Belfast trip offers Munster chance to atone for last season's low

The opportunity to atone for January’s embarrassing 28-3 defeat at the Affidea Stadium swings around this weekend as Munster head to Ulster

John Hodnett before the United Rugby Championship match between Ulster and Munster at Affidea Stadium in Belfast in January. Pic: Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile.

Clayton McMillan will tell you he has the memory of an elephant, but Munster’s URC loss to Ulster in Belfast last year must be burned into the mind of the most forgetful of the province’s players, staff and supporters. This week of all weeks.

The opportunity to atone for January’s embarrassing 28-3 defeat at the Affidea Stadium swings around this weekend when the teams meet at the venue and McMillan has given notice of a journey he intends taking with a strong travelling party.

This being an interpro, it would be easy to depict it as a revenge mission. The fact is that the focus here is almost all internal for a visiting side that, in its own coach’s words from last term, need to ‘raise its’ floor’ and avoid similar lows going forward.

"I don't know if we owe them one. You have to take each game on its merits, but it's certainly etched in the memory,” McMillan explained. “It's one of those games that you remember in detail, but not for the right reasons.”

Both provinces lost their opening URC games at home, Ulster to Edinburgh and Munster to Glasgow, before earning a draw and win respectively in their round two fixtures. Munster have impressed in both Thomond ties.

It’s a small sample size, though. They shot out of the blocks this time last year but fell away alarmingly from December on, suffering indignities in both tournaments before rescuing their season from oblivion by qualifying for Europe at the death.

Performances need to be maintained, and for longer.

“When you play good teams, it comes down to moments, and the margins are small. We could walk away from there and not get the lollies, but sometimes you can do that and still walk away with your head held high, and that's not what happened last year.

“Everyone's a year further down the track, I've got a much greater awareness around opposition, we have a real clear identity around how we want to play the game. But, the evidence is on Saturday.”

Brian Gleeson and John Hodnett should both be available this week after passing head injury assessments and Diarmuid Barron, Jack O'Donoghue and Alex Nankivell are all looking good to put their hand up for the trip north.

Tadhg Beirne is expected back for his season bow but McMillan won’t have the trio of Michael Milne (ankle), Fineen Wycherley (shoulder) and Diarmuid Kilgallen (hamstring) available this time around.

Kilgallen’s issue looks the most serious with the head coach estimating that he will miss two or three weeks. Milne and Wycherley might actually be ready to return in time for Racing 92’s Champions Cup visit to Cork a week later.

The news on Milne is particularly welcome given the loosehead prop needed the use of a protective boot after rolling his ankle last weekend. There were real fears that he was looking at a lengthy stint on the sidelines.

“It looked quite nasty, the way that he was folded in a tackle, but it’s actually been pretty good,” said the head coach. “So I don’t imagine that his time out is going to be much at all. Potentially a good chance of being back involved next week.”

Munster’s injury profile has been the source of some debate for some time now. The province itself would argue that it is the preponderance of issues in one or two areas – at ten and at hooker, for example – that makes it look worse than it is.

Either way, the impressive efforts of so many younger players in the win against the Bulls last weekend is encouraging in the here and now and for the longer-term project as McMillan looks to imprint his stamp on this team as his second season in charge progresses.

Charlie O’Shea aside, there were big inputs from Shay McCarthy out the back as well as Sean Edogbo, Evan O’Connell, Brian Gleeson and a few more up front. McMillan has talked the youth up before when asked what gives him confidence. He was happy to do that again.

“They've got a physical profile. They bring something a little bit different to some of the older guys that we've got. They're keen to learn and they're keen to just push the elder statesmen, and it's just got a nice blend at the moment.

“Again, there's a lot of work to do, but the cattle is there. Well, you always want to be strengthening your squad, but there are some really good young nuggets here, and we saw some of them on the weekend.”