One suspects there could be a few bleary-eyed Munster fans sitting in front of their TV screens at 3:35am on Saturday morning when the Chiefs host the Brumbies in Hamilton.
With Munster's new head coach Clayton McMillan seeing out the current Super Rugby season before moving to Ireland in the summer, the viewing figures for Chiefs games are sure to spike as the province’s supporters get a feel for how their new boss operates.
Munster and the IRFU took their time to confirm Graham Rowntree’s replacement, with four months separating his departure and the news that McMillan would join, with the likes of Stuart Lancaster, Felix Jones and Michael Cheika all touted as potential candidates, as well as Munster’s own Mike Prendergast, who has been promoted to senior coach as part of the restructure.
The coincidence of it all is that McMillan was at Thomond Park just four days after Rowntree’s departure, when he brought his All Blacks XV to Limerick for a tour game against the province, a 38-24 win for the New Zealanders that was far closer than the scoreline suggests.
At the time, McMillan wasn’t a live contender for the role. Speaking to media in New Zealand today, he revealed the province first got in contact with him during the Super Rugby off-season.
"I didn’t go looking for this opportunity; it literally landed on my doorstep," he said.
While McMillan didn't seek out the job, his experiences of Thomond Park in November will certainly have played a big part in luring him to the province.
Looking back through his comments to the media after the game on 2 November, the All Blacks XV coach had been struck by just how big a deal Munster Rugby was to those invested in it.
"It was an unbelievable experience," he told reporters that night in Limerick.
"We had heard about the passion of the Limerick people and the Munster supporters, and we got that in spades, I thought. Coming in, we saw the energy of the crowd, they come in early.
"They sing and they are right behind every play. The silence when the goal kickers are on; there are some things that we just don’t see back in New Zealand so it was a hell of an experience and the game contributed massively towards that.
"Those are memories that last a lifetime. For all of our guys who were involved, this is something that will last a long time, for the competitiveness of the game and just the overall experience.
Among the many names linked with the role, McMillan’s was nowhere to be seen until rumours circulated a few hours before the province announced his arrival.
The 50-year-old has earned high praise in New Zealand since becoming head coach of the Chiefs in 2021. Installed as an interim coach while Warren Gatland was away with the British and Irish Lions that year, McMillian performed above expectations in leading the Chiefs to the final of Super Rugby Aotearoa.
He impressed to such an extent that he was retained as head coach after Gatland returned in 2022, with the former Ireland and Wales coach moving to a director of rugby role.
While he hasn’t been able to bring a title to the Chiefs yet, the Waikato franchise have been the most consistent side of the last three seasons in Super Rugby Pacific, with McMillan boasting a 75% win record since the competition was reformatted in 2022, reaching a semi-final and two finals in that time.
Current Munster players Alex Nankivell (below) and John Ryan were prominent members of the Chiefs squad in 2023, and McMillan admits he sounded out both players for information prior to taking the job.
His playing career never extended to Super Rugby level, but he was a stalwart of the back row for Bay of Plenty before finishing his playing career in Japan.
His coaching career started with age-grade sides back at Bay of Plenty, working his way through the ranks with the New Zealand Under-20s and Maori All Blacks among other jobs, while his involvement with the second-string All Blacks XV – New Zealand’s equivalent of Ireland A – shows how highly he’s been rated by the All Blacks’ management.
A former policeman in Rotorua, McMillan is also a formidable presence in the changing room, according to former Chiefs co-captain Brad Weber.
"He’s not afraid to tell you some hard truths if you need to hear it," Weber told Newstalk on Wednesday night.
"Senior guys like myself and Sam Cane and Brodie Retallick, guys like that, he’s not afraid to call us out in team meetings if it’s warranted. He has a presence about him that you’ve got to respect him."
In his home country, he’s viewed as a future All Blacks coach, and it’s worth noting he gave a non-committal answer when asked if his Munster deal has an opt-out clause in the event that New Zealand come calling for a replacement to Scott Robertson in the next three years: "I don't think I want to answer that question".
While the Chiefs’ style of rugby does marry well to what Munster have been moving towards in Mike Prendergast’s attack, McMillan will face a number of challenges if he’s to make Munster a force at the top table of European rugby again.
With his coaching staff already in place, building relationships will be key, particularly with Prendergast (above), who had been open about his desire to get the head coach job. Instead, the former Munster scrum-half has been promoted to senior coach, where he will have a greater say in overall team preparations rather than just the attack.
The new head coach will also have to lean into the expertise around him to adapt the style of rugby in this part of the world. In November at Thomond Park, he was quick to highlight how important the breakdown is in the northern hemisphere compared to Super Rugby.
"The game is just different here. Every collision and breakdown and set piece is a contest. The aerial battle is a contest.
"Our players need to feel that and learn from it so we can become more rounded and better rugby players," he said.
It’s not just the coaching team that will be moving into a new era at Munster. One would assume McMillan had been informed of Peter O’Mahony and Conor Murray’s future plans before he put his signature on a three-year contract.
With O’Mahony retiring and Murray moving on to a new challenge this summer, the new coach will be inheriting a squad that is losing the guts of 400 provincial appearances and more than 250 Test caps. There is experience incoming though, with JJ Hanrahan one of four summer signings already confirmed, as well as Leinster pair Michael Milne and Lee Barron, and Dan Kelly from Leicester Tigers.
Both McMillan and Munster still have a lot of rugby to get through before his arrival in the summer, with the New Zealander looking to cap off his final season at the Chiefs by finally winning a Super Rugby title.
With two wins from two, they are the early pacesetters. Munster supporters can get used to some early-morning kick-offs between now and July.
