Stuart Lancaster’s team dominated Saturday’s interpro at a sold-out Dexcom, where Munster struggling to get any control of the contest and didn’t register their first points until deep in the second half.
“Got beaten by a better team on the night,” McMillan said.
“I always knew it was going to be tough coming here, tough team to play at home, on a decent roll over the last couple of months, could see their confidence in the game.
“And there were high stakes. Win and we were in, (Connacht) losing, they were out.
And we challenged our guys to make sure that their motivation wasn’t any stronger than ours, but it was, you see that in the collisions.
“I thought they had a little bit more starch in their collisions than we did, and that allowed them to play on the front foot, that serves the rest of the game well. So we applaud them for that.”
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In a one-sided first half, Munster fell 19-0 down as Connacht quickly took control of the game, the visitors making numerous errors and poor decisions as they played most of the game in their own half.
“It wasn’t like there was bad stuff out there, we just didn’t see enough of it,” McMillan continued.
“Obviously put ourselves in a little bit of a hole in the first half with a little bit of wind at our back. We didn’t utilize it too well.
“And then in the second half, for a long period of time, it was a bit of an arm wrestle. It was a bit of a shame that Alex Kendellen’s try was ruled out. I think that might have just pushed us a little bit closer and put a bit of wind in our sails, but when those things go against you, it actually puts a bit of wind in their sails.
“But there was fight there that we can build off.”
McMillan was asked if he was frustrated to see Kendellen’s try chalked off in the second half – the back row deemed to have lost control of the ball in his attempted grounding.
“We don’t have all of of the views that obviously the TMO has to look at, but from the views I had, I couldn’t see any separation.”
He then offered his thoughts on Diarmuid Barron’s yellow card for a croc roll on Dylan Tierney-Martin, which was upgraded to a 20-minute red card.
“I think he probably paid the price for a few incidents that have happened over the last 24 hours or in the last couple of weeks.
“It’s a tough job for referees, it’s a complicated game and sometimes I struggle myself to understand the law. I don’t know what a breakdown looks like these days, and that’s not their fault. We’ve got to have a look at how we can simplify the game for everybody.”
On a disappointing night for Munster, the province also lost Edwin Edogbo to a shoulder injury. The lock was seen in a sling post-game but McMillan had no update.
“I haven’t caught up with Ed to talk about what the shoulder was but that’s obviously not a good sign, which is not good given the rest of the injuries, but everybody has injuries and you’ve just got to deal with them. And we don’t have a choice next week, we’re at home at Thomond Park and it’s another high stakes game and whoever we put out just has to be good enough to get the job done.”
Munster are sixth in the URC table and host the Lions next Friday.
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'We challenged our guys to make sure their motivation wasn't stronger than ours, but it was'
CLAYTON McMILLAN ADMITTED his team were second best after watching Connacht storm to a 26-7 bonus-point victory against his Munster side in Galway.
Stuart Lancaster’s team dominated Saturday’s interpro at a sold-out Dexcom, where Munster struggling to get any control of the contest and didn’t register their first points until deep in the second half.
“Got beaten by a better team on the night,” McMillan said.
“I always knew it was going to be tough coming here, tough team to play at home, on a decent roll over the last couple of months, could see their confidence in the game.
“And there were high stakes. Win and we were in, (Connacht) losing, they were out.
“I thought they had a little bit more starch in their collisions than we did, and that allowed them to play on the front foot, that serves the rest of the game well. So we applaud them for that.”
In a one-sided first half, Munster fell 19-0 down as Connacht quickly took control of the game, the visitors making numerous errors and poor decisions as they played most of the game in their own half.
“It wasn’t like there was bad stuff out there, we just didn’t see enough of it,” McMillan continued.
“Obviously put ourselves in a little bit of a hole in the first half with a little bit of wind at our back. We didn’t utilize it too well.
“And then in the second half, for a long period of time, it was a bit of an arm wrestle. It was a bit of a shame that Alex Kendellen’s try was ruled out. I think that might have just pushed us a little bit closer and put a bit of wind in our sails, but when those things go against you, it actually puts a bit of wind in their sails.
“But there was fight there that we can build off.”
McMillan was asked if he was frustrated to see Kendellen’s try chalked off in the second half – the back row deemed to have lost control of the ball in his attempted grounding.
“We don’t have all of of the views that obviously the TMO has to look at, but from the views I had, I couldn’t see any separation.”
He then offered his thoughts on Diarmuid Barron’s yellow card for a croc roll on Dylan Tierney-Martin, which was upgraded to a 20-minute red card.
“I think he probably paid the price for a few incidents that have happened over the last 24 hours or in the last couple of weeks.
“It’s a tough job for referees, it’s a complicated game and sometimes I struggle myself to understand the law. I don’t know what a breakdown looks like these days, and that’s not their fault. We’ve got to have a look at how we can simplify the game for everybody.”
On a disappointing night for Munster, the province also lost Edwin Edogbo to a shoulder injury. The lock was seen in a sling post-game but McMillan had no update.
“I haven’t caught up with Ed to talk about what the shoulder was but that’s obviously not a good sign, which is not good given the rest of the injuries, but everybody has injuries and you’ve just got to deal with them. And we don’t have a choice next week, we’re at home at Thomond Park and it’s another high stakes game and whoever we put out just has to be good enough to get the job done.”
Munster are sixth in the URC table and host the Lions next Friday.
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Clayton McMillan Munster Reaction Rugby URC