Another epic on the cards?
Fresh from their Heineken Cup great escape against Northampton at Thomond Park last weekend and two weeks on from a typically bruising RaboDirect Pro12 encounter with Leinster, Munster take their European pool campaign to southern France where the captain believes the intense physicality will continue apace.
“A big side, big pack, tough pack,” O’Connell said of Castres, having reviewed their 31-23 Pool 1 defeat at Scarlets last weekend.
“Playing quite well, their maul was really strong against Llanelli, they’ve beaten a lot of the top teams in the Top 14 this season and they’re third at the moment. We’ve had mixed fortunes over there over the years, so it’ll be a tough game.”
Ten times, Munster have played Castres, winning seven and losing three, although three of those seven victories have been on French soil, the most recent meeting coming in 2005-06 when the Top 14 outfit were put to the sword, 46-9, at Stade Pierre Antoine.
That day in January 2006 is light years ago in rugby terms, with only O’Connell and O’Gara having started in both that game and last weekend’s while Castres can count only three replacements from five years ago in their current Heineken Cup squad, with Uruguayan lock Rodrigo Capo Ortega and full-back Romain Teulet the only survivors to have faced Scarlets last week in Wales.
“I think both sides have gone through a lot of changes, they’re a really tough team.
“Obviously I’d spend a lot of time looking at the forwards, and particularly I looked at last weekend’s game they scored a try off a maul and were probably unlucky not to score a few more tries off mauls. They’re strong in the scrum, generally a very big pack; big back rows, big second rows and big front rows so it’s going to be a big challenge away from home.
“I remember playing against Capo Ortega, obviously [Luc] Ducalcon the prop with France, played against him a few times, [former All Black and club captain Chris] Masoe in the back row has been a linchpin for everything they’ve been doing recently; ball carrying, tackling, his work at the breakdown and he’s been a big part of everything they’re doing at the moment. And they’re all big men, big physical men and that’s how they play.”
Aside from the physical challenge, there is also something quite different about playing a Heineken Cup game in France, O’Connell concedes, and Munster’s admirable record of 10 wins in 25 visits attests.
“There’s less familiarity first and foremost. We play the RaboDirect Pro12 and we’re used to playing the Scottish, the Welsh teams and there’s a familiarity there amongst ourselves that isn’t there with the French teams and you know they do have a different way of playing.
“When they do keep the ball off the ground and they’re off-loading they’re very hard to defend, and when they get momentum into their game it can be a really tough 80 minutes. Ever since I was young playing at Munster I can remember Anthony Foley when he talks about getting them on the deck, making sure that you don’t let them offload and you don’t let them play the ball out of the tackle because that’s when they get their confidence up.
“You have to focus on getting them on the ground making them ruck and not letting them play their game.”
Trips to France live long in the memory but asked for a particular recollection, O’Connell ignores the famous Munster days in the knockout stages — the 1999-2000 semi-final win over Toulouse, the back-to-back victories in 2002 over Stade Francais and Castres en route to that season’s final — and instead goes right back to a game he didn’t even play in, a pool game in Castres, won 32-29 by the visitors in October 2000.
“One of my first games involved with Munster was, I think maybe a year or two before I was contracted, I was brought to a game over in Castres when we came from behind to win.
“We conceded a try down the short side early on in the game and I think Jason Holland was man of the match and Dominic Crotty had a phenomenal game as well, and we came back and won in the dying minutes over there.
“I remember a small group of supporters there at the game and it was a real eye opener for me what Munster rugby was about, the never-give-up attitude which the lads had that night.
“I remember the supporters in the ground, I remember how intimidating it was at the start of the game and it probably got to Munster a little bit but they rallied round and finished well, it was a great memory for me to be brought along for the week.
“And I roomed with John O’Neill for the week, which would have been interesting for anyone.”
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
