Munster expect French to fight

All the evidence may point to Castres running up the white flag in Limerick today but Munster have plenty of reasons to expect yet another tough challenge on a crucial afternoon of Heineken Cup rugby at Thomond Park.

Munster may be sitting pretty atop Pool 1, five points clear of Scarlets with four wins from four and knowing a bonus-point win today allied to a home defeat for the Welsh region against Northampton Saints will guarantee a quarter-final spot ahead of next week’s final round.

Yet nothing about those four wins has allowed Munster and head coach Tony McGahan to rest easy ahead of this round five encounter.