and we've lost a little bit of ground in that respect.

“But even if there are some quality people out there, for me, it's primarily about the right person, the right fit. And as I've articulated, I have a huge amount of respect and time for Mossy, and so that dynamic between whoever comes in and the relationship between that person and Mossy, I think, is paramount.”