MUNSTER BOSS CLAYTON McMillan said he and his coaching staff will discuss what they’re getting wrong in their preparation of the team after a very poor showing in defeat to Ulster.
The southern province lost 28-3 in Belfast and barely fired a shot as Ulster ran in three second-half tries to claim victory. It was perhaps Munster’s poorest performance of the McMillan era so far.
The Kiwi head coach had made 10 changes to his starting XV, with his Ireland internationals on a mandated rest weekend, but McMillan said the Munster coaches have to examine their role in this defeat before focusing on the players.
“First and foremost, myself and the coaches, we’ll look at ourselves before we look at the players,” said McMillan.
“I know that they’ll be disappointed, but we need to reflect again, go away and start thinking about what we can do different that might bring a bit of turn of turn in form because it’s not that we’ve been hanging in there, but we haven’t been that compelling in anything that we’ve done, so it starts with us.
“But we also know that we’ve got a good group and we’ll bounce back. But you’d like there to be a bit more consistency and not to have to go through performances like tonight to get a response.”
Along with the poor display, there are injury concerns for Munster after this loss.
Back rows John Hodnett and Alex Kendellen were forced off in pain during the Ulster game, while centre Alex Nankivell was also injured.
“Alex [Kendellen], I’m not sure the extent of it but he’s in a moon boot,” said McMillan.
“It would be an ankle injury and that’s a little concerning because that was the injury that put him out for an extended period of time prior to coming back.
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“John Hodnett, it looks like a dislocation to a thumb and again, not entirely sure of the extent of that. Alex Nankivell came off with just an elbow injury, that doesn’t seem serious.
Munster head coach Clayton McMillan. Ryan Byrne / INPHO
Ryan Byrne / INPHO / INPHO
“I think we’ve done a good job, the medical team have done a great job. We’ve had upwards of 50 people available for selection, if we include everybody in the squad, which is not a place that the team’s been for a while.”
It’s still worrying injury news ahead of next weekend’s Champions Cup visit to Toulon.
Munster will have Ireland internationals Tadhg Beirne, Craig Casey, Jack Crowley, and Tom Farrell back for that game, but McMillan isn’t thinking about Stade Mayol yet.
“To be perfectly honest, that’s way off on the horizon,” he said.
“There’s an eight or nine-day turnaround until we play the game. We probably need that just to get away and reflect on this performance. I think we come in on Tuesday, so it’s a little bit of a three-day break to get away, get a bit of time with family, push the reset button and come in on Tuesday, like I said, with a few solutions to the issues that we’re facing at the moment.
“And then go to Toulon and throw the kitchen sink at a team that’s got a pretty good record at home and stuff.”
Munster remain in the top four of the URC tonight but could drop to sixth tomorrow depending on results elsewhere.
McMillan was frustrated with their breakdown work in attack against Ulster, as well as their work in the air and in trying to win the scraps on the ground after aerial contests.
There were “lots” of other areas that disappointed him on a night when his team struggled to offer any quality of note.
“I thought we trained well during the week and we expected a much, much better performance across the board, but we didn’t get it and we weren’t allowed to get it through a quality, physical Ulster side, so full credit to them.”
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'Myself and the coaches will look at ourselves before we look at the players'
MUNSTER BOSS CLAYTON McMillan said he and his coaching staff will discuss what they’re getting wrong in their preparation of the team after a very poor showing in defeat to Ulster.
The southern province lost 28-3 in Belfast and barely fired a shot as Ulster ran in three second-half tries to claim victory. It was perhaps Munster’s poorest performance of the McMillan era so far.
The Kiwi head coach had made 10 changes to his starting XV, with his Ireland internationals on a mandated rest weekend, but McMillan said the Munster coaches have to examine their role in this defeat before focusing on the players.
“First and foremost, myself and the coaches, we’ll look at ourselves before we look at the players,” said McMillan.
“I know that they’ll be disappointed, but we need to reflect again, go away and start thinking about what we can do different that might bring a bit of turn of turn in form because it’s not that we’ve been hanging in there, but we haven’t been that compelling in anything that we’ve done, so it starts with us.
“But we also know that we’ve got a good group and we’ll bounce back. But you’d like there to be a bit more consistency and not to have to go through performances like tonight to get a response.”
Along with the poor display, there are injury concerns for Munster after this loss.
Back rows John Hodnett and Alex Kendellen were forced off in pain during the Ulster game, while centre Alex Nankivell was also injured.
“Alex [Kendellen], I’m not sure the extent of it but he’s in a moon boot,” said McMillan.
“It would be an ankle injury and that’s a little concerning because that was the injury that put him out for an extended period of time prior to coming back.
“John Hodnett, it looks like a dislocation to a thumb and again, not entirely sure of the extent of that. Alex Nankivell came off with just an elbow injury, that doesn’t seem serious.
“I think we’ve done a good job, the medical team have done a great job. We’ve had upwards of 50 people available for selection, if we include everybody in the squad, which is not a place that the team’s been for a while.”
It’s still worrying injury news ahead of next weekend’s Champions Cup visit to Toulon.
Munster will have Ireland internationals Tadhg Beirne, Craig Casey, Jack Crowley, and Tom Farrell back for that game, but McMillan isn’t thinking about Stade Mayol yet.
“To be perfectly honest, that’s way off on the horizon,” he said.
“There’s an eight or nine-day turnaround until we play the game. We probably need that just to get away and reflect on this performance. I think we come in on Tuesday, so it’s a little bit of a three-day break to get away, get a bit of time with family, push the reset button and come in on Tuesday, like I said, with a few solutions to the issues that we’re facing at the moment.
“And then go to Toulon and throw the kitchen sink at a team that’s got a pretty good record at home and stuff.”
Munster remain in the top four of the URC tonight but could drop to sixth tomorrow depending on results elsewhere.
McMillan was frustrated with their breakdown work in attack against Ulster, as well as their work in the air and in trying to win the scraps on the ground after aerial contests.
There were “lots” of other areas that disappointed him on a night when his team struggled to offer any quality of note.
“I thought we trained well during the week and we expected a much, much better performance across the board, but we didn’t get it and we weren’t allowed to get it through a quality, physical Ulster side, so full credit to them.”
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