{"id":253917,"date":"2026-01-20T08:30:11","date_gmt":"2026-01-20T08:30:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/253917\/"},"modified":"2026-01-20T08:30:11","modified_gmt":"2026-01-20T08:30:11","slug":"clayton-mcmillan-doubles-down-on-commitment-to-munster-amid-all-blacks-noise-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/253917\/","title":{"rendered":"Clayton McMillan doubles down on commitment to Munster amid All Blacks noise \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Although a certain head coaching role has become available in his native New Zealand<\/a>, and despite Munster\u2019s<\/a> demoralising exit from the Champions Cup<\/a>, Clayton McMillan<\/a> has vowed that he has no intention of walking out on his three-year contract with Munster.<\/p>\n

McMillan is one of the many New Zealand coaches who has been linked with the role of All Backs head coach following the departure of Scott Robertson last week, albeit Jamie Joseph is the apparent favourite. But whether that materialise, or there is a ripple effect if Joseph is plucked from the Highlanders, McMillan has dispelled any fears that Munster will lose him prematurely, as they did Rassie Erasmus<\/a> a year and a half into his tenure.<\/p>\n

\u201cI made a commitment to come here and I fully intend to see that out,\u201d stated McMillan. \u201cOne of the reasons why I came here is to grow my exposure to the game up in this part of the world.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are some differences and we\u2019re learning that. I\u2019m living through it and really enjoying that experience, which will make me a better coach in the long-term.\u201d<\/p>\n

As for the All Blacks, McMillan said: \u201cI really haven\u2019t given it much thought because it\u2019s on the other side of the world, and I\u2019m here.\u201d<\/p>\n

A noticeably straight talker, albeit his expressions don\u2019t give much away, watching McMillan take deep breaths and exhale in frustration and disappointment at various junctures of the 31-29 defeat against Castres at Thomond Park last Saturday, it was tempting to wonder if he\u2019d begun to realise that this job was even bigger than he envisaged.<\/p>\n

He smiled when that was put to him and then made clear he had fully realised the scale of the task before he accepted it.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s exactly what I anticipated, to be perfectly honest. I didn\u2019t just jump at taking on this job because I had an appetite to come to Munster. You do your homework and you understand where a squad is at, and what the competition is like. I would have spoken to a lot of people and was well informed when I came in here.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would like to think that one of my real strengths is that my playing journey and my coaching journey has never been one of privilege. It\u2019s always been inheriting teams. I don\u2019t know why. I don\u2019t always want this to happen but [it has been] inheriting teams that are perhaps in a state of transition or have been through some change.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd I like to think that one of my skill sets is to go into those environments and put a plan in place that will bring about the change that\u2019s needed to be consistently competitive and contesting titles on a regular basis.<\/p>\n

\"Castres'Castres’ Baptiste Cope celebrates after winning a late penalty during the Champions Cup game against Munster at Thomond Park. Photograph: Nick Elliott\/Inpho <\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s what we\u2019re seeing unfold. We all want things to get better at an accelerated rate, but we\u2019re just living the reality of where we currently are.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re not happy about it, but I\u2019m also realistic to know that we are on a little bit of a journey. I say that with a bit of trepidation because it can be interpreted as you\u2019re looking for a free pass, and it\u2019s not that.\u201d<\/p>\n

There have been, he admits, times when Munster have been \u201cnowhere near where we need to be\u201d, such as 20-minute periods against the Stormers and Bath, and \u201ca whole game against Ulster\u201d, but otherwise they\u2019ve been in every game, despite not playing at the peak of their powers.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt absolutely sucks to lose rugby games, but we don\u2019t feel like we\u2019re that far away and when it clicks we\u2019re going to be a good rugby team. But, I\u2019m getting everything that I anticipated. It\u2019s not any bigger or smaller than what I imagined it would be.\u201d<\/p>\n

The upcoming challenge for McMillan and Munster, beginning with a six-day turnaround for Friday\u2019s URC game against the Dragons in Musgrave Park (7.35pm), is to recover quickly, make improvements and ensure they qualify for the knock-out stages of next season\u2019s Champions Cup to return a better side.<\/p>\n

To that end, on foot of their deep Monday review, McMillan said: \u201cOne of the big things that came out of today is around individual accountability and just professional habits. Just turning up every day with a real desire to grow and be at your best. It can be difficult because you\u2019re deep into a season,\u201d he said, noting that some players must be frustrated not to be playing more.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a number of things that we need to navigate. But, I think the things that are hurting us most out on the rugby field, particularly over the last month, is our inaccuracy. It sometimes gets reported as discipline, our decision-making there \u2026 the…yellows have cost us a massive 55 per cent of the points that have been scored against us in the Champions Cup when we haven\u2019t had 15 men on the field.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd then just developing a ruthless edge. I think we\u2019re doing enough in games to win. When the opposition are gifting us opportunities to really put the foot on the throat, we\u2019re not taking that.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re turning it into more of an arm wrestle than perhaps it needs to be. Not any one thing in particular. Lots of little things that I think we can solve.\u201d<\/p>\n

The upcoming games against the Dragons and away to Glasgow the following Friday look even more challenging now.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s part of what we\u2019ve done this morning, is to almost push the reset button or have that state-of-the-nation meeting to acknowledge what\u2019s happened, but also to ensure that there\u2019s a new line in the sand and we continue to move forward because there\u2019s still lots to play for.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Although a certain head coaching role has become available in his native New Zealand, and despite Munster\u2019s demoralising…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":253918,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[61,60,11897,112,14881],"class_list":["post-253917","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-munster-rugby","tag-sports","tag-united-rugby-championship"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/253917","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=253917"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/253917\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/253918"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=253917"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=253917"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=253917"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}