Clayton McMillan: Just making URC play-offs would not satisfy Munster
Clayton McMillan: “Emotion is always going to be part of Munster Rugby. It's in the DNA but I don't know if it's sustainable to be able to rely on that over such a long season." Pic: ©INPHO/Tom O’Hanlon
Throughout his first season as Munster head coach Clayton McMillan has attempted to wean his players off the emotional rollercoaster that propels their province through most campaigns and onto a more even keel that he believes produces greater consistency, from week to week and across each 80-minute performance.
That Munster head into Saturday night’s final round of the URC regular season looking to rebound from an emphatic derby defeat at Connacht seven days earlier, and needing a victory over the Lions at Thomond Park to finally secure a spot in both the play-offs and next term’s Champions Cup reflects just how hard that mission has been for the former Chiefs boss from New Zealand.
The previous Saturday’s 26-7 loss in Galway was the latest punch in the nose absorbed by McMillan’s squad during the current campaign and there have been enough to suggest a collective Head Injury Assessment may be required as the head coach strives to rally his troops for their last big push towards extending their season into the knockout rounds.
There is a chance that by the 7:45pm kick off time, results elsewhere could have gone favourably enough to relieve the pressure, though the Kiwi suggested earlier this week that would not matter a jot to his approach to this final league fixture. Finishing as high up the table and securing Munster’s best chance of progressing through the play-offs is his objective.
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“Making the finals is not where our aspiration lies,” McMillan said. “Like, just to get there wouldn't satisfy us. It might make people feel a little bit easier about things, but it wouldn't satisfy this group.
“Just like it wouldn't satisfy me, really, to watch a game on Friday night and see that, actually, the outcome of our game didn't really matter, because maybe a bit of good fortune goes our way.
“I would still want us to see, on Saturday, we go out and put in a performance that actually is deserving of a team that should be in the finals.
"There's three massive games on Friday that will have a big bearing on a whole lot of teams, but it changes nothing for me. I'll still turn up at Thomond Park and expect us to go out and be better than what we've shown.”
It is a simple task as McMillan sees it, adding: “You put on a Munster jersey and you get to represent what I think are the most passionate rugby supporters in the world.
“And that's coming from my personal experience of coming from a place that I thought we're the world’s best supporters until you come here and you see the depth and breadth of what it means to people.
“And it shouldn't matter whether we're playing a game of tiddlywinks, we should be going out to win and make them proud. And there've been moments this year where we've done that and others where we've let them down.
“And this week, the stakes are just a lot higher. But it shouldn't change what our aspiration is whenever we cross the white line on the field. When you get that, then you get consistency of performance.”
McMillan has learned to accept that emotion and the province he leads are inseparable, particularly with Niall Scannell and John Ryan set to play their final games at Thomond Park before retirement and a host of other players saying their farewells. Yet he still has his reservations and will keep demanding steadier pulse rates.
“Emotion is always going to be part of Munster Rugby. It's in the DNA but I don't know if it's sustainable to be able to rely on that over such a long season.
“We need to be better. And so turning up and being at your best every day is what gives you consistent results.
"Emotion isn't just around wins and losses. Like emotion, there can be lots of emotion. The opposition that you're playing could bring an emotion that maybe draws a stronger response than the previous opposition. But again, we just want to be consistent, you know?”
M Haley; A Smith, A Nankivell, D Kelly, S O’Brien; J Crowley, C Casey - captain; J Loughman, N Scannell, M Ala’alatoa; T Ahern, F Wycherley; J O’Donoghue, J Hodnett, B Gleeson.
D Barron, J Wycherley, J Ryan, E O’Connell, G Coombes, B O’Donovan, JJ Hanrahan, A Kendellen.
Q Horn; K Mpeku, H van Wyk, R Kriel, A Davids; C Smith, M van den Berg; SJ Kotze, PJ Botha, S Lombard; R Nothnagel, D Landsberg; S Mahashe, B Hlekani, F Horn -captain.
M Brandon, E Davids, RF Schoeman, R Delport, S Qoma, JC Pretorius, H Pead, R Jonker
Andrea Piardi (Italy)
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