Munster 30
Castres 5
Sean Farrell reports from Thomond Park
A LOW WINTER sun meant a day of long shadows stretching across Thomond Park and, despite the margin of victory by full-time, a day when Munster needed long fuses and immense patience.
The patience, through flashes of provocation, helped the southern province remain on course and carve out a three-try win.
On top of calm confidence, they had Conor Murray, who was instrumental in creating tries for Rory Scannell and CJ Stander. While JJ Hanrahan’s flawless kicking off the tee in swirling winds kept the scoreboard ticking through tough first-half exchanges.
Conor Murray takes the ball into contact. Source: Dan Sheridan/INPHO
Friday’s team announcement brought great excitement with a practically full-strength Munster XV set to take the field. But by kick-off, Munster fans had learned of a double blow in the back-line.
The wait to see Joey Carbery and Murray in tandem would go on, with Hanrahan slotting in to take over at out-half. Chris Farrell then fell foul of the warm-up meaning Sam Arnold was called in to partner Scannell, with Jaco Taute and Tyler Bleyendaal joining the replacements.
A strong swirling wind made creativity difficult, and the visitors were intent on turning tough conditions nigh-on impossible as they took on Munster with the overriding tactic of kicking the leather off the ball.
Through a messy first half the reigning French champions kicked the ball more than they passed and never with much invention or ingenuity.
Munster dominated possession with the sun on their back and the wind in their face. Yet, despite outright scrum dominance, the late enforced changes appeared to take a toll.
Murray and Tadhg Beirne struggled to hit the same wave-length, Niall Scannell overcooked line-out throws to cancel out the success of the other set-piece and Castres’ line-speed made the absence of two important playmakers tell.
The pressure Munster built through the first 40 minutes did earn them a lead, however. Though 6-0 thanks to two close-range Hanrahan penalties felt a paltry return from 65% possession and 73% territory.
Through that first half, Murray had endeavoured to make up for any rust or lack of fluidity with a combative spirit that kept his opposite number Ludovic Radosavljevic from settling into anything approaching a rhythm.
Fittingly enough, Munster’s breakthrough try came thanks to a combination of the scrum and their scrum-half’s tenacity.
Five minutes into the second period, Murray shunned the open side 10 metres from the try-line and instead occupied second row Thibault Lassalle, keeping the lock at arm’s length long enough to offload into the hands of Scannell who dived over in the right corner.
Munster celebrate Rory Scannell’s try. Source: Billy Stickland/INPHO
Castres sent on their replacement front row, but as Hanrahan thumped over a brilliant touchline conversion, there was no mistaking where the control resided and the Kerryman booted a fourth flawless kick between the sticks as the penalty count from JP Doyle’s whistle reached 12-2.
Murray’s final act of the contest was to settle the outcome with one of those trademark gliding runs and a smooth offload into the path of a rampaging Stander.