MUNSTER WILL KNOW what they need to do when they face the Lions in the URC’s final regular-season game on Saturday night at Thomond Park.

Connacht’s result away to Edinburgh a night earlier will determine the result necessary for Clayton McMillan’s side, who will conceivably have to win to preserve their position in the play-off spots.

Munster approach Round 18 on the back of a chastening defeat to Connacht in Galway, with McMillan describing as “fair” the characterisation of his side’s performance as being disappointing all-round during Thursday’s press conference.

Head coach McMillan and his staff will once more expect a response from their side, which has been a common theme this season particularly following several similar losses on the road.

And the Kiwi is cognisant that a team can sometimes be required to ‘go to the well’ one time too many, albeit he also acknowledged that emotional performances are part of the fabric of Ireland’s southern province.

“We’d like not to be the team that has to get punched in the nose and then have a response the following week,” McMillan said.

“I think that means that emotion is at the forefront of all of your performances and I think you tread a dangerous line when you’re going to be using that on a regular basis to get the outcomes that you want.

“Consistency in your day-to-day habits, consistency in just your individual prep, and I think those things bring consistency of performance. I think we’ve made a lot of strides in a lot of areas but there’s still scope to improve.

But you also have to respect that emotion appears to be just part of the DNA in this neck of the woods, so you don’t want to eradicate that either.

“It’s just about finding a bit of a balance.”

After mentioning his players’ day-to-day habits, just as he did during the post-match press conference in Galway, McMillan was asked exactly what he meant.

He replied: “It’s just everything. What you see on Saturday is a reflection of all of the little moments during the week where, if you get them right, they add up to get the sort of performance that you want to get. [My previous comments] were probably misinterpreted as ‘we don’t train hard enough’ or ‘people are unprofessional or not doing what they need to do’, but it’s just being an avid learner.

“It’s being hungry and thirsty for knowledge and being willing to improve your game, and understanding that each day you come in, there is an opportunity to get 1% better. And that doesn’t seem like much over the course of the week, but over the course of the season, the accumulation of all of those one percenters count for a lot.

“If you can get a whole squad doing that, then you start to get the sort of consistency of performance that we’re searching for.”

McMillan also expressed his relief that Diarmuid Barron has been cleared to play against the Lions after his red card against Connacht was overturned.

The Munster hooker had his yellow card upgraded following a clear-out which left opposite number Dylan Tierney-Martin hurt, but an independent disciplinary panel has since ruled that Barron’s offence did carry with it the level of danger that would warrant a red card.

McMillan expressed sympathy for Tierney-Martin, who has been ruled out of Connacht’s final game of the season away to Edinburgh, but he also believes his player was unfortunate to have been sent off at Dexcom Stadium for what he described as “a dynamic situation that went a little bit wrong.”

“The game is littered with moments that referees have to make a decision on and, by their own admission, they get some right and a few wrong,” McMillan said.

“That’s the game. I said last week that it’s kind of a reflection of our game in that it can be complicated at times and we’re continuously searching for ways to make it simpler for them, simpler for players and easier for people sitting in the stands to understand as well.

“There’s so many ongoing challenges, but I think in the judiciary hearing they came to the right conclusion.

“We accepted there’d been some foul play, but there was no maliciousness in that and that we feel sorry for the Connacht player who received an injury. Thankfully, we didn’t start with the injury as the reason why we got to the red card.

“It was effectively a dynamic situation that went a little bit wrong.”