Munster open Champions Cup campaign with draw against Castres
Munster’s Champions Cup campaign is up and running, but just about, after a fraught Sunday afternoon in France that ultimately ended in stalemate, .
The province had to withstand a number of late assaults from their hosts, Castres out-half Benjamin Urdapilleta falling short with a late penalty attempt and a drop goal, both of them held up by a strong wind.
It is Munster’s first draw in the European Cup since their meeting with Neath at The Gnoll back in October of 1998. That ended 18-18 and it is hard to imagine that they will not be thankful of this two points given the difficulties experienced.
The game kicked off under blue skies and in temperatures that reached 23 degrees but Munster’s immediate task was complicated by having that wind in their faces - not that that was the main reason for their early problems.
Rassie Erasmus had spoken last week about a Castres side that could truck it up with a physical pack and one that could mix it up with a more creative and unpredictable approach in open field. Munster struggled with that combination.
The Top 14 side made considerable headway in the opening exchanges and Munster had to cross the line to keep them contained, Conor Murray paying the price with a yellow card only five minutes in with a blatant leg pull on Yannick Cabellero .
Without it, the Castres flanker was a shoe-in to run on to Benjamin Urdapilleta’s clever grubber inside the province’s 22 for the first try, but the squeeze continued with Munster conceding five penalties in the first eight minutes.
Not what they would have wanted after the indiscipline against Leinster the week before.
But, they survived. The initial onslaught at least.
The first blow shipped was of their own making when, with the early siege lifted, Chris Farrell played a loose pass near the Castres 22 that was intercepted by Robert Ebersohn and returned three-quarters the length of the pitch for a converted five-pointer.
It wasn’t the only Munster mistake by then, just the most costly.
Other advances into enemy territory were exposed by a botched lineout and a broken maul. It was frustrating stuff against a Castres side that was there for the taking after just two wins from their first seven Top 14 games this season.
Munster finally clicked approaching the half-hour.
Murray executed a half-break off a lineout that took the Irish side to the base of the posts and only the errant hands of Rory Kockott kept them from following up with a score. The French international was lucky not to spend ten minutes in the bin for it.
Munster did at least make them pay with another lineout that led to a deep punch through the defensive line by Tommy O’Donnell and a follow-up from Dave Kilcoyne before Simon Zebo ran onto a beautifully flat Murray pass and over with the benefit of Rory Scannell’s decoy run.
Much, much better.
Position stabilised. Or so everyone thought. Come the restart, Munster were back making life difficult for themselves, Keith Earls failing to deal cleanly with the kick down his throat and Rory Scannell’s eventual clearance getting caught in the breeze.
Castres belatedly decided to make them pay. Captain Robert Capo Ortega punched through the first line of defence before Kockott arrived at the base of the ruck and fed a rampaging Julien Dumora from full-back.
Good score but far too easy.
Another Urdapilleta conversion left it 14-7 with seven minutes to go until the break but Munster settled for another Bleyendaal penalty in front of the sticks on the break after Kilcoyne almost barrelled his way over from close range and Ebersohn was binned for spoiling illegally.
Both sides continued to fluff their lines after the break, mixing the odd faux pas with a glimmer of spot-on execution, but it was Munster who put enough blocks together to build towards the first score of the second period.
Chiselling away inside the Castres 22, the first opening appeared thanks to Simon Zebo’s angle of approach and break for the line and, when the inevitable penalty followed, Murray went with a quick tap that allowed Kilcoyne to go all the way.
Bleyendaal’s conversion, from the left touchline, was sublime and more than welcome given the topsy turvy nature of a game that Munster now led 17-14 as well as the Kiwi’s difficulties with the boot so far in this campaign.
That Castre struck next surprised no-one. That it was a penalty, after Murray strayed offside from a scrum, to level the game was bearable under the circumstances, particularly in a period of the game where Castres were really turning the screw.
Twice the Top 14 side came close to another try but Kockott and then Afusipa Taumoepeau were helped into touch just yards away from different corner flags by Conor Murray and Darren Sweetnam respectively.
Heart in mouth stuff.
And again when Urdapilleta had his two kicks at the posts spurned by the elements. Plenty to work on for the Reds then, not least maybe discipline and execution, but a base of some worth start with as they turn towards next week’s visit of Racing 92 to Limerick.
J Dumora; T Paris, A Taumoepeau, R Ebersohn, D Smith; B Urdapilleta, R Kockott; A Tichit, J Jenneker, D Kotze; L Jacquet, R Capo Ortega; Y Caballero, S Mafi, M Vaipulu. Replacements: A Jelonch for Jacquet (55); A Battle for Dumora (63); C Samson for Vaipulu (64); M Lazar for Tichit (71); D Tussac for Kotze (74); F Vialelle for Smith (75).
S Zebo; D Sweetnam, C Farrell, R Scannell, K Earls; T Bleyendaal, C Murray; D Kilcoyne, N Scannell, S Archer; M Flanagan, B Holland; P O’Mahony, T O’Donnell, CJ Stander. Replacements: J Ryan for Archer and R Marshall for N Scannell (both 55); I Keatley for Bleyendaal (59); R Copeland for Flanagan (64); A Conway for Sweetnam (66); J O’Donoghue for O’Donnell (71).
M Carley (England).
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