Following a 16-14 victory for Castres over Munster in their Investec Champions Cup clash, here’s our five takeaways from Friday evening’s match at Stade Pierre-Fabre.
The top line
Castres were deserved winners in the end and despite three yellow cards and some poor goal-kicking they managed to hang on a claim a vital four points on home soil.
Abraham Papali’i and Quentin Walcker’s early tries were added to by penalties from Jeremy Fernandez and Louis Le Brun as Castres finally ended their European drought.
For Munster though they will rue a missed opportunity as despite being dominated at scrum time they came within a whisker of sneaking what seemed for a long time like an unlikely win thanks to John Hodnett’s brace. However, a last-gasp Jack Crowley kick to the corner did not find touch and Castres duly booted the ball into the stands to prevail.
The result leaves both sides with a record of one triumph and one defeat apiece as their Investec Champions Cup campaign now takes a break until its return in early January.
Munster inaccuracies
It was a nightmare start for Munster as they coughed up five early penalties and later in the first period Peter O’Mahony‘s side entry led to loosehead prop Walcker barging his way over following a quickly taken penalty. Indiscipline was compounded by inaccuracy in possession as sloppy kicking and passing in both halves proved costly to the visitors.
Tadhg Beirne also highlighted lineout problems and the need to “dust themselves off” ahead of taking on Ulster and it’s clear there are lots of work-ons after this away loss.
Fortress Stade Pierre-Fabre
Castres are a proud beast at home and their Top 14 record so far this season is clearly evidence of that, winning all six of their matches in the competition to date but losing their other five on the road. It was therefore no surprise that a fully-loaded starting line-up showed real pride in the jersey as they built on their solid early-season foundations.
The Bulls are the next visitors to Stade Pierre-Fabre in this competition and a victory on Saturday, January 11 would go a long way to moving them into the knockout stages.
Concern for Craig Casey
Munster and Ireland fans will have had their head in their hands on 31 minutes when Craig Casey was carried off the field by two medics with an apparent a knee injury.
A spell out for their starting scrum-half during a busy United Rugby Championship festive period was definitely not on Munster’s Christmas list and with Conor Murray also sidelined at the moment, suddenly the Irish province could be looking to Paddy Paterson to fill a sizeable void against Ulster and Leinster in the coming weeks.
Two more massive losses
It wasn’t just Casey who departed the pitch on Friday night as Munster also lost flanker O’Mahony and star wing Thaakir Abrahams to ankle and shoulder injuries respectively.
Those second-half injuries would also have concerned supporters as O’Mahony pulled up with no one around him as he clutched his heavily strapped ankle while star signing Abrahams was left holding his shoulder after a no-arms tackle from Papali’i. It seems Munster’s injury woes are showing no signs of improving, compounding this defeat.
Src: Planetrugby.com - https://www.planetrugby.com/news/castres-v-munster-five-takeaways-as-nightmare-start-and-injuries-to-craig-casey-and-two-other-stars-cost-inaccurate-visitors
