McMillan pleased with Munster's positive signs up front but no pats on back just yet

Munster's Kieran Brookes ahead of a scrum. Pic: Dan Sheridan/Inpho

Hot takes in October can be cold comfort come the summer. 

Go back 12 months and Munster were two wins into a perfect five-game opening URC run under new head coach Clayton McMillan and the mood was giddy.

The 17-point win away to Leinster was, in itself, enough to ensure that.

No-one in the province needs reminding how the season unfolded from December on, so there won’t be any head-in-the-clouds stuff after two opening league rounds that produced a loss and a win on home soil, both imperfect but promising in ways.

If the sample size so far is tiny then there have at least been indications that the bedrock has been bolstered given the efforts of the forward pack, and scrum specifically, in those contests against Glasgow and the Bulls.

Nine front row players have featured so far. The end game with Glasgow aside, a unit beefed up by the arrivals of Marnus van der Merwe, Jack Aungier and Kieran Brookes has shown clear signs of improvement from a setpiece that McMillan admits had been “problematic”.

“Everybody knows that it's hard to operate as a rugby team if you haven't got at a minimum of parity up front, and we feel like we've recruited really well. We've probably got criticised for some of our recruitment, particularly around the front row.

“But you can't beat experience, and the guys that were brought in have still got a lot of left, a lot of mileage left in their legs. And they're keen, and it's a new environment for them. So there's a freshness about that.

“Jimmy [Duffy] has put a lot of work into our lineout and our scrum. He's got his own idea around what he wants the months ahead to look like, and we're a work in progress. But, like the rest of our game, there's been some positive signs. You just get encouraged by that sort of stuff, and we'll get tested again this week.

“So, yeah, we won't be patting ourselves on the back just yet.” 

Munster will look to build on this when they travel to Belfast for an interpro against Ulster on Saturday, when hopes of another solid effort up front will be allied with a back division making its own adjustments in McMillan’s second season.

Mike Prendergast, Munster’s previous attack coach who is now with Bath, has spoken about differences of opinion between him and others in Limerick as to the direction of travel required. It’s the job now of Jared Payne and Mossy Lawler to point the way.

Payne has already voiced a “strike to score’ ethos that relies less on multi-phase play. McMillan, for his part, has targeted a more aligned side and, at the same time, one that can pull more than the one string from its bow.

“It’s probably more around empowering the others,” he explained. “I like the game to be played with a strong forward pack that has an edge about it. You always have to earn the right to go through the front door before you go out the back. The game is still about territory and playing in the right parts of the field.

“So there's a bit of a balance, but we’ve also empowered Mossy and all of the coaches, Jared, to come in and add their stamp and bring their flavour and to just coach with some courage and go, ‘what does that actually look like for you’ and keep attacking. And the players have really embraced it.”