MUNSTER HEAD COACH Clayton McMillan hailed the impact of his bench as they finally managed to edge out an Edinburgh side who had four players binned during the contest.
It took Munster a long time to make their numerical advantage count but a try from Fineen Wycherley eight minutes from time got them over the line by 20-19 to maintain their perfect start to the season under their new Kiwi coach as they dug deep to secure the victory.
“That’s what I’ve been talking about is that some days we’re not going to be at our best, but we can fight to the bitter end and fight for everything. And I thought we did that well,” said McMillan.
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“The bench, I think, made a really big impact. It’s great to see Edwin Edogbo there. I thought Josh Wycherley added a lot, Brian Gleeson. So, you know, that’s the sort of injection that we needed from the bench.
“It’s no small achievement to get off and win three games and we’re happy that we’ve been able to get a win here, so I think we’ll celebrate that. Having some new bodies come back in is worthwhile celebrating. We’ll get a weekend off to refresh and then we look forward to a big challenge next week.”
Leinster in Croke Park is next up for Munster and McMillan said they are building resolve as they go. They didn’t panic when they went in trailing 12-10 at the break despite playing against 13 men for eight minutes towards the end of a half where Andrew Smith and Michael Milne got tries in response to efforts from Ewan Ashman and Ben Vellacott.
“Well, it’s an 80-minute game, so I never think that the game’s over at half time,” added McMillan. “There were certainly some things that we needed to tidy up, but we sort of just hung in there and hung in there. We got enough opportunities in the second half, cashed them and got the job done.”
Milne’s second try and Wycherley’s late score sealed the win after Darcy Graham had extended Edinburgh’s lead with a quality try eight minutes after the restart but McMillan was pleased with the way they eventually closed it out.
“I think our intent was really good. We wanted to run over people instead of running through or underneath them and get some decent cleans, put some bodies on the ground,” he added.
“We didn’t do that well, particularly in the first half, but towards the back end it got a lot better and that will be something for us to review and look at and say, this one looks good.”
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'Fight to the bitter end' - McMillan hails Munster's bench press
MUNSTER HEAD COACH Clayton McMillan hailed the impact of his bench as they finally managed to edge out an Edinburgh side who had four players binned during the contest.
It took Munster a long time to make their numerical advantage count but a try from Fineen Wycherley eight minutes from time got them over the line by 20-19 to maintain their perfect start to the season under their new Kiwi coach as they dug deep to secure the victory.
“That’s what I’ve been talking about is that some days we’re not going to be at our best, but we can fight to the bitter end and fight for everything. And I thought we did that well,” said McMillan.
“The bench, I think, made a really big impact. It’s great to see Edwin Edogbo there. I thought Josh Wycherley added a lot, Brian Gleeson. So, you know, that’s the sort of injection that we needed from the bench.
“It’s no small achievement to get off and win three games and we’re happy that we’ve been able to get a win here, so I think we’ll celebrate that. Having some new bodies come back in is worthwhile celebrating. We’ll get a weekend off to refresh and then we look forward to a big challenge next week.”
Leinster in Croke Park is next up for Munster and McMillan said they are building resolve as they go. They didn’t panic when they went in trailing 12-10 at the break despite playing against 13 men for eight minutes towards the end of a half where Andrew Smith and Michael Milne got tries in response to efforts from Ewan Ashman and Ben Vellacott.
“Well, it’s an 80-minute game, so I never think that the game’s over at half time,” added McMillan. “There were certainly some things that we needed to tidy up, but we sort of just hung in there and hung in there. We got enough opportunities in the second half, cashed them and got the job done.”
Milne’s second try and Wycherley’s late score sealed the win after Darcy Graham had extended Edinburgh’s lead with a quality try eight minutes after the restart but McMillan was pleased with the way they eventually closed it out.
“I think our intent was really good. We wanted to run over people instead of running through or underneath them and get some decent cleans, put some bodies on the ground,” he added.
“We didn’t do that well, particularly in the first half, but towards the back end it got a lot better and that will be something for us to review and look at and say, this one looks good.”
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