THIS IS THE kind of story that players simply cannot ignore.

Whatever about the media coverage, the fact that three members of Munster Rugby’s Professional Game Committee [PGC] have resigned following the appointment of Roger Randle makes it all the more eye-catching for the squad.

Especially when those three committee members are former players in Killian Keane, Mick O’Driscoll, and Billy Holland, who were independent nominees on the PGC.  Munster’s current players would have watched those men in action when they were younger. Some of them would have played with Holland before his retirement five years ago.

So while Munster’s squad will undoubtedly be doing their best to stay focused on the job at hand – beating Benetton in Italy tomorrow to boost their URC play-off hopes – this week’s news won’t have escaped their attention.

There are sure to be mixed feelings within the Munster group. Some will feel that Randle continuing to be mentioned with regard to an allegation 29 years ago is unfair. Some will only be concerned about his excellent reputation as an attack coach. But others will have reservations. Some will feel that this is a move Munster didn’t need to make. Some of the Munster players won’t know what to think about it all.

It remains to be seen if there is further fallout within the province after the three resignations from the eight-person PGC. There may be further resignations. That body is supposed to have an input on decisions like the appointment of coaches, but it’s understood the Randle deal had already been agreed when it was presented to the PGC.

Head coach Clayton McMillan, general manager Ian Costello, and CEO Ian Flanagan drove the recruitment process, and Randle was always an obvious candidate given his longstanding relationship with McMillan.

McMillan has vouched for Randle as a coach and character. The head coach’s say has been listened to. He has got the man he wanted and he backed him again unequivocally when speaking to the media yesterday.

The IRFU has publicly distanced itself from the process and it’s true that each of the provinces run the recruitment of their assistant coaches.

Yet it’s also true that the IRFU has been mentioned in the opening line of every other recent Munster assistant coach announcement. That wasn’t the case with Randle and that is surely an insight into unease within the IRFU about this deal.

Again, the feelings around the appointment are likely to be conflicted. McMillan has the assistant coach he feels can help him realise his vision for Munster. But all parties will hope the resurfaced story fades away quickly.

Maybe that will be the case if Munster get on a badly-needed winning run. Their bad run of form has coincided with the announcement of voluntary redundancies being offered in Munster Rugby, and now this fallout from the Randle appointment.   

This all comes at a time when Munster are hoping loyal supporters will renew their season tickets. It’s not an easy sell at present.

McMillan has said a few times recently that all he and his players can do to help the mood music around Munster is win games. That has proved difficult recently.

But with four regular-season games left in the URC, the head coach hopes his players can block out the distraction.

“It would be nice if we didn’t have it,” said McMillan yesterday. “But this stuff has come about through people loving the club and having strong opinions around its future direction, so I understand it.

“In terms of distraction, the players are under no illusion to the challenge and have been excellent at just focusing on what’s directly in front of them. That’s just been our training week and then obviously travel and the game.

“We have potentially more scope for us to connect around each other when we travel, but purely performance-focused.”

Tomorrow evening’s clash with Benetton is a chance for Munster to start turning a tide that has been worrying for the last few months.

Their subsequent URC games see them host Ulster, visit Connacht, and welcome the Lions to Thomond Park.

The hope is that a run of wins can lift Munster into the top four and earn them a home quarter-final, although the worry is that a continued struggle might see them miss out on the top eight.

“We’re consistently inconsistent,” said McMillan. “That’s the challenge, isn’t it? I’m sure everybody has seen games where we look like we could be anything, and then we have games where we don’t amount to much at all.

“And that’s a huge frustration within the group and ultimately as a head coach I take responsibility for that.

“It’s my job to provide direction and for us to collectively find solutions to help us get better. And this week is another opportunity to try and achieve that.

“There’s still a hell of a lot to play for. Just imagine if we’re sitting here in four weeks and we’ve won four games or three games. It’s a congested table and we could finish anywhere from the top couple to the bottom few.

“We know where we want to be but we’ve got to go and earn that.”