'We'll need him': Clayton McMillan knows Jack Crowley's importance to Munster 

Munster's Jack Crowley. Pic: Tom O’Hanlon/Inpho

Clayton McMillan did not play down the importance of having fit-again fly-half Jack Crowley back in the Munster side, declaring “we’ll need him” for a must-win URC league finale against Lions at Thomond Park on Saturday.

The head coach received a double boost ahead of the 18th and last round of the regular season. 

With Munster needing a victory on Saturday to be sure of a play-off berth at the end of the month and Champions Cup qualification for next season, McMillan was not only able to name Ireland star Crowley as his starting fly-half, but he could also include Diarmuid Barron in his matchday 23 after the hooker was cleared to play following a rescinded red card at Connacht last weekend.

Barron, a starter in the defeat at Dexcom Stadium last Saturday, will have to settle for a place on the bench after McMillan handed a start to rival hooker Niall Scannell, who is set to play his final game at Thomond Park before retirement at the end of the season.

Yet the return of Crowley is the fillip nervous Munster supporters needed ahead of another visit to the last-chance saloon as their team bids to rebound from a 26-7 derby defeat out west in order to hang onto their top-eight position and reach the URC quarter-finals.

Crowley had been forced out of the Round 16 derby with Ulster in Limerick on April 25 after sustaining a leg injury in the pre-game warm-up at Thomond Park and he was unavailable seven days later for the trip to Galway, when injury-hit Munster were well off the pace, confirming the head coach’s view that his side needs its best players on the pitch if they are to succeed.

"Jack's an integral part of the side, as everybody knows,” McMillan said on Thursday.

"He is just really comfortable in his own skin, his understanding of his game makes others around him look better and feel better, through his presence and his calmness, his clear communication.

"It's great to have him back, we've got JJ (Hanrahan) there as backup if required, but he's trained really well this week and we'll need him."

Crowley and Scannell are two of five new faces from the side beaten in Galway last time out, with Seán O’Brien named on the left wing, and Jack O’Donoghue and Brian Gleeson starting in the back row at blindside flanker and No.8 respectively.

Veteran tighthead John Ryan could also make his Thomond Park farewells with the former Ireland prop also set to retire at season’s end. 

Scannell is set for his 211th Munster appearance, Ryan his 257th as he provides front-row cover alongside loosehead Josh Wycherley and hooker Diarmuid Barron, who was cleared to play after his 20-minute red card at Connacht was not upheld by an Independent Disciplinary Committee. He had been shown a yellow card, subsequently upgraded to the 20-minute red after review in the 17th minute, for a “croc roll” on Dylan Tierney-Martin.

While Barron accepted he had committed an act of foul play the committee determined his actions did not merit a red card having found that the level of danger could not be clearly justified in order to upgrade the sanction from a yellow card.

McMillan also felt a yellow would have been sufficient punishment and said: “The game is littered with moments that referees have to make a decision on and by their own admission they get some right and a few wrong.

"That's the game, I said last week that it's kind of a reflection of our game in that it can be complicated at times and we're continuously searching for ways to make it simpler for them, simpler for players and easier for people sitting in the stands to understand as well.

"There's so many ongoing challenges, but I think in the judiciary hearing they came to the right conclusion.

"We accepted there'd been some foul play, but there was no maliciousness in that and that we feel sorry for the Connacht player who received an injury.

"Thankfully, we didn't start with the injury as the reason why we got to the red card. It was effectively a dynamic situation that went a little bit wrong."

Evan O’Connell, Gavin Coombes and Alex Kendellen complete the forward back-up and academy scrum-half Ben O’Donovan and senior fly-half JJ Hanrahan providing the backline support.

MUNSTER (v Lions): Mike Haley; Andrew Smith, Alex Nankivell, Dan Kelly, Seán O’Brien; Jack Crowley, Craig Casey - captain; Jeremy Loughman, Niall Scannell, Michael Ala’alatoa; Tom Ahern, Fineen Wycherley; Jack O’Donoghue, John Hodnett, Brian Gleeson.

Replacements: Diarmuid Barron, Josh Wycherley, John Ryan, Evan O’Connell, Gavin Coombes, Ben O’Donovan, JJ Hanrahan, Alex Kendellen.