Alone it stands: Castres v Munster - a rivalry 27 years in the making

Kenny Smith recalled: "The fans were booing all my kicks. My practise kicks! When I left to go in and tog out, the stadium had only a few hundred people there. When we ran on to the field, there was 10,000 there"

While the last chapter of the rivalry flattered to deceive the first meeting of a pair is a far more dramatic tale

No club has faced up to Munster in Europe more often than Castres. Their meeting at the Stade Pierre Fabre today will be the 20th across the last 27 years but one meant nothing to the other when the province made for the south of France in late 1995.

This was the first year of the newly-formed Heineken Cup. Professionalism was in its infancy. So much so that a dozen of the home team were employed by the pharmaceutical giant that bankrolled the club.