{"id":401892,"date":"2026-04-16T16:44:08","date_gmt":"2026-04-16T16:44:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/401892\/"},"modified":"2026-04-16T16:44:08","modified_gmt":"2026-04-16T16:44:08","slug":"clayton-mcmillan-defends-munsters-appointment-of-roger-randle-as-attack-coach-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/401892\/","title":{"rendered":"Clayton McMillan defends Munster\u2019s appointment of Roger Randle as attack coach \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Munster<\/a> head coach Clayton McMillan<\/a> has defended the province\u2019s appointment of his friend and former assistant at the Chiefs Roger Randle as their next attack coach. He also says he fully respects the disquiet among supporters and the decision by three former players to resign from their positions on Munster\u2019s Professional Game Committee.<\/p>\n

Billy Holland, Mick O\u2019Driscoll and Killian Keane have all resigned from the PGC after the decision to appoint Randle following a process driven by CEO Ian Flanagan and general manager Ian Costello.<\/p>\n

Randle was accused of raping a woman in Durban, South Africa in 1997 when he was part of the Hurricanes team that were playing a Super Rugby match there. He denied the allegations and the charges were withdrawn.<\/p>\n

Reporting on the 1997 incident by South Africa\u2019s Mail & Guardian<\/a> quotes an attorney-general saying prosecutors were ready to proceed with a trial but then the claimant, after engaging in \u201cconsultations with her lawyer, the police and the prosecutor\u201d, withdrew the rape charges.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m well aware of how our supporters and people in the rugby community are feeling about Roger\u2019s appointment,\u201d McMillan told reporters on Thursday. \u201cI fully respect that people will have an opinion, but it\u2019s not an opinion that is shared by me.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve known Roger for a long time. I think he\u2019s an outstanding human, well loved by family and people that have worked alongside him for a long period of time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Regarding the decision by Holland, O\u2019Driscoll and Keane to step down, McMillan added: \u201cI\u2019m aware that there\u2019s some former players on the PGB [professional games committee] that resigned as a result of this decision and like our supporters, I respect that they all have their reasons for why they did that.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"ClaytonClayton McMillan, head coach of Munster, looks on prior to the EPCR Challenge Cup match between Exeter Chiefs and Munster Rugby at Sandy Park on April 4th, 2026 in Exeter, England. Photograph: Michael Steele\/Getty Images <\/p>\n

Asked if he anticipated this reaction from supporters, McMillan said: \u201cIt\u2019s a hard question to answer. I can\u2019t jump into the minds of other people. I can only speak for the person that I know and that I\u2019ve worked alongside. <\/p>\n

\u201cAs I said before, this is a person who has had an allegation made against him. It didn\u2019t proceed to a legal process, [it was] dropped pretty quickly. But the stigma of that has remained with him.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut I admire the way that he has, as a rugby player and a coach and a father, dealt with that challenge. He\u2019s played all around the world. He\u2019s coached at the elite level for a long period of time in Italy, France, Japan, New Zealand, Commonwealth Games, Olympic Games, played for the All Blacks. This is a guy who\u2019s highly respected in many parts of the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

Randle was clearly McMillan\u2019s preferred choice as Munster\u2019s next attack coach, the two having worked together for six years at the Chiefs, where they reached three Super Rugby finals.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn terms of candidates, as I think I alluded to a couple of weeks ago, there were a number of people that expressed interest, but Roger stood out for me naturally because I know him as a person and I\u2019ve worked with him for a long time.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve got our challenges here and what I feel I need is somebody that can come and add value, as I said, alongside Mossy [Lawlor] in a shared attack role, but also somebody that I\u2019ve worked with.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe job here isn\u2019t an easy one and as we all do in life, we lean to people who we trust and have worked with before to navigate through situations just like this.\u201d<\/p>\n

Such has been the fallout since confirming Randle\u2019s appointment on Wednesday that Munster were obliged to issue a statement claiming that \u201cdue diligence\u201d was carried out before making their decision.<\/p>\n

\u201cMunster Rugby is aware of a historical matter concerning newly appointed coach Roger Randle from 1997. At the time, no legal process was pursued, and the matter was closed. Munster Rugby carried out due diligence during this recruitment process and are satisfied with the appointment which has been ratified and approved.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"RogerRoger Randle when at the Chiefs. Photograph: Anthony Au-Yeung\/Getty <\/p>\n

This \u201cdue diligence\u201d, according to McMillan, went beyond him personally vouching for Randle.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think there\u2019s been a number of people throughout the organisation that would have been canvassed around Roger\u2019s appointment and, in the end, that process determined that Roger was ratified for the job.\u201d<\/p>\n

To those supporters who harbour reservations about Randle\u2019s appointment, McMillan said: \u201cLook, I would ask people to put their trust in me and other people.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think if you jumped on to the Chiefs website, for example, and you read the comments about Roger Randle, you\u2019ll see glowing reports of a man that\u2019s loved by a huge cross-section in New Zealand, a family man, an honest man, and one that I trust unequivocally.<\/p>\n

\u201cAgain, I can understand that people will have an opinion, but it\u2019s not one that I share, and I honestly believe that he can come here and help our team and players develop and excel.\u201d<\/p>\n

McMillan has been speaking with Randle since news of his appointment broke.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel a huge sense of responsibility in making sure that he\u2019s looked after and that he comes here and it\u2019s an environment where he feels like he\u2019s welcome.<\/p>\n

\u201cClearly there\u2019s some challenges and Roger is aware of those challenges, but it says a lot about him that he is still excited about the opportunity to come here and contribute.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe challenge for any coach or player coming into the environment is that you have to earn the trust and respect of people, but it helps when people have an open mind and he comes in without his hands tied.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the IRFU have distanced themselves from the process which culminated in Randle being chosen, stating: \u201cThis appointment was made by Munster Rugby and did not require IRFU approval.\u201d<\/p>\n

As for reports linking forwards coach Alex Codling with a move to Toulon next season, McMillan said: \u201cThat\u2019s not my story to tell. But, what I can say is that coaching is a bit of a transitional occupation. <\/p>\n

\u201cYou live a little bit contract to contract. Codders is someone that we wanted to keep around for another year, but sometimes a better offer is put on the table and if the rumours around Toulon are accurate then we\u2019ll be disappointed because he\u2019s been a huge contributor in his time here.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ll wish him well and like everybody in the building, players and staff, he\u2019s totally committed to the here and now and devoting all his energy to the players to set them up for success.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Munster head coach Clayton McMillan has defended the province\u2019s appointment of his friend and former assistant at the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":401893,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[11896,61,60,11897,112],"class_list":["post-401892","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-clayton-mcmillan","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-munster-rugby","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/401892","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=401892"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/401892\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/401893"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=401892"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=401892"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=401892"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}