Donal Lenihan: Munster's latest defeat carries disastrous consequences

DISASTER: A view of steam coming off of Munster's Edwin Edogbo dejected after the game. Pic: ©INPHO/Dan Sheridan

There’s no other way of sugarcoating it, Saturday's Champions Cup defeat at home to Castres for Munster, their fourth in a row, carries disastrous consequences.

With just a solitary win in their pool, Munster have failed to reach the knockout phase of Champions Cup rugby despite an overblown format where only eight of the starting 24 teams fail to advance. That makes things even more stark.

Toulon’s 31-14 bonus point win over Gloucester in Kingsholm later Saturday left Munster fifth in Pool 2 thus redirecting them to the Challenge Cup, the third Irish team now competing in the second tier competition. While Ulster, arguably the most in-form of the four Irish provinces, and Connacht started out in that tournament, not for a second did Munster envisage joining them.

This campaign has proved a disaster from start to finish with the sole pool win coming against a Gloucester second string in an underwhelming opening game at Pairc Ui Chaoimh. Despite the poor quality of opposition that day, Munster struggled for long periods to put the English visitors away.

Even that unique setting in a first Heineken/Champions Cup outing in Cork for 23 years failed to hit the high spots. For whatever reason, Munster’s best two performances of the season have been on the road, the victory over Leinster at Croke Park and the defeat to Toulon in the Stade Mayol last week.

It’s become clear for some time now that teams no longer fear traveling to Thomond Park. The fact that Castres, who had never tasted the sweet scent of victory on their eight previous visits to Limerick, decided to travel close to full strength on this occasion regardless of their lowly status sitting bottom of the pool, spoke volumes of their intention.

Despite the odds, with the bookies offering a 23 point spread in Munster’s favour, Castres clearly fancied their chances. What they didn’t anticipate was that Munster would be so accommodating in helping their cause. Over the years, Munster squeezed the life out of many a superior visiting team by pinning them deep in their half and making them fight for every inch.

If it’s entertainment you want in a game that, more often than not, has become all to predictable and boring to watch, Thomond Park was the place to be. At times Munster played some scintillating attacking rugby with the outstanding Craig Casey delivering a brace of tries and Thaakir Abrahams leading the charge on that front.

The stats at the break confirmed as much. Who would have thought that over the course of the opening half against French opposition, Munster would make more passes - 110 to 78 - beat more defenders - 22 to 16 - and make an incredible 12 offloads to just one from Castres.

The only problem with this is Munster trailed 12-17 at the break. While you had to admire their intent, at crucial times Munster’s handling, execution and skill set proved insufficient to match their ambition.

Frankly, Clayton McMillan’s men were guilty of playing too much rugby. When Munster did decide to kick it was often far too deep with little or no opportunity to retrieve possession in the air.

On that front Jack Crowley, despite a brilliant contribution with ball in hand, will be disappointed with aspects of his execution and decision-making. In addition three missed conversions will not help his cause with the Six Nations looming large on the horizon.

In contrast, Castres' kickers, Jeremy Fernandez and replacement Enzo Herve, nailed all five placed balls between them. That, coupled with the fact Munster fell off too many tackles with a success rate of only 73%, proved the difference in the end.

Castres' overall game management was superior to their hosts yet Munster still found themselves in a commanding position when a try from the outstanding Edwin Edogbo, who made a major impact when introduced off the bench on 50 minutes, propelled Munster into a 22-17 lead heading into the final quarter.

From that moment forward Munster needed to play deeper in opposition territory. Unfortunately, for the second week in a row, Munster’s indiscipline at a crucial juncture proved fatal when Tom Farrell was yellow carded for a clear and unnecessary neck roll on Christian Ambadiang in a ruck they were already destined to lose.

It provided Castres with the boost they needed at a time when the contest was beginning to turn against them. Farrell’s indiscretion was punished to the full when the electric Geoffrey Palis touched down within four minutes of his dismissal to restore the Castres lead.

A second try within the 10 minute yellow card period meant Castres extended their lead to 22-31 by the time Farrell returned. From that point forward Munster were left frantically chasing the game.

Despite a second Edogbo try, which Crowley converted to reduce the deficit to two points with minutes left on the clock, Munster couldn’t manufacture a penalty as Leinster had done against La Rochelle the previous week, to save the day.

This defeat comes as a major set back, not only from a playing perspective but also from a financial one. On and off the field, a lot of soul searching is required before Munster reroute to the Challenge Cup in early April.

Speaking of Leinster, they made it an incredible 31 consecutive Champions Cup pool wins on the trot despite being put to the pin of their collar to emerge victorious against French Top 14 opposition for a second week in a row.

Bayonne may be struggling domestically but you can see from this performance why they’ve remained unbeaten all season at the atmospheric Stade Jean-Dauger.

The difference between Munster and Leinster right now is that when Leo Cullen’s men find themselves in a dogfight, performing nowhere near their best, they find a way to prevail. Their main concern surround the fact that it’s happening all to often of late.

With just seven minutes to go in this gripping contest, Leinster were trailing by three points in a game they too were expected to win comfortably. In the end a fortunate bounce of the ball was seized upon by Sam Prendergast for a try under the Bayonne posts that eventually turned the tide to propel Leinster into the lead for the first time.

Despite finishing the stronger of the two teams with a further try from Max Deegan at the death Leinster failed to register the four-try bonus point which may yet prove costly in terms of seeding.

The win also came at a cost with the worrying sight of Tadhg Furlong, Tommy O'Brien, and Robbie Henshaw all departing the scene due to injuries leaving Andy Farrell with much to ponder over the next two days in advance of announcing his Six Nations squad.