Munster have 'a bit of work to do' to win back Thomond Park crowds, admits McMillan

Just 11,031 spectators saw the home side open their URC campaign with defeat to Glasgow on Saturday. 

Munster head coach Clayton McMillan. Pic: Brendan Moran/Sportsfile

MUNSTER 20 GLASGOW WARRIORS 26 

Clayton McMillan believes his players have to win back the hearts and minds of Munster supporters after just 11,031 saw the province slip to a home defeat in their opening match of the United Rugby Championship at Thomond Park.

After a maiden season as head coach following his move from New Zealand’s Chiefs in the summer of 2025, a promising start slowly unravelled to end in a play-off quarter-final drubbing by the Bulls at Loftus Versfeld last May 30. McMillan and his squad were further undermined by off-field setbacks and controversy as Munster Rugby instituted a round of redundancies and aborted the hiring of Roger Randle as their new attack coach, a bungled process which prompted an independent governance and organisational review, expected to be delivered to the Board in the coming days.

Supporters have clearly cast their verdict if the empty seats at a less than half-full Thomond Park on Saturday night were any indication. And those who did show up witnessed a microcosm of last season as a bright opening petered out with Glasgow coming from 17-7 down at the interval to claim a deserved bonus-point victory with Nathan McBeth, George Horne and Jamie Dobie’s second-half tries adding to the latter’s first score on 31 minutes.

That said, those 11,000 supporters can take encouragement from a number of positive elements in Munster’s performance with sharp offensive play honed by the new attack-coaching duo of Jared Payne and Mossy Lawler producing the opening try as left wing Ben O’Connor finished a slick strike play off a lineout on the opposite side of the field. There were also signs of an uptick under new forwards coach Jimmy Duffy as Munster’s scrum dominated for the first 50 minutes and their maul produced the second try of the evening for loosehead prop Michael Milne.

There was also a lot to admire from scrum-half Ben O’Donovan on his first senior start, the New Zealand-born, Irish qualified number nine having been promoted to the senior squad in pre-season having only arrived into the academy from Canterbury in February. The 21-year-old dovetailed neatly with fly-half JJ Hanrahan, who rose to the task of being the only fit and available senior number 10 with aplomb before the pair made way for their academy replacements Jake O’Riordan and debutant Charlie O’Shea in the final quarter.

Unfortunately for them, their efforts were witnessed by only a half-full Thomond Park a situation the head coach might not like but he understands.

“I think for the people that were here. I hope that they saw something in the team to be optimistic about,” McMillan said. “After last year, we've got a bit of work to do to earn their dollars and cents to come buy tickets and come along and support this team.

“We've been very active out in the community in the pre-season, and we hope that performances and wins will put bums on seats, but couldn't have asked for more from the crowd that were there today. I think they did a great job for us.” 

Yet Munster have just a losing bonus point to show for their efforts and a home defeat in the opening round was undeniably deflating despite what McMillan described as “green shoots” and the quality of the opposition, Glasgow having won the URC in 2025 and finished top of the regular season league table.

"We want to win,” he added. “I think in this competition, a good starting point is to win your home games, and we didn't quite manage that today. We're grateful that we walk away with a bonus point. And what we know is that in eight months' time, all of those bonus points, winning ones and losing ones, all add up.

"So I'm grateful that we took away a point. We pushed a quality team hard, and there's no shame in losing, albeit we don't want to at home. But there's green shoots there, I think.

"We've been clear around what we want to improve over the summer – the scrum, our maul, our phase, our attack. There's been lots of subtle changes, and if we park the disappointment of losing and focus on what I thought were the positives, there's a lot to be optimistic about."

Nevertheless, Munster are already under pressure, with last-season’s losing finalist Bulls next up at Thomond Park this Saturday following their opening 47-13 victory at Zebre Parma. An instant rebound is badly needed, as McMillan recognised.

"Very important, yeah. I wouldn't be a happy man if we lost two at home, so a massive, massive challenge. They're big men. They've still got two arms and two legs, and at home we've got to make it tough for them."

MUNSTER: M Haley (D Kelly, 18); D Kilgallen, A Nankivell, S O’Brien, B O’Connor; JJ Hanrahan (C O’Shea, 70), B O’Donovan (J O’Riordan, 59); M Milne (J Wycherley, 49), D Barron – captain (M van der Merwe, 32 - HIA), K Brookes (M Ala’alatoa, 49); E O’Connell, F Wycherley; J O’Donoghue (B Gleeson, 29-39 – HIA), A Kendellen (J Hodnett, 59), G Coombes (B Gleeson, 59).

GLASGOW WARRIORS: J McKay; K Rowe (B Kuenzle, 61), O Smith, S McDowall - captain, J Dobie; D Lancaster, G Horne; P Schickerling (N McBeth, 46), G Hiddleston (S Stephen, 46), M Walker (S Talakai, 46); G Brown (S Cummings, 59), M Williamson; A Miller (M Duncan, 59), R Darge, M Fagerson.

Yellow card: O Smith 9-19 mins Replacements not used: A Fraser, C Reidy

Referee: Morné Ferreira (South Africa)