Will Collier: 'We have a big history with Munster and, yes, it will be difficult, but I think we have the belief'

FIRST TIME TO THOMOND: Castres’ experienced international tighthead Will Collier is set to play at Thomond Park for the first time in his 15-year career, with the French side staring down the barrel of a win-or-Champions-Cup-bust final pool outing against Munster. Picture: ©INPHO/Juan Gasparini

Castres’ experienced international tighthead Will Collier is set to play at Thomond Park for the first time in his 15-year career, with the French side staring down the barrel of a win-or-Champions-Cup-bust final pool outing against Munster.

Prior to last night’s match between Bath and Edinburgh, no Pool 2 team had qualified for the knockout phase of this season’s competition, but the Top 14 outfit are very much the outsiders to reach the round of 16. With one win in three outings so far, a 33-0 bonus-point victory over Edinburgh at Stade Pierre Fabre in December, they sit bottom of the Pool on five points. Munster, two places better off, in fourth, have six, and a much stronger grip on a round of 15 place.

Even so, the sums remain compelling enough for Castres, who reached the quarter-finals last year for the first time since 2002, to believe they have a puncher’s chance, despite a historically poor record at their oldest tri-league opponents.

A win at Thomond would propel either side into the all-important top four, while a bonus-point victory, combined with defeat for Toulon at Gloucester may even be enough for an unlikely second.

“It’s a final for us,” Collier said straight out of the box at a press conference on Thursday. “Everyone knows that. It’s going to be a big, big challenge.

“We [Castres] have a big history with Munster and, yes, it will be difficult, but I think we have the belief.” 

Like Collier, this is defence coach Steven Setephano’s first competitive visit to Thomond. He was there in 2015, in a preseason friendly for Grenoble, who were coached at the time by Bernard Jackman and Munster’s attack coach Mike Prendergast.

He echoed Collier’s view of the importance of the match for Castres. “There’s a lot riding on this game, for us and them,” he said of Saturday’s early evening match. “We’ve prepared like it’s a finals match.” 

Castres’ season so far has been one of frustration and inconsistent results. But Setephano sees development and improvements, and believes one win could be all they need to kickstart a late surge.

“A win in Munster could really change our season just like it did at Saracens … last year.

“When there’s a big challenge and we’ve asked everyone to invest 100% to get a result, there’s a natural flow afterwards.

“Like any side, you get momentum through one or two games and the mindset changes, you start to walk a little bit taller with a bit more confidence, a bit more swagger to what you’re trying to do. You come onto the field and you’ve got a little bit more energy. A lot of things can change in a very short time.” 

 Injuries have forced head coach Xavier Sadourny’s selection hand – with 20-year-old Fijian international loosehead Atu Sokobale set for his first senior start on the other side of the front row to the veteran Collier, and centre Atu Manu, on a short-term medical joker contract, on the bench a week after arriving from ProD2 side Nevers, while Florent Vanverberghe is expected to start at eight for the first time in a big pack as the French side look to challenge Munster up front.

Winning the forward battle is the oldest argument in the rugby book. It’s old because it’s, as often as not, true.

“If we can start the game and control what we want to control and be clinical, we know that we can hurt teams. That starts up front,” Setephano said.

“There’s no secret recipe to what we’re going to try to do or how we can exploit them. A lot of focus has been back on us. If we can get good go-forward ball, from there we can free up our backs to play large and stress their defence.” 

 Last weekend’s loss to Bath at home exposed a number of flaws in Castres’ set-up. “Consistency has been our biggest word of the week,” Setephano insisted. “I’d like to think that we can learn from the game against Gloucester and the games against Edinburgh and Bath. We got some really good learnings from playing UK sides, we were able to really look at ourselves as a group and see where we can improve.

“We showed some really good composure and discipline against Edinburgh. And then, coming back into the Top 14, it’s a rollercoaster ride.

“We need to be better at controlling moments and every sector needs to play a part.

"You can’t have a good defensive lineout that steals the ball if we’re not clinical enough in the scrums. And, we can’t be missing tackles while having our attack do their job.

“Bath really served us well in that area, and we’re looking forward to seeing how we have progressed from that match to the one on Saturday.”