Munster out of Champions Cup after home defeat to Castres in epic 

The visitors won at Thomond Park for the first time on Saturday evening.

NO DIRECTION HOME: Munster's Gavin Coombes is tackled by Castres Olympique Gauthier Maravat. Pic: INPHO/Nick Elliott

Munster 29 Castres 31

Munster’s Champions Cup campaign came to a disastrous end at Thomond Park on Saturday as Castres stunned home supporters with a bonus-point victory in a nail-biting dueal in Limerick.

Munster had needed a bonus-point victory of their own to progress from Pool 2 into the Round of 16 and while they managed five tries, two from Craig Casey, one by Thaakir Abrahams and a late double from replacement Edwin Edogbo, they could not contain an equally motivated Castres side in this 20th meeting between the sides.

Edogbo’s second try, two minutes from time, gave Munster a losing bonus point to add to they try bonus but it was not enough to overtake Toulon, third in the group, with their pool finale still to come at Gloucester on Saturday night.

A place in the Challenge Cup draw is still a possibility for Clayton McMillan’s Munster but it will be of little compensation after a pool campaign which delivered just a single victory, over Gloucester in Cork in round two, with this home loss coming on the back of three missed conversions and yet another costly yellow card, this time for Tom Farrell.

Anyone who remembered the Castres of old, and there were 19 meetings between the teams before Saturday evening’s clash, would have arrived at Thomond Park expecting a negative, spoiling performance. Yet this was a new breed of club representatives. The Top 14 side, bottom of the pool and coming off a 43-20 home defeat by Bath eight days earlier, had come to play, still armed with the familiar obdurance of a heavyweight pack but also blessed with powerful, athletic and skilful backs.

Scrum-half Jeremy Fernandez had opened the scoring with a third-minute penalty and Castres went further ahead eight minutes later when from a lineout drive, outside centre and former NRL rugby league pro Vuate Karawalevu ran an excellent line to wrongfoot the Munster defence, receiving the ball from Fernandez to crash over the tryline. The scrum-half’s conversion made it 10-0 but it was the Munster number nine who made the next significant impact on the contest.

Craig Casey had been rated 50-50 to pass fit for this fixture having sustained what McMillan had described as a significant shoulder injury six days earlier in the 27-25 defeat at Toulon. The Ireland international was clearly showing signs of the AC joint problem, repeatedly feeling his left shoulder and seemingly trying trying to shake it to give it freer movement. An early big hit from Castres wing Christian Ambadiang did little to ease Casey into the game but he responded in style with two first-half tries on 18 and 34 minutes, the first converted by half-back partner Jack Crowley. The Munster 10, however, timed out with his second conversion attempt, referee Matthew Carley blowing his whistle as he struck the ball at the tee, his kick striking a post in any event, but it kept the home side’s lead at 12-10.

It was not held for long, Castres regaining the lead two minutes before the interval. Loosehead prop Atunaisa Sokobale had sparked the move with an unlikely break upfield, stopped by a textbook tackle at the ankles by Crowley, but Munster could not stop the attack and when the ball was dinked towards the posts, Jack O’Donoghue could not claim the ball on the ground as it slid under the sticks, and opposition full-back Theo Chabouni pounced for Castres’ second try. Fernandez had the simplest of conversion from in front and the Frenchmen went into the half-time break with a 17-12 lead.

It ended an entertaining first period and the second started in a similar style, Munster quickest out of the blocks to claim their third try on 46 minutes, Thaakir Abrahams finishing well in the right corner, though Crowley’s conversion was wide of the mark, leaving the game tied at 17-all.

Castres looked to have made an instant comeback when replacement scrum-half Santiago Arata finished a superb counter-attacking move from the visitor’s 22 after a Crowley chip was gobbled up by the men in sky blue. Castres moved the ball at pace to the right wing from where Arata carried to the posts, but there was a forward pass spotted in the build-up and Munster were off the hook.

They took full advantage of their let-off, as Castres doubled down on their mistakes, replacement veteran forwards Tyler Ardron and Leone Nakawara both flapping at their own lineout ball as their more youthful adversary Edwin Edogbo pounced on the loose ball to roll over the line for the all-important try bonus point. With the extra two points spurned, again from wide out, Munster’s lead was 22-17 with 20 minutes remaining but Castres were not giving this one up and it made for a tense final quarter, Munster’s discomfort compounded by a Tom Farrell neck roll on opposite number Karawelavu in the 63rd minute.

Having lost narrowly to Toulon the previous weekend on the back of two yellow cards and 14 penalties conceded this was a development that did not bode well, and the misgivings were well-founded as Castres levelled four minutes later, left wing Geoffrey Palis the try scorer with replacement fly-half Enzo Herve making no mistake with his left touchline conversion to edge the visitors in front at 24-22.

Munster had 10 minutes to rescue their European campaign and avoid a first Champions Cup home defeat in two years, Northampton Saints having left Limerick with a victory in 2024, but instead they conceded again, this time with right wing Christian Ambadiang claiming his side’s try bonus.

It meant Munster were staring elimination in the face but back they fought, Edogbo claiming his second of the night with two minutes to go, Crowley converting from in front of the posts to make it a two-point game, his side trailing 31-29 with just seconds to play. It rescued a losing bonus point for Munster but the small band of Castres supporters celebrated wildly with their team at the full-time whistle as they catapulted from bottom in Pool 2 to qualification for the knockout rounds.

MUNSTER: S Daly; T Abrahams, T Farrell, A Nankivell, B O’Connor (JJ Hanrahan, 57); J Crowley, C Casey; J Loughman (M Milne, 57), N Scannell (L Barron, 50), M Ala’alatoa (O Jager, 57); J Kleyn (E Edogbo, 50), F Wycherley; T Beirne - captain, J O’Donoghue (B Gleeson, 50), G Coombes.

Yellow card: T Farrell 63-73 Replacements not used: E Coughlan, D Kelly.

CASTRES: T Chabouni; C Ambadiang (A Manu, 17-28 - HIA), V Karawalevu, J Goodhue, G Palis; P Popelin (E Herve, 47), J Fernandez (S Arata, 47); A Sokobale (A Tichit, 47), L Zarantonello (T Durand-Pradere, 56), W Collier (A Azar, h-t); G Maravat, T Staniforth (L Nakarawa, 57); B Delaporte - captain, B Cope (T Ardron, 57), F Vanverberghe.

Yellow card: L Nakawara 75 mins 

Referee: Matthew Carley (England)