Clayton McMillan declared himself "kind of" happy following Munster's BKT United Rugby Championship win over Cardiff.
The 2023 champions were made to work hard for a 23-20 victory with Jack Crowley’s well-taken dropgoal with four minutes left proving crucial in securing a second win in a row under their new head coach.
Ruadhán Quinn, Gavin Coombes and Diarmuid Barron scored the tries, with Crowley also adding a penalty and a conversion to the total.
The teams were tied, 5-5, at the break and Cardiff, for whom winger Tom Bowen scored a hat-trick, led with 20 minutes to play in a mistake-laden 80 minutes played in difficult conditions in Limerick.
"Kind of...happy to get the result," McMillan, whose side beat Scarlets in round one, told TG4 when asked if he was happy with the outcome.
"I don’t think we had quite the same edge about us as we had last week so that’s a good learning for me and the team.
"We came out of the sheds and they were quicker to the punch, especially the first 40 minutes but we found a way so that’s positive."
Cardiff, under interim head coach Corniel van Zyl, had never won in 11 previous outings at Thomond Park and not tasted victory in Ireland since 2017, and Munster only managed to establish a two-score lead in the final stages.
"It’s hard to follow any plan if you are not winning collisions," added the Munster head coach, who took charge over the summer following his move from the Chiefs.
"It’s a combative game, it starts with set-piece and your ability to impose yourself physically in the collision space.
"That’s where Cardiff were particularly strong, carried with a little bit more venom, strong over the ball defensively at breakdown and made us work hard for everything."
Munster stalwarts Peter O’Mahony, Conor Murray, Dave Kilcoyne and Stephen Archer all retired from the province last season and McMillan said he is confident that the next wave of experienced players can fill the void.
He said: "We certainly feel the loss of some pretty iconic players at Munster.
"But there is a real willingness to make this team the current players’ team.
"There are lots of guys like Jack O’Donoghue, Fineen Wycherley, Diarmuid Barron, Niall Scannell, guys that have been around and have enjoyed the experience from those guys who have moved on.
"They are starting to rub that off on our younger blokes. It’s going to take a bit of time but there’s a real appetite to step forward into the light."
Munster are third in the table on nine points and host Edinburgh in Cork next weekend before McMillan gets a double helping of derby action with clashes against Leinster, at Croke Park, and Connacht at Thomond Park to follow.
Asked about imprinting his philosophy in the team, he said: "It takes a little bit of time.
"I haven’t come into flip everything upside down.
"There are some good coaches here that have been doing some really good work, it’s just around adding my flavour.
"I don’t feel I have to throw all that at them at once.
"We’ll just evolve our game over the season. It’s important, the conditions, the way the game is played in the early part of the season will look different to the back end.
"The important thing is to keep your eyes open and evolve your game and hopefully that pays dividends at the back end of the season."
