“There be gold in them thar hills“… or gems amongst the dross we saw in Castres, and by dross I mean the long spells of kicking duels and the handling errors but any kind of a win in France against a team who have not lost at home in the Top 14 this season is certainly worth celebrating. The team anthem talks about fighting till you hear the bell and that certainly applied to this game. You have to admire the fortitude and grit of the team, the impact from the bench and their never say die attitude. This was embodied by Jack Crowley who was constantly targeted by the hosts but dusted himself down and picked himself up to go again. Similarly when he made some unforced handling errors, rather than going in on himself he showed his mental strength to put it behind him and get his head into the next phase while his goal kicking was perfect. Exposure to this level of rugby will only accelerate his development as we know of his talent from the Six Nations Under 20s. Other younger players Barron and Hodnett also gained more European experience which will stand to them.
If not for so many handling errors across the team and especially from lineouts in the opposition 22 we could have been celebrating a bonus point win here but the result guarantees us qualification for the last 16 while a fourth win next weekend would ensure a home draw so plenty to play for on Sunday.
This tweet made me smile 🙂 Long may it continue
It was a night of steamy scrums as the temperatures dropped to zero by the 9pm kick-off local time. As I mentioned Jack came in for extras on a few occasions and as early as 8 minutes in when he was tackled and won a penalty there was argy bargy between both sets of players leading to a warning to the two captains. Jack made it count on the scoreboard by kicking Munster into a 0-3 lead. Niall Scannell was in trouble early with what looked like his shoulder and had to be replaced by Diarmuid Barron. Peter O’Mahony always seems to raise his game for the European competition and was superb in the first half in particular, stealing two of their lineouts and turning over their ball at key moments. Munster should have been further ahead but uncharacteristic handling errors and poor execution of their lineout let Castres off the hook a few times. The best play of the half came around the 20 minute mark with a break by Mike Haley and another cross-field kick by Crowley to stretch the defence. However, approaching the half hour mark it was the hosts who were attacking the Munster line. An excellent chip off the side of his boot by Ben Botica was gathered by their full back Thomas Larregain as he scored his first European try. Botica converted to make it 7-3.
Munster started the second half brightly, Conway attacking down the wing, then Beirne won a jackal turnover, before great handling between Earls, Haley and O’Donoghue got Munster into a good position. When a penalty was won Peter pointed at the posts. Jack did as instructed to bring the score to 7-6 after 45 minutes, despite the boos and whistles of the home supporters trying to distract him. More good handling as Munster upped the pace and a break by Haley supported by Farrell lead to another penalty kick opportunity, duly dispatched to regain the lead for Munster after 49 minutes, 7-9.
Castres edged back in front, 10-9, in the 54th minute. La Marseillaise rang out as Botica lined up another penalty kick after 65 minutes to move them to a 4 point lead: 13-9. It was surprising when Peter opted to kick a penalty to touch on 71 minutes after a superb break by John Hodnett and it did not pay off when they lost possession! Castres tried to pin Munster back in their own half as they looked to see out the game but what more can be said about Tadhg’s jackal ability! World-class.
From that penalty Munster went on the attack, lineout, maul, and a perfect chip to Farrell whose offload to Casey was knocked on but back for advantage… Another lineout secured by O’Mahony with 77 minutes on the clock. Maul was again the weapon of choice before Barron and then Hodnett pumped his legs to get close to the line. Another advantage before the ball popped out to Coombes who scooped it up and went low in under the tackle before using every inch as at full stretch he dotted the ball down on the line. Crowley converted, his most difficult kick of the night, to make it a three point game. From the restart Munster managed the clock and possession before Craig kicked it off the pitch.
CASTRES: Thomas Larregain (Louis Le Brun ’68) ; Antoine Zeghdar, Thomas Combezou, Pierre Aguillon, Filipo Nakosi (Bastien Guillemin ’71); Ben Botica, Santiago Arata Perrone (Rory Kockott ’20); Antoine Tichit (Julius Nostadt ’50), Brice Humbert (Pierre Colonna ’61), Antoine Guillamon (Matthew Tierney ’50); Loic Jacquet (captain), Jack Whetton (Ryno Pieterse ’61) ; Mateaki Kafatolu, Simon Meka, Baptiste Delaporte (Hugo Hermet ’73).
MUNSTER: Mike Haley; Andrew Conway, Chris Farrell, Rory Scannell, Keith Earls (Shane Daly ’61); Jack Crowley, Conor Murray (Craig Casey ’61); Dave Kilcoyne (Jeremy Loughman ’61), Niall Scannell (Diarmuid Barron ’19), Stephen Archer (John Ryan ’61); Fineen Wycherley (Jean Kleyn ’61), Tadhg Beirne; Peter O’Mahony (captain), Jack O’Donoghue (John Hodnett ’67), Gavin Coombes. Replacement not used: Jake Flannery.
The highlights video on YouTube contains some of the gems I mentioned, including the 2 cross field kicks just after the twenty minute mark and the super break from John Hodnett after 70 minutes. As I watched the end I wondered if Conor had picked up a hand injury, hopefully nothing serious.
Stats can be seen on the EPRC pages with their match report . See also reports from The42.ie, Irish Examiner and Irish Times.
In recognition of the sad and sombre mood across the country it was good to see UL Bohs wear black armbands and stand for a minutes silence before their game in honour of Ashling Murphy while in the post match interview Peter paid his tribute also and I expect more teams will do likewise over the weekend. May she rest in peace and may this tragic event be a catalyst to move us to a better society where everyone is respected and feels safe going about their day, free from sexism, racism and homophobia.
WTView: Observations of a Munster Rugby Supporter 
Great to get the win. Was supposed to go to the match until RTI cancelled the trip. Hope to get to Wasps match next weekend – they did a number on Toulouse today so expect a strong team from both sides
The lottery should work better for the Wasps game Roisin with the opt in feature. Hope to be there myself on Sunday. Yes they were impressive against Toulouse who missed Dupont badly! I see Leicester have overtaken us in the table thanks to their last minute try in Galway. Very disappointing for Connacht.
Hi Gayl,
I sometimes think that supporting Munster should come with a health warning. Ther must be an increased risk of heart attack during these matches especially as the final whistle approaches.
Fair dues to the lads, they never gave in in spite of mistakes and some pointless kicking, they fought all the way to “the final bell” As you say a home playoff is within our grasp, so its all ahands to the pumps at Thomond on Sunday.
Thanks yet again for your great blog. I so look forward to reading it after these matches.
Best wishes,
Paul