Munster v Castres in the Champions Cup: kick-off time, TV details and team news

It is the final round of the group stage in the Champions Cup with Munster back on home soil to take on Castres.

ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW: Munster are back to Thomond Park and welcome Castres in their round four Champions Cup clash. Picture: ©INPHO/Dan Sheridan

Munster are back on home turf this weekend for their round four Champions Cup clash against Castres on Saturday. Munster will be hurting after there narrow late loss to Toulon last weekend with Castres coming to Limerick off a 43-20 loss to Bath. 

Pool two is very tight with Bath still sitting top of the table with 11 points, Edinburgh just one point behind on 10, Toulon are in third on nine with Munster sitting in fourth on six points and a better scoring difference to fifth place Gloucester who are also on six points with Castres on the bottom of the table on five points. It is all to play for with both sides looking to advance to the knock out stages.

Here's all you need to know ahead of the game.

Where's the game being played?

The game will take place in Thomond Park.

What time is kick-off?

The match kicks off at 5.30pm on Saturday January 17.

Where can I watch?

The game will be shown live on Premier Sports 1.

Who is the referee?

England's Matthew Carley will be the man in the middle for the clash.

What's the team news

Craig Casey has a chance of facing Castres in Munster’s must-win Champions Cup pool game at Thomond Park on Saturday after fears of a serious shoulder injury were dispelled on Tuesday.

The Ireland scrum-half left the pitch in Toulon on Sunday with his arm supported in a makeshift sling with head coach Clayton McMillan suggesting it was a “serious” looking injury in his comments following the narrow 27-25 defeat at Stade Felix Mayol.

A decision on Casey’s availability will be made by the Munster medics later in the week but the latest injury update suggests Ireland’s back-up number nine to Jamison Gibson-Park is in no danger of missing selection for the Six Nations squad set to be announced by head coach Andy Farrell on Wednesday week ahead of a pre-championship training squad in Portugal at the end of the month.

Starting hooker Diarmuid Barron was another casualty in France after being forced off with a knee injury but he too is being assessed over the training week before a his availability for selection is determined.

The same applies to lock/flanker Tom Ahern, forced out of last Sunday’s tie with a neck injury but being assessed as the week progresses.

Frontline second row Jean Kleyn and tighthead prop Oli Jager are both available for selection, though. South African Kleyn missed the trip to Toulon with a calf issue while Jager has been absent since October 10 when he sustained a concussion against Edinburgh.

Jager was a non-playing reserve at Stade Mayol and could have played if necessary but the former Crusader was being targeted for an extra week’s contact training ahead of a potential comeback against Castres this Saturday.

Munster did receive some bad news as the fallout from the Pool 2 defeat at Toulon became clear with try-scoring wing Calvin Nash and another scrum-half, Paddy Patterson, both ruled out of the pool finale against the French Top 14 side.

Nash picked up a shoulder/head problem at the Mayol while Patterson received a head knock in the pre-game warm-up with his place on the bench going to Ethan Coughlan, who now appears set for selection at least among the replacements and a possible first European start for the 23-year-old should Casey not pass fit.

Academy scrum-half Jake O’Riordan, 21, could be also be primed for a Champions Cup debut as a replacement in that scenario having looked assured in his first two senior appearances, both this season, against Connacht and Argentina XV. Simon Lewis

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If Clayton McMillan’s instincts about the extent of Craig Casey’s shoulder injury, the Munster boss could have to rely on his two least experienced scrum-halves for this Saturday’s must-win Champions Cup pool home tie against Castres.

The Ireland number nine left the field at Stade Felix Mayol seven minutes from full time of a 27-25 defeat at Toulon which leaves Munster needing a Thomond Park victory over their old foes in the fourth and final round of Pool 2 action to be assured of reaching for the knockout stages. The head coach had been forced to draft in travelling reserve Ethan Coughlan for a spot on the bench after his named replacement Paddy Patterson was ruled out, having sustained a head knock during the warm-up.

Should both Casey and Patterson fail to pass fit for this weekend, Coughlan, 23, would become the presumed start against Castres, backed up by academy number nine Jake O’Riordan, the 21-year-old who impressed in his first two senior appearances before Christmas, against Connacht in the URC and the friendly against Argentina XV, both of the bench.

Also assessing a second-half withdrawal for hooker Diarmuid Barron and the loss of lock/flanker Tom Ahern before the game, bringing Ruadhan Quinn onto the replacements bench, McMillan said: “Tom Ahern got an injury to his neck in some lineouts. Diarmuid hurt his knee and then Craig Casey's got a shoulder which looks reasonably serious.

“Haven't had the full diagnosis but he's a bit of an Energizer bunny, so he's showing good form in there at the moment, but we'll get a scan. We'll have a good look and see what the impact as well.” Regarding Patterson, the Munster head coach added: “Yeah, he took a bang in the warm-up, you know, just ran into one of our big forwards. He's had a couple of bangs to the head, and he didn't feel well.” The good news for Munster is the expected return to availability of South Africa lock Jean Kleyn, who missed the trip to Toulon with a calf injury, and tighthead prop Oli Jager, absent following a concussion against Edinburgh on October 10.

Of the Springbok Kleyn, McMillan said: “He ran around in Friday's training run, he's just wasn't good enough to be a realistic option to be playing but we're pretty confident he'd be all right next week.” The same applies to Jager, the former Super Rugby title winner with Crusaders, who returned to training last week and travelled with the squad to the south of France at the weekend, taking part in the pre-game warm-up.

“If he gets through the week he'll be there,” McMillan added. “He was here (in Toulon), yeah. You don't bring anyone if they're don't have the capacity to play, so, so he was there.

“It was just precautionary, that we just give him another week of contact training. He's fit and ready to go. He would have fizzed somewhere if somebody had fallen over in the front row and he got an opportunity today, but, all things going well he'll get out there next week and, you know, it'll be great for him.” McMillan also had words of praise for Quinn, called up at short notice having flown with the squad to Toulon as a reserve, whose 25 minutes off the bench ended with a hand underneath the ball alongside Jack Crowley to prevent Tomas Albornoz from scoring a fourth try which would also have denied Munster a losing bonus point.

“Yeah, that's not easy, you know, for a game of this standing, to basically get a call to come in at late notice, but you try and prepare for those sorts of situations.

“Yeah, that's what they're there for. That's what the bench is for, to have an impact and their profile helped us, and we got a number of other things right through that period of the game that's helped them inject themselves into the game.” Simon Lewis