Gavin Coombes to the rescue as Munster seal Champions Cup progress
A late Gavin Coombes try converted by Jack Crowley was enough to edge Munster to victory and secure passage into the knock-out stages of the Heineken Champions Cup in France Friday night.
Johann van Graan’s men made it three wins from three in the pool campaign and this was as hard-fought as any previous victory on French soil as Munster left it to late to put some distance between themselves and Castres after a tight nip-and-tuck contest.
Coombes’ try came in the 78th minute as Munster trailed 13-9 having botched an earlier attempt to grab their first score of the night at Stade Pierre Fabre after turning down the chance of a more straightforward three points off the kicking tee. In the end it mattered not, as Crowley secured the win and ate up some valuable seconds in the process to seal the win, and 13 Pool B points from a possible 15 after pre-Christmas wins at Wasps and at home to Castres.
It was not a great spectacle, far from it, but it means the European dream remains alive and a home draw for the knockout stages looks more than realistic with one pool game to come against Wasps in Limerick a week tomorrow.
Munster had known the type of arm-wrestle that was coming their way, Johann va Graan offering a reminder earlier in the week of their most recent visit to Stade Pierre Fabre in December 2018 when his side had been on the receiving end of a number of off-the-ball incidents and were frustrated by fair means as well as foul in 13-12 pool defeat.
There had been similar frustrations at Thomond Park last month as Castres went to Limerick intent on spoiling and still emerged with a losing bonus point in a 19-13 defeat.
Their intentions to stifle and disrupt were clear once more on a chilly night back on home soil but Munster were also ruing the self-inflicted errors that were undermining their ambition. Dropped balls and turnovers, as well as wasted opportunities from attacking lineouts, meant the visitors had only a 10th-minute penalty from the boot of fly-half Jack Crowley (with expected starting 10 Ben Healy having been withdrawn ahead of team selection for “personal reasons”) to show for their endeavours.
Munster also lost Niall Scannell to an arm injury in the 19th minute, the hooker looking to have struggled with the problem throughout. Yet they were not without their moments in a tight first half, Rory Scannell’s well-executed crossfield kick-pass off the back of a scrum on the Munster 22 finding Keith Earls free on the left wing, from which the veteran released Mike Haley down the touchline, with the full-back reaching the Castres 22 before passing inside to supporting runner Chris Farrell. Munster failed to find the additional penetration necessary to trouble the home defence, however, and though they won a lineout on the opposite touchline, the attacking set-piece was turned over and Castres were off the hook.
Castres appeared to have been energised by the change in fortune and were ahead within minutes, gaining territory and advancing to the Munster tryline where they won a 27th-minute penalty when replacement hooker Diarmuid Barron was pinged for not releasing the tackled player. Castres tapped the penalty and moved it from left to right, across the posts to where full-back Thomas Larregain was lurking. The number 15 watched a chip from fly-half Ben Botica sail over the top of the Munster defensive line and timed his run to perfection to touch down for the opening try. Botica added the conversion and Castres went in at half-time with a 7-3 lead.
That was reduced to a point six minutes into the second half when Crowley added his second penalty of the night to complete some concerted Munster pressure and there was further reward as the Irish province kept the pressure on, gaining another shot at goal on 48 minutes from in front of the posts. Crowley’s successful kick edged Munster in front at 9-7 but the young out-half had contrasting fortunes at the other end, knocking on in his own corner as he tried to field a Castres kick, which would result in a scrum and then a penalty kicked by Botica on 54 minutes to push the home side back ahead at 10-9.
Kiwi fly-half Botica had missed the trip to Limerick four weeks earlier but he was adding some vitality to Castres’ attacking mindset while the hard-running of Fijian wing Filpo Nakosi was much more evident than it had been at Thomond Park. Botica even attempted to pull off what would have been an exceptional drop goal on the run from halfway which just faded to bounce under the crossbar as Castres began to sniff a first victory of their European campaign, It was Botica who stretched their lead on 66 minutes after Munster compounded the concession of a scrum due to a knock-on when Haley pulled Castres’ replacement scrum-half Rory Kockott to the ground under the gaze of referee Luke Pearce, who had no choice but to upgrade the punishment to a penalty.
Trailing by four points at 13-9 with 10 minutes left on the game clock, Munster earned a penalty in front of the posts and after a lengthy deliberation by captain Peter O’Mahony, Crowley kicked to the corner rather than shoot for three points. It was a decision that backfired when the subsequent lineout was stolen on the five-metre line.
There was still time to make the decision a moot point and when Tadhg Beirne won a ruck penalty for his side in his own half on 75 minutes, Munster had another opportunity to turn possession into points. Crowley kicked upfield, another penalty came Munster’s way and the visitors were back in their opponent’s left-hand corner. This time the lineout was secured O’Mahony and Munster inched towards the tryline. The breakdown looked chaotic but despite the protestations of the Castres’ coaches box, referee Pearce allowed Munster to play on and when Gavin Coombes plucked the ball off the ground at the back of a ruck, the No.8 stretched out his long left paw to grab an invaluable try, Munster were back in front and took a three-point lead at 16-13 into the final minute after Crowley converted the try. It was all his side needed to get the job done.
T Larregain (L Le Brun, 67); A Zeghdar, T Combezou, P Aguillon, F Nakosi (B Guillemin, 71); B Botica, S Arata (R Kockott, 19 - HIA); A Tichit (J Nostadt, 50), B Humbert (P Colonna, 60), A Guillamon (M Tierney, 50); L Jacquet - captain, J Whetton (R Pieterse, 60); M Kafatolu, S Meka, B Delaporte (H Hermet, 72).
M Haley; A Conway, C Farrell, R Scannell, K Earls (S Daly, 60); J Crowley, C Murray (C Casey, 60); D Kilcoyne (J Loughman, 60), N Scannell (D Barron, 19), S Archer (J Ryan, 60); F Wycherley (J Kleyn, 60), T Beirne; P O’Mahony - captain, J O’Donoghue (J Hodnett, 67), G Coombes.
J Flannery.
Luke Pearce (England).
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