Munster Rugby head coach Clayton McMillan: "Sometimes it's better to win ugly than lose pretty"

MUNSTER Rugby head coach Clayton McMillan felt his side had lacked the edge they had shown in their opening round victory against the Scarlets when squeezing past Cardiff in their United Rugby Championship fixture at a windy Thomond Park on Saturday night.

McMillan's first home competitive game in charge of Munster ended in a hard fought 23-20 success. Cardiff outscored their hosts four tries to three, but a significant contribution from playmaker Jack Crowley turned the contest in favour of the home side. 

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Reflecting on the fixture afterwards, New Zealander McMillan said: “Obviously delighted to get the win. I know it’s a cliché but sometimes it’s better to win ugly than lose pretty. Tonight was one of those nights.

“I honestly thought we probably just lacked the edge that we had about us last week. I don’t know if that was playing away last week Round One. We trained really well, then come out of the sheds and we’re just on the back foot.

“We lost the collisions, gave away penalties, gave up a couple of tries and that fed their game and they were good at it. They were strong up front, they carried with a bit of venom and were particularly good at the breakdown, and they turned over the pill a number of times.

“So it was a dogfight, and we anticipated it was going to be a tough game but I think we’ll have to have a good look at ourselves and find out ways of being better.”

McMillan was pleased with how his side had battled when the game was up for grabs inside the final quarter.

“There’s nothing that I’ve seen over pre-season and the last couple of weeks that will make me doubt the willingness of these guys to fight and fight to the death and fight for everything,” McMillan said. 

“We need to show a little bit more urgency and desperation earlier so that fight becomes a little bit easier or swayed in our favour a little bit more.

“But that’s learning for me, understanding how the group operates and good learning for the group. We’re exposing a number of players over the last couple of weeks, we’ve got some emerging leaders and it’s going to take time for us to find our actual rhythm.

“But the pleasing thing was in that last 10 or 15 minutes when the game was really in the balance I think possession, territory, momentum of the game swung our way which was a big improvement on last week when we sort of lost our way. I know they scored at the end but that was a real positive to take out of the game."