THE TWO MUNSTER players who drew the short straws today were Gavin Coombes and Alex Kendellen, while Mossy Lawler was the coach put forward for media duty.

The southern province held their first press briefing since last week’s confirmation that Roger Randle will no longer be joining the province as their new attack coach.

The U-turn, which Munster said was a mutual agreement with Randle, came after internal issues and external criticism caused by the appointment.

With Munster Rugby having confirmed last month that they have offered voluntary redundancies to staff in the organisation, it has seemed like a turbulent period for the province.

From the outside, it seems as if it must be challenging for Munster’s players not to be distracted by events outside of their control, but Coombes and Kendellen were keen to stress that this hasn’t been the case.

They said their focus is only on trying to beat Connacht in a crucial URC game in Galway this weekend.

“I think it’s been pretty easy to ignore it,” said Kendellen. “It’s within the four walls of upstairs in the meeting room. All we’re doing is trying to focus on winning a trophy for Munster and sending the likes of Mike Prendergast off with a trophy.

“There’s players finishing up this year and it’s all been focused on winning a trophy for Munster, and that’s it.”

Kendellen was asked if head coach Clayton McMillan has addressed the Randle decision with the squad, but he stuck to his message.

“Like I said, all we’re focused on is winning games for Munster,” said Kendellen.

Alex Kendellen after scoring against Ulster. Dan Sheridan / INPHO Dan Sheridan / INPHO / INPHO

The experienced Coombes pointed out that he has lived through plenty of circumstances in which there has been lots of media coverage of Munster.

The number eight believes that this will always be the case.

“Munster is such a big club, and it’s always in the media, there’s always something being said about Munster,” said Coombes.

“That’s all outside noise and no matter what’s going on, it’s this group in the high performance centre, it’s nothing to do with us. No one’s been talking about it, and it’s all been focused on what we can do on the weekend.

“I just think that’s all outside noise, and we’ve had this every year. Same last year when we came down to the last two games where we had to win and there was outside noise again.

“We’re such a close group that we can stick together and stay on task, and I think that’s kind of what we’ve done. It’s just always been part of this club and I think it will be going forward as well.”

The message from Lawler was along the same lines.

“Everything’s a challenge in pro rugby,” said Lawler. “For us as a group, we’re fairly tight-knit, and our focus has just been inside our camp and focusing on what we can control.

“I think we’ve left ourselves in a really good position for the end of the season, in relation to taking points where it’s in our own control, so that has been our sole focus.”

Lawler was asked if the coaching group is confident that the hierarchy in Munster are doing right by the province with their decisions.

“There was a statement released by Munster Rugby last week, and I don’t have any further comment to mention on that,” said Lawler.

Lawler is among the candidates to step up as Munster’s attack coach next season, with Randle no longer on the way from New Zealand.

The Limerick man is currently Munster’s assistant attack and skills coach, and before Randle was appointed, McMillan stressed how important he views Lawler as being to the set-up.

Munster's Mossy Lawler. James Crombie / INPHO James Crombie / INPHO / INPHO

But Lawler opted against commenting on whether he is interested in stepping up as Munster’s senior attack coach.

“That’s not something I’m willing to comment on, this week in particular,” said Lawler.

“The powers that be will decide that in the future. I’m just focused on the here and now. Massive game this weekend, so that’s where my head is, and is staying.”

As expected, the injury news ahead of that big Connacht clash was bad for Munster.

Tadhg Beirne [knee], Tom Farrell [shoulder], Oli Jager [head], Jean Kleyn [biceps] and Calvin Nash will all definitely miss out, amid fears their injuries could be season-ending. 

There is good news with Jack Crowley available to return against Connacht and Fineen Wycherley back in training, but Munster are missing some key men.

“To take five points against Ulster was massive, but we did take that big injury toll off the back end of it,” said Lawler.

“Some of our big players miss out, but where there’s injuries, there’s opportunities and loads of lads champing at the bit to get in this week and play a massive game, massive inter-pro versus Connacht in the Sportsground.”

Munster haven’t confirmed definitive timelines for those injured players to recover. Lawler was asked specifically about Beirne but didn’t reveal any further detail.

“He won’t be available this weekend anyway,” said Lawler.

It is concerning that Oli Jager has sustained another head injury, having been sidelined for several months this season due to concussion.

“We only think of the individual and the person,” said Lawler. “Oli is such a great guy and brilliant around the group. He’s a world-class operator when he’s on the pitch. Unfortunately, we just haven’t had him on the pitch as much as we’d like, so concerns are obviously there.

“He’s obviously not available this week, but it’ll be week-by-week and we’ll progress him as he’s fit and able to do so.”