Talking Points: Injury list mounts as under par Munster fall short at Castres

Craig Casey, Brian Gleeson, Peter O'Mahony and Thaakir Abrahams all left the field of play with injuries. 

TALKING POINTS: Munster’s Thaakir Abrahams receives treatment. Picture:©INPHO/Dan Sheridan

1 – Was Felix Jones keeping a watching eye?

A curt 22-word statement from the RFU on Friday afternoon confirmed that the double-World Cup-winner was a free agent. Munster are in the coaching marketplace. There was plenty to fill a coach’s notebook, some good at staying in the fight but mostly critical. 

Munster were scratchy and off-kilter. They would have had qualification for the knockout stages in their grasp if they had snatched it but now must go again. There was little fluency, little rhythm. 

Their defence that came under ferocious pressure here. Tackles were missed right from kick-off and penalties conceded, five inside the first 12 minutes. Dian Bleuler was lucky to avoid a yellow card. There were numerous mistakes and a shaky set-piece. Munster were a shadow of last week’s slick outfit, although John Hodnett’s tries kept them in the hunt.

2 – On the Road in France, a proving ground for any player.

The Munster half-backs, Craig Casey and Jack Crowley, in particular were eager to show that they had the poise as well as the grit to thrive at this elevated level. Both men would have wanted more minutes in the autumn Nations Series although Casey came out of it in better order than his half-back colleague. 

Casey had every right to be in high spirits after his performances for Ireland but that upbeat vibe took a hefty knock when he had to be helped from the field within half-an-hour with a nasty looking leg injury. Crowley had a mixed evening, foul as well as fair, with a few blemishes, notably that missed touch in the last minute. That was hugely costly, a clutch moment that went the wrong way. Calvin Nash was another with a point to prove and he coped well with the high back. 

Highly regarded young no.8, Brian Gleeson, took a bang to the head (which resulted in a yellow card) but stuck in there. After a year on the sidelines, prop Dave Kilcoyne, got a longer run-out than he might have imagined but was under the cosh. Peter O’Mahony was another to hobble off, so too wing Thaakir Abrahams. Injuries are mounting and might derail Munster.

3- French teams at home – a different beast. 

This was the 19th European fixture between the sides. Castres could be a mini-Munster, with a tribal backdrop at their pack-‘em-in stadium, one of the smallest in the Top 14 with only a 12,000 capacity. Aristocrats, Toulouse, are about an hour’s drive away and an entire world away from the close-knit, working-class environs of the Stade Pierre-Fabre. 

Small wonder they are such a tough nut to crack at home with a six-match unbeaten record so far this season. Castres sent a weakened team to Northampton last weekend and duly shipping six tries. Not surprisingly, there were 12 changes for this fixture. They had a lot to prove. And they did so, former Connacht player Abraham Papali’i crashing over within 13 minutes, prop Quentin Walcker following suit not long after. They were tough and hard-nosed and it made all the difference. They had just enough.