Young guns key to bringing Munster to the next level - McMillan

MUNSTER head coach Clayton McMillan believes that if they are to reach new heights it will be key for their young players to do the bulk of the heavy lifting.

McMillan was speaking ahead of Munster’s URC clash with the Sharks at Thomond Park on Saturday.

The New Zealander was asked about how impressed he was with the performances of the likes of Charlie O’Shea and Sean Edogbo against Leinster last time out.

“I think they can be proud of themselves, but a bit like us as a group, we don't want to be patting ourselves on the back when we haven't actually achieved anything.

“There's a long way to go in the competition, but they've shown that we've got some good young talent coming through the system.

“The ability to go to the next level, a large portion of that is going to be on the ability of those types of players to step up and bring more to the table than what we've asked of them in the last 12 months or so. A lot of them are doing a really good job of that.”

Despite taking a bonus point away from the game at the Aviva Stadium, McMillan was disappointed that his Munster team were unable to beat their old rivals.

“Every point's going to be important,” McMillan added. “The consolation out of the game on the weekend was that we at least walked away with something.

“I think the difference of that one point moved us from probably 12th or 13th on the table to 9th or 8th equal or something like that.

“It looks like a very congested table, and I don't imagine that at any stage this season people are going to have the liberty of being able to take their foot off the pedal and take things easy. Every point is valuable.”

“There are a lot of positives, but there are clearly things that we need to work on. It was highlighted in the post-match conference. We've had a bit of a slump in the second half of a few games, and it's given teams access back into the game when we potentially had an opportunity to leverage off good starts and kick away.”

Munster could have both Edwin Edogbo and Will Harrison available for the first time this season as they continue to get closer to making a return.

Former Leinster and Gloucester back Rob Russell has also been training with Munster in the last few weeks to provide cover for their injury plagued back three players.

McMillan is expecting a strong challenge from the Sharks at Thomond Park as Munster look to go into the month long break from action with a win.

“They (Sharks) looked to have grown a lot this season off the back of what we saw last season. A more rounded squad, one that's probably really clear on the way that they want to play.

“Incredible profile of players, some big athletes who just challenge you from set-piece to counter-attack.

“We anticipate that we're going to be playing their best side and we'll need to be somewhere near our best to give them a good run for their money.”

Munster versus the Sharks has a 5.30pm kick-off at Thomond Park on Saturday and is live on Premier Sports.