Munster captain Tadhg Beirne says he and his team-mates won't be distracted by the controversy surrounding the appointment of Roger Randle as the province's new assistant coach.
Randle will join Munster this summer to replace outgoing senior coach Mike Prendergast.
His appointment has sparked a considerable reaction from a section of Munster supporters, due to a 1997 allegation of rape against the incoming coach.
Randle was accused of rape while in Durban, South Africa in 1997 with the Hurricanes Super Rugby side.
The New Zealander was initially charged with rape, but the case did not proceed as the complainant dropped the charges. Randle has always denied the allegation against him.
Munster Rugby stated last week that "due diligence" was followed in their appointment of the New Zealander, while head coach Clayton McMillan, who previously worked with Randle at the Chiefs, has asked supporters to trust him as he vouched for Randle's character.
The process of the appointment has also caused internal division at Munster, with former players Billy Holland, Mick O’Driscoll and Killian Keane stepping down from their voluntary roles on Munster’s Professional Games Board.
It has also been reported by the Irish Independent that members of Munster’s Commercial Advisory Group have resigned from their positions since then.
And while the fallout of the appointment continues, Beirne insisted his only focus, for now, would be on the pitch, ensuring Munster secure their URC play-off spot and Champions Cup qualification.
"There's obviously a lot being said at the moment, but I can't be distracted by any of that stuff at the moment because, you know, in here, all our focus is on Ulster," the Munster captain told RTÉ Sport.
"Clayton's worked with him, has a great relationship with him [Randle] and, you know, he sat down with us as a leadership group and spoke very highly of him.
"So we're just mainly focused on the next [game], this week and then come the summer, we can focus on everything else."
The province put a run of three consecutive defeats behind them on Saturday to produce their most assured performance of the season with a vital 45-15 bonus-point win away to Benetton in Italy.
With their play-off rivals Cardiff, Bulls and Connacht also winning earlier in the afternoon, Munster had fallen into the bottom half of the table prior to kick-off, but showed no signs of pressure as they led from start to finish.
"I think it was a badly-needed win, but more importantly, a badly-needed performance from us," Beirne added.
"Not just for the 23 that were playing, but everyone inside here, because we've been quite disappointed with some of our performances over the last probably a couple of months, not even just a couple of weeks.
"And we had two long weeks to prepare for that game. And I think we had a good look at ourselves to bounce back and thankfully we got a good response."
The province’s season is delicately balanced with three rounds of the URC to play, with the 2023 champions sixth overall – two points clear of ninth-place Connacht, but also just two points back from a potential home quarter-final.
They could take a big step towards locking down that vital play-off spot this week when they welcome an injury-hit Ulster to Thomond Park on Saturday evening.
With just seven points separating second from ninth in the table, the permutations are complicated when it comes to securing a play-off berth.
And Beirne believes with such a wide scope of outcomes, he and his team will just be focusing on Ulster this weekend.
"I think everything is in our hands in terms of game by game.
"An opportunity to go ahead of Ulster this weekend by beating them. So that's kind of our focus, that's just a step in the right direction.
"I think if we look too far ahead, you can kind of get distracted by what's actually in front of you. So our focus is massively so on Ulster.
"We didn't perform well against them the last time we played them. So there's a lot of fire in our bellies at the moment to go out there on Saturday and get a win.
"We wanted a reaction [against Benetton] and I think, of course, when you're hurting, you're going to get a reaction. So, the big question will be for us this week is, are we able to back up the performance against a very good Ulster side?
"We have an opportunity to put ourselves around contention for this competition if we put in a good performance. And I think, you know, the fans deserve a good performance from us.
"I don't think we've put in one in Thomond for a while now.
"It's not normal, in terms of the type of fans we have here in Munster, the crowd that turned up in Treviso was incredible, to be honest with you, just to travel and support.
"So everyone in Thomond will deserve a big performance and hopefully we'll be able to give them one."
