AS OPENING NIGHTS go, Saturday felt a little different around Thomond Park, lacking the usual pre-match buzz and enthusiasm that so often greets a new campaign.
In the end, just over 11,000 were present to watch Munster battle hard, but ultimately come up short against Glasgow Warriors. Last season, Munster’s first home fixture against Cardiff in round two attracted 12,066 to Limerick. The season before, a round one interpro with Connacht had an audience of 15,705.
Those who put their hand in their pocket for Saturday’s game will have been encouraged by much of what they saw, but there remains a feeling this could be another challenging season for Clayton McMillan’s men.
Munster are dealing with a testing injury list as they negotiate the first hurdles of the new campaign, a run which now heads into games against the Bulls, Ulster, Racing 92 and Leinster.
A view of Munster fans during Saturday's match. Dan Sheridan / INPHO
Dan Sheridan / INPHO / INPHO
Lose too much ground there, and it’s increasingly difficult to lure back the supporters demoralised by the issues that made last season such a disappointing one both on and off the pitch.
Yet while a losing start is not going to sit comfortably with anyone in the building, McMillan hopes the manner of Munster’s performance can be enough to boost the interest around his team again.
“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.”
This was a mixed Munster performance, with slick attacking play and a strong scrum among the positives in an encouraging first half display.
However, the home side lost momentum in the second half and as the two sides turned to their benches, Glasgow grew into the contest and took advantage against a fading Munster effort.
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McMillan highlighted some “green shoots”, but was somewhat less enthusiastic when asked if he was taking a “glass half-full” view on the game.
“No, we want to win. 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 you’re right, 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.”
One of those ‘green shoots’ was scrum-half Ben O’Donovan, who played with tempo and brought a creative spark to Munster’s attack. O’Donovan (21) joined the province on an academy contract last February and was promoted to a senior deal over the summer. He featured six times off the bench last season, and Saturday marked his first start in the Munster shirt.
“He’s a kid that’s come through the New Zealand pathway, played New Zealand U20, so he’s a kid that’s actually got talent, and he probably just sat in New Zealand and assessed the people that maybe were blocking his pathway to professional rugby, and given that his Dad is Irish, and he’s Irish qualified, he took a calculated risk, a brave one I think for a young man to come over here and try his luck with and not only (earn) an academy contract, but he made every post a winner at the back end of last year.
Munster's Ben O’Connor celebrates scoring a try with Ben O'Donovan, Tom O’Hanlon / INPHO
Tom O’Hanlon / INPHO / INPHO
“I think he’s really benefited from having a full pre-season, he would have come to us a little bit underdone last year.
“He’s a great acquisition, he’s level-headed, and I think with more games under his belt we’ll start to see his running game come into play, which would have been one of his strengths back in New Zealand.
“One of my assistant coaches at the Chiefs would have coached him at Canterbury, so he gave us some pretty good intel around him, and, yeah, we’re just grateful that he’s here, and he adds to a bit of depth around the nine position.
“We’ve got good young guys coming through, even young Jake O’Riordan, we think that there’s something about his game too, and with a bit more time out in the middle, they’ll continue to grow.”
Next up for Munster it’s the Bulls at Thomond Park on Saturday. McMillan hopes to have a handful of his Ireland internationals back for the game, while there was mixed news on the injury front – Munster lost Diarmuid Barron, Mike Haley and Michael Milne to injury on the night against Glasgow.
“Diarmuid failed his HIA 1, I think. He’s all good. He could be a possibility, but he needs to go through the process. Mike Haley, I haven’t caught up with him, but it looked like he had a pretty decent bang or something to his leg, so he might be 50/50. Michael Milne is fine.
“And then guys coming back, I think we might get the benefit of one or two of the internationals who didn’t play a lot of rugby on the summer tour.
Munster head coach Clayton McMillan. Tom O’Hanlon / INPHO
Tom O’Hanlon / INPHO / INPHO
“Edwin (Edogbo) is probably still, I’d say, two weeks away. But we get Shane Daly and a few other guys will come back.
“I think over the next two or three weeks we’ll get a lot back, and that’ll be great, because we’re having to rely through the pre-season and the early part of the season on the same blokes, so I don’t want them running on fumes. But it’s great for them to get an opportunity, and we know that we’ve got some good cattle.
“I don’t know how many, maybe 10/12 starters that didn’t take any part in the game today, and when they come back in, that’ll strengthen us.”
Jack Aungier could return from a back injury, while McMillan added that Tom Ahern is recovering from an infected finger, caused by “slicing an apple or some f**king dumb thing like that.
“He’ll be back in the mix next week,” McMillan said. “When it rains, it pours.”
Bring on the Bulls.
“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.”
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'I hope they saw something to be optimistic about' - McMillan's message to Munster fans
AS OPENING NIGHTS go, Saturday felt a little different around Thomond Park, lacking the usual pre-match buzz and enthusiasm that so often greets a new campaign.
In the end, just over 11,000 were present to watch Munster battle hard, but ultimately come up short against Glasgow Warriors. Last season, Munster’s first home fixture against Cardiff in round two attracted 12,066 to Limerick. The season before, a round one interpro with Connacht had an audience of 15,705.
Those who put their hand in their pocket for Saturday’s game will have been encouraged by much of what they saw, but there remains a feeling this could be another challenging season for Clayton McMillan’s men.
Munster are dealing with a testing injury list as they negotiate the first hurdles of the new campaign, a run which now heads into games against the Bulls, Ulster, Racing 92 and Leinster.
Lose too much ground there, and it’s increasingly difficult to lure back the supporters demoralised by the issues that made last season such a disappointing one both on and off the pitch.
Yet while a losing start is not going to sit comfortably with anyone in the building, McMillan hopes the manner of Munster’s performance can be enough to boost the interest around his team again.
“I think for the people that were here, I hope that they saw something in the team to be optimistic about,” McMillan said.
“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.”
This was a mixed Munster performance, with slick attacking play and a strong scrum among the positives in an encouraging first half display.
However, the home side lost momentum in the second half and as the two sides turned to their benches, Glasgow grew into the contest and took advantage against a fading Munster effort.
McMillan highlighted some “green shoots”, but was somewhat less enthusiastic when asked if he was taking a “glass half-full” view on the game.
“No, we want to win. I think in this competition, a good starting point is to win your home games, and we didn’t quite manage that today.
“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 you’re right, 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.”
One of those ‘green shoots’ was scrum-half Ben O’Donovan, who played with tempo and brought a creative spark to Munster’s attack. O’Donovan (21) joined the province on an academy contract last February and was promoted to a senior deal over the summer. He featured six times off the bench last season, and Saturday marked his first start in the Munster shirt.
“He’s a kid that’s come through the New Zealand pathway, played New Zealand U20, so he’s a kid that’s actually got talent, and he probably just sat in New Zealand and assessed the people that maybe were blocking his pathway to professional rugby, and given that his Dad is Irish, and he’s Irish qualified, he took a calculated risk, a brave one I think for a young man to come over here and try his luck with and not only (earn) an academy contract, but he made every post a winner at the back end of last year.
“I think he’s really benefited from having a full pre-season, he would have come to us a little bit underdone last year.
“He’s a great acquisition, he’s level-headed, and I think with more games under his belt we’ll start to see his running game come into play, which would have been one of his strengths back in New Zealand.
“One of my assistant coaches at the Chiefs would have coached him at Canterbury, so he gave us some pretty good intel around him, and, yeah, we’re just grateful that he’s here, and he adds to a bit of depth around the nine position.
“We’ve got good young guys coming through, even young Jake O’Riordan, we think that there’s something about his game too, and with a bit more time out in the middle, they’ll continue to grow.”
Next up for Munster it’s the Bulls at Thomond Park on Saturday. McMillan hopes to have a handful of his Ireland internationals back for the game, while there was mixed news on the injury front – Munster lost Diarmuid Barron, Mike Haley and Michael Milne to injury on the night against Glasgow.
“Diarmuid failed his HIA 1, I think. He’s all good. He could be a possibility, but he needs to go through the process. Mike Haley, I haven’t caught up with him, but it looked like he had a pretty decent bang or something to his leg, so he might be 50/50. Michael Milne is fine.
“And then guys coming back, I think we might get the benefit of one or two of the internationals who didn’t play a lot of rugby on the summer tour.
“Edwin (Edogbo) is probably still, I’d say, two weeks away. But we get Shane Daly and a few other guys will come back.
“I think over the next two or three weeks we’ll get a lot back, and that’ll be great, because we’re having to rely through the pre-season and the early part of the season on the same blokes, so I don’t want them running on fumes. But it’s great for them to get an opportunity, and we know that we’ve got some good cattle.
“I don’t know how many, maybe 10/12 starters that didn’t take any part in the game today, and when they come back in, that’ll strengthen us.”
Jack Aungier could return from a back injury, while McMillan added that Tom Ahern is recovering from an infected finger, caused by “slicing an apple or some f**king dumb thing like that.
“He’ll be back in the mix next week,” McMillan said. “When it rains, it pours.”
Bring on the Bulls.
“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.”
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Clayton McMillan Munster Rugby SUAF