Fifth Pool Victory Sends Munster Through

Munster were far from convincing as a two-try victory over Castres Olympique confirmed them as the first qualifiers for the Heineken Cup quarter-finals.

Johne Murphy’s eighth-minute try set the Pool 1 leaders on their way to a 16-7 half-time lead, with Yannick Caballero hitting back for the French outfit.

Although Castres had nothing but pride to play for, their understrength side ensured a frustrating second half for the Thomond Park faithful until Wian du Preez touched down with 12 minutes to go.

Unforced errors and missed scoring chances made for a rhythm-less display from Munster, who will need to up their game at Northampton Saints in round 6 as they chase a home draw in the last-eight.

Once this match settled down, Munster set about their task and a couple of surges from man-of-the-match Donnacha Ryan and James Couglan almost led to an early try.

But Castres could only watch as a training ground move at a lineout, involving Ryan, Conor Murray and Murphy sent the latter through a weak tackle from Thierry Lacrampe and over for a converted score.

Bernard missed a kickable penalty after BJ Botha infringed at a scrum, but the Munster set piece gave very little away after that.

Ronan O’Gara, now the tournament’s most-capped player with 102 appearances, fired over the first of his penalty goals in the 16th minute.

But Castres enjoyed a good chunk of first half possession and they silenced the big crowd with a try following a break from Ibrahim Diarra and Lacrampe’s quick tap.

Munster were caught cold as a quick thread of passes ended with Saimone Taumoepeau putting flanker Caballero past Lifeimi Mafi’s challenge and over to the left of the posts.

Bernard added the extras for a 10-7 scoreline, however Munster had a firmer grasp on the second quarter with O’Gara providing direction and captain Paul O’Connell impressing in the air and at the breakdown.

Two more penalties from O’Gara stretched the lead back out to nine points by the break, with some defiant defending from the French side keeping Munster at bay late on.

Bernard, with a crisply-struck penalty from long range, reduced the deficit to 16-10 early in the second half.

O’Gara struck the right post when trying to reply at the opposite end, before a break from his half-back partner Murray put Castres back on the defensive.

The visitors kept O’Gara out close to their posts, but a solid scrum led to the Corkman punting into touch as the province’s try-scoring search intensified.

Castres’ commitment in the tackle saw them hold out and Munster had to settle for another three points from O’Gara, who slotted over from a central position.

Murray had a try ruled out for blocking from O’Connell and despite having scrum half Lacrampe sin-binned for persistent infringements, Castres’ try-line remained intact.

That was until Mafi found some space in midfield, giving the hosts enough momentum to send South African loosehead du Preez piling over from a few metres out.