URC: Munster v Lions, Thomond Park, 7.45pm,Live on Premier Sports 1When Munster trundled off the pitch at Thomond Park back in October after extending the winning start to Clayton McMillan’s tenure to five games by defeating Connacht, the last thing on the New Zealander’s mind was that they would be looking over their shoulder going into the final round of games to ensure qualification for the knock-out stages of the United Rugby Championship (URC).But, as McMillan has acknowledged, there has been a lot of water under the bridge since then, on and off the field.That Connacht win came after they had gone to Croke Park and walloped Leinster 31-14 in the previous round, the sort of win which had Munster fans sitting up in anticipation of a return to the glory days.How all four Irish provinces can make the URC knockouts Listen | 25:10Alas, it has all gone askew since then. They bowed out of both European competitions without really firing a shot, and just five wins in their next 12 URC games left them heading into the final round not sure of qualification.“We’ve put ourselves in this position and we’re the only ones that can fight our way through to a solution,” said McMillan during the week. “But we can’t put our attention on what might be. We just have to focus on the performances directly in front of us.”Munster had the advantage of knowing exactly what might be required of them as they kick off against the Lions on Saturday evening after all the other Round 18 games have finished, but McMillan says they need consistency if they are to finish the season with a flourish.“It’s consistency in your day-to-day habits, consistency in just your own individual prep, and I think those things bring consistency in performance,” he added.“I think we’ve made a lot of strides in a lot of areas, and there’s still scope to improve, but you also have to respect that emotion appears to be just part of the DNA in this neck of the woods, and so you don’t want to eradicate that either. It’s just about finding a bit of a balance.”It will be an emotional evening at Thomond Park as two retiring Cork men, hooker Niall Scannell and tighthead John Ryan, run out for the final time at the Limerick venue with 466 appearances between them.Munster won their last three meetings with the Lions, having lost the first clash with the Johannesburg side, but they are without a win in their last five meetings against South African opponents.Before that run, the last victory came in November 2024 against the Lions when they won 17-10 at Thomond Park. A similar outcome on Saturday evening would be a welcome relief for McMillan after a troubled season that had started so bright.MUNSTER: M Haley; A Smith, A Nankivell, D Kelly, S O’Brien; J Crowley, C Casey (capt); J Loughman, N Scannell, M Ala’alatoa; T Ahern, F Wycherley; J O’Donoghue, J Hodnett, B Gleeson. Replacements: D Barron, J Wycherley, J Ryan, E O’Connell, G Coombes, B O’Donovan, JJ Hanrahan, A Kendellen.LIONS: Q Horn; K Mpeku, H van Wyk, R Kriel, A Davids; C Smith, M van den Berg; SJ Kotze, PJ Botha, S Lombard; R Nothnagel, D Landsberg; S Mahashe, B Hlekani, F Horn (capt). Replacements: M Brandon, E Davids, RF Schoeman, R Delport, S Qoma, JC Pretorius, H Pead, R Jonker.Referee: A Piardi (Italy).