MUNSTER HAVE RARELY been in the business of doing things the easy way, and a disappointing 26-7 loss to Connacht on Saturday ensures their URC play-off battle will again run into the final weekend of the regular season.
A win in Galway would have wrapped up Munster’s place in the top eight, but that never looked likely as Clayton McMillan’s men were utterly outplayed by a home side who displayed greater intent, physicality and creativity throughout.
Munster looked in serious trouble even before losing hooker Diarmuid Barron to a 20-minute red card after 17 minutes.
Minus a number of key men, this was one of their more disappointing performances of the season, arriving on the back of a strong run of results despite the ongoing noise and disruption off the pitch.
Approaching the end of his first year in charge, head coach Clayton McMillan is still struggling to shape this squad into a more consistent outfit – particularly when their Ireland internationals are not all on the field.
“Yeah, look, that’s probably something that we’ll reflect on post-season and just look at the margins for where we can be better, and when you talk about margins, I think they are small,” McMillan said.
“There’s been probably, three, four, maybe five games that we’d look back on and go, man, we really need to be better on those nights, but we’ve had lots of five-point, two-point losses, and if you win those then your whole season looks a little bit brighter and when you don’t win them, then the losses are magnified and I think it’s important that you just try to keep perspective and understand where those margins are and just continue to get better.
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“I think everybody wants to strengthen their roster, everybody will be looking at where the trends of the game are and looking to improve and I still think it just comes down to your your day-to-day habits. How you tune up each day, be a real pro, because the one-percenters don’t look like much at the start, but the accumulation of those over a whole season makes a big difference and I still think we’ve got a little bit of work to do there.”
Connacht's Harry West is tackled by Mike Haley of Munster. Laszlo Geczo / INPHO
Laszlo Geczo / INPHO / INPHO
Munster are at home to the Lions on Saturday, where at least their fate is in their own hands. McMillan’s team will enter the final round in sixth place on 51 points, one clear of both Cardiff and Ulster, and two ahead of ninth-place Connacht.
McMillan would have loved to get the job done in Galway, but instead, the play-off race goes right down to the wire again – last season, when Munster were still working under Ian Costello as interim head coach, the province beat Benetton in Cork in round 18 to confirm their place in the top eight.
“It was in our own hands again tonight, but we weren’t good enough to get it done,” McMillan said.
“I just had a quick squiz at the points table, I think everyone from one to nine has still got a chance and you wanted a few other results to go your way to create a little bit of breathing space, but yeah, everyone’s got a huge amount to play for.
“I don’t think there’s anyone that will be sitting on their heels, whether it’s trying to get a home final, quarter-final seedings, obviously that’s out of our hands now. We’re just focused purely on trying to get there.”
Craig Casey, who captained Munster at the Dexcom Stadium, has called on the squad to rise to the challenge and secure Champions Cup rugby for next season.
“I think the disappointing thing coming into tonight, we knew that exactly was the case as well, if we had won, we were in,” Casey said.
“So that is disappointing, but like you said it is paramount for us, we can’t go without being in the Champions Cup so it is a big week and I suppose when there is pressure on people, you see the best of people, so we need to bring that out in ourselves this week.
Munster's Alex Kendellen reacts to defeat in Galway. Laszlo Geczo / INPHO
Laszlo Geczo / INPHO / INPHO
“Like Clayton said, we probably could have had it wrapped up a few times,” the scrum-half added.
“You don’t want to be drawing on past experiences where you’ve left it to the last minute again, but I suppose it is in our hands, like he touched on, we touched on that inside in the changing room.
“We need to lick our wounds fairly quickly and get back on the horse and get excited for a week this week because it’s all on the line. We know what we have to do and we’ve got to do it, so simple as that to be honest.
“I know Connacht had a big send-off for a few legends in fairness, and I think it would be poor of me not to mention Jack Carty and Denis Buckley leaving Connacht, especially tonight, I think they showed exactly what it is like to play for that, and we have a few of those people for us next week as well.”
McMillan said there is a ‘strong possibility’ Jack Crowley will overcome his leg problem to feature against the Lions, but Tadhg Beirne remains likely to miss out. Munster are also awaiting an update on Edwin Edogbo, who was forced off and wearing a sling after the game.
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Flat showing in Galway ensures Munster's play-off battle goes to the wire again
MUNSTER HAVE RARELY been in the business of doing things the easy way, and a disappointing 26-7 loss to Connacht on Saturday ensures their URC play-off battle will again run into the final weekend of the regular season.
A win in Galway would have wrapped up Munster’s place in the top eight, but that never looked likely as Clayton McMillan’s men were utterly outplayed by a home side who displayed greater intent, physicality and creativity throughout.
Munster looked in serious trouble even before losing hooker Diarmuid Barron to a 20-minute red card after 17 minutes.
Minus a number of key men, this was one of their more disappointing performances of the season, arriving on the back of a strong run of results despite the ongoing noise and disruption off the pitch.
Approaching the end of his first year in charge, head coach Clayton McMillan is still struggling to shape this squad into a more consistent outfit – particularly when their Ireland internationals are not all on the field.
“Yeah, look, that’s probably something that we’ll reflect on post-season and just look at the margins for where we can be better, and when you talk about margins, I think they are small,” McMillan said.
“There’s been probably, three, four, maybe five games that we’d look back on and go, man, we really need to be better on those nights, but we’ve had lots of five-point, two-point losses, and if you win those then your whole season looks a little bit brighter and when you don’t win them, then the losses are magnified and I think it’s important that you just try to keep perspective and understand where those margins are and just continue to get better.
“I think everybody wants to strengthen their roster, everybody will be looking at where the trends of the game are and looking to improve and I still think it just comes down to your your day-to-day habits. How you tune up each day, be a real pro, because the one-percenters don’t look like much at the start, but the accumulation of those over a whole season makes a big difference and I still think we’ve got a little bit of work to do there.”
Munster are at home to the Lions on Saturday, where at least their fate is in their own hands. McMillan’s team will enter the final round in sixth place on 51 points, one clear of both Cardiff and Ulster, and two ahead of ninth-place Connacht.
McMillan would have loved to get the job done in Galway, but instead, the play-off race goes right down to the wire again – last season, when Munster were still working under Ian Costello as interim head coach, the province beat Benetton in Cork in round 18 to confirm their place in the top eight.
“It was in our own hands again tonight, but we weren’t good enough to get it done,” McMillan said.
“I just had a quick squiz at the points table, I think everyone from one to nine has still got a chance and you wanted a few other results to go your way to create a little bit of breathing space, but yeah, everyone’s got a huge amount to play for.
“I don’t think there’s anyone that will be sitting on their heels, whether it’s trying to get a home final, quarter-final seedings, obviously that’s out of our hands now. We’re just focused purely on trying to get there.”
Craig Casey, who captained Munster at the Dexcom Stadium, has called on the squad to rise to the challenge and secure Champions Cup rugby for next season.
“I think the disappointing thing coming into tonight, we knew that exactly was the case as well, if we had won, we were in,” Casey said.
“So that is disappointing, but like you said it is paramount for us, we can’t go without being in the Champions Cup so it is a big week and I suppose when there is pressure on people, you see the best of people, so we need to bring that out in ourselves this week.
“Like Clayton said, we probably could have had it wrapped up a few times,” the scrum-half added.
“You don’t want to be drawing on past experiences where you’ve left it to the last minute again, but I suppose it is in our hands, like he touched on, we touched on that inside in the changing room.
“We need to lick our wounds fairly quickly and get back on the horse and get excited for a week this week because it’s all on the line. We know what we have to do and we’ve got to do it, so simple as that to be honest.
“I know Connacht had a big send-off for a few legends in fairness, and I think it would be poor of me not to mention Jack Carty and Denis Buckley leaving Connacht, especially tonight, I think they showed exactly what it is like to play for that, and we have a few of those people for us next week as well.”
McMillan said there is a ‘strong possibility’ Jack Crowley will overcome his leg problem to feature against the Lions, but Tadhg Beirne remains likely to miss out. Munster are also awaiting an update on Edwin Edogbo, who was forced off and wearing a sling after the game.
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Clayton McMillan Connacht Munster Pressure Rugby URC