Munster undone by Volley return

Former Wasps flanker Paul Volley came back to haunt Munster and help Castres to a 19-12 pool four Heineken Cup win at Stade Pierre-Antoine tonight.

The last time Volley faced Munster he scored a crucial try on the stroke of half-time in Wasps’ semi-final success last April – and tonight he hailed another great night for his European scrapbook.

“The boys played well tonight, very well,” said Volley, who signed for Castres last summer.

“Playing in front of this home crowd is immense, so it’s a great victory.

“We needed to win at home, and had to win. Munster may have got a bonus point - but when we talked about it during the week the victory was all we wanted.”

French winger David Bory scored tonight’s only try in first-half injury time to put Castres on their way.

“We put (fly-half Ronan) O’Gara under pressure – we knew he stands very deep,” said Volley.

“One thing he doesn’t do is miss kicks. But he missed a couple tonight, so we’re pleased with that.”

Munster captain Anthony Foley was already turning his attention to next Saturday’s return match – a record eighth clash between the sides.

“Getting the bonus point meant we’re leaving here on a positive note, and I hope next weekend we can bounce back,” said Foley, after Castres had ended his side’s nine-game run.

“We’re obviously disappointed – we took our foot off the gas in the first half, stopped playing rugby and relied on Ronan to kick us to the corners.”

O’Gara, just six points short of beating Diego Dominguez’s European record of 645 points after kicking another four penalties, added: “We conceded a soft try, and that was ultimately the difference. We had limited preparation but we’re not using it as an excuse.

“This is gone. But we’ve had bigger defeats, in the likes of Kingsholm, and come back from them – so it’s important we show the same steel for next week.”