Munster Rugby edged out by Castres Olympique in Champions Cup

MUNSTER Rugby suffered a frustrating 16-14 defeat to Castres Olympique in their Champions Cup Pool 3 second round fixture at Stade Pierre Fabre in Castres on Friday night.

Munster had to make-do with taking a losing bonus point from the meeting with the French Top 14 side. 

A 72nd minute penalty goal from out-half Louis Le Brun lifted Jeremy Davidson's home side to victory.

Six days on from their opening weekend Champions Cup victory over Stade Francais, Munster will feel more than a degree of frustration with their inability to make it back-to-back wins in the competition.

The visitors contributed to their own downfall given the high error count over the course of the 80 minutes. The two-time European Cup winners also failed to take advantage of the fact that Castres had three players yellow-carded over the course of a scrappy contest.

Munster conceded 17 penalties, while Castres were pinged 16 times, during a game that lacked any great degree of flow.

Castres led the game 10-7 at half-time. Abraham Papalii powered his way through to break through the Munster defence for his side’s first try on 12 minutes.

The home side built on their 5-0 lead, and Quentin Walcker forced the ball home after a Castres move had taken the Munster defence by surprise.

The Irish visitors showed good reslience, however, and an inspired John Hodnett carried the ball through several Castres defenders following a line-out before touching down.

Jack Crowley's successful conversion ensured Munster went into the break with just a three point deficit.

A 48th minute penalty goal from Jeremy Fernandez stretched the Castres advantage to six points at 13-7.

Castres had another penalty opportunity to move further clear on the 60 minute mark, but full-back Julien Dumora missed the opportunity.

The game was still up for grabs inside the final quarter. Munster earned a penalty and play-maker Crowley kicked the ball into touch.

Munster claimed possession from Diarmuid Barron's lineout throw. Their forwards mauled their way foward, but Castres infringed and picked up their third yellow card of the game as Nicolas Corato went to the sin bin.

Hodnett then muscled over for his second try of the game. Crowley expertly put the ball through the posts and got the conversion putting Munster in the lead with ten minutes to go, 14-13.

The lead was short-lived, however, as Castres earned a scrum from the restart and turned it into a penalty straight in front of the posts.

Out-half Louis le Brun duly dissected the posts, leaving the final score 16-14 in the home side's favour.

Munster picked up a number of unfortunate injuries over the course of the game.

Scrum-half Craig Casey was helped off the pitch after sustaining an injury in the opening half an hour, while Peter O'Mahony, Dian Bleuler, Thaakir Abrahams and Dave Kilcoyne also departed with knocks.

Munster now switch their focus to a Festive derby meeting with Ulster in the URC at Kingspan Stadium on Friday night next, December 20, 7.35pm.

CASTRES OLYMPIQUE: Julien Dumora; Geoffrey Palis, Jack Goodhue, Andrea Cocagi, Rémy Baget; Louis le Brun, Jeremy Fernandez; Quentin Walcker, Gaetan Barlot, Will Collier, Gauthier Maravat, Leone Nakarawa, Mathieu Babillot (capt), Tyler Ardron, Abraham Papalii. Replacements: Wayan de Benedittis for Papali’I (37-43 mins) and for Walcker (64 mins), Santiago Arata for Fernandez (53 mins), Loris Zarantonello for Barlot, Paul Jedrasiak for Nakarawa, Feibyan Tukino for Papali’i, Adrien Seguret for Cocagi (all 64 mins), Nicolas Corato for Collier, Theo Chabouni for Dumora (both 68 mins), Collier for Babillot (72 mins).

MUNSTER RUGBY: Mike Haley; Calvin Nash, Tom Farrell, Alex Nankivell, Thaakir Abrahams; Jack Crowley, Craig Casey; Dian Bleuler, Niall Scannell, Stephen Archer; Fineen Wycherley, Tadhg Beirne (capt); Peter O’Mahony, John Hodnett, Brian Gleeson. Replacements: Dave Kilcoyne for Bleuler (23 mins), Paddy Patterson for Casey (33 mins), Jack O’Donoghue for Gleeson (51 mins), Tom Ahern for O’Mahony (52 mins), Diarmuid Barron for N Scannell, Oli Jager for Archer (both 56 mins), Rory Scannell for Abrahams (59 mins), Alex Kendellen for Hodnett (71 mins), Archer for Kilcoyne (75 mins).

REFEREE: Christophe Ridley (England)