CLAYTON MCMILLAN HAS expressed his disappointment that Roger Randle won’t be joining Munster as attack coach next season following a turbulent couple of weeks for the province.

On 15 April, Randle was announced as Munster’s new attack coach, joining from the Chiefs ahead of the 2026/27 season. 

However, a historic allegation against Randle quickly resurfaced and generated concern around the appointment.

In 1997, Randle was accused of raping a woman in South Africa when he was there as a player. He was initially charged with the crime, but the charge was later dropped. Randle has always denied the allegation and reiterated his “complete and unwavering innocence” as recently as last week.

The appointed created internal issues at Munster, with three former Munster players – Billy Holland, Killian Keane, and Mick O’Driscoll – resigning from their positions as independent nominees on the province’s Professional Game Committee (PCG).

There were further resignations from Munster’s voluntary Commercial Advisory Group (CAG).

Last week, Munster confirmed Randle would no longer be joining the province, stating they and Randle “mutually agreed” not to proceed with the appointment.

Today, McMillan spoke to the media for the first time since that announcement, and the Munster boss was asked to shed some light on the process that led to that decision, revealing the IRFU were also part of the discussions.

“No, just a mutual decision between all the invested parties, Irish Rugby Union (IRFU), Munster and Roger,” McMillan said.

“At the end of the day, we had to collectively ask ourselves around his ability to actually come and do the job that we’re asking them to do, given the backlash and the circumstances.

“Ultimately, we came to the conclusion that that wasn’t the case.”

Previously, McMillan had asked concerned supporters to “put their trust in me” regarding Randle’s appointment.

“Look, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t disappointed around the decision around Roger. He’s somebody I have a lot of respect and time for and I think it’s disappointing that we’ve collectively come to a decision that he won’t be coming, but my relationship with him is sound, if anything, has grown through this experience.

“And, you know, we’ve just got to kick on and focus on what’s important for the team right now.

“I’m just disappointed that Roger isn’t coming.

“I fully understand that people will have an opinion, and in a lot of instances, they’ve voiced that opinion. And to me, I think the majority of those people just actually care about the club.

“You never want to lose people’s care for this club because it’s a big club and people want to see it do well.

“But all I can do is continue to look in the mirror and ask myself, what are the decisions that I’m making in the best interests of the team?

“And when we appointed Roger, I honestly believed he was the person who could come here and add value to our environment and help us get better.

“I think we all got together and had asked ourselves the honest question around his ability to do the job that we needed him to do,” he added.

“And obviously him not coming is a reflection of our collective decision.”

Munster are currently battling to make the URC play-offs, and are without Jack Crowley (leg), Tadhg Beirne (knee), Tom Farrell (shoulder), Oli Jager (head), Jean Kleyn (bicep), Calvin Nash (hamstring) and Michael Milne (calf) for Saturday’s trip to play Connacht.

“It’s an interpro, there’s a lot at stake for both teams. There’s a lot at stake for a lot of teams over the next couple of weekends.

“So, you can imagine that brings a focus and an edge. But, yeah, we’re looking forward to the encounter.

“We don’t have the luxury to feel sorry for ourselves around the injuries, they happen, we just happened to get a whole lot of them at the same time. And that creates opportunity for others to step in and show what they’ve got.”