Munster rode their luck before coming away with a 17-all draw with Castres Olympique at Stade Pierre-Antoine this afternoon. The result meant the four Irish provinces went unbeaten over the first weekend of European action.
VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS: CASTRES OLYMPIQUE 17 MUNSTER 17
A side well versed in last-gasp wins in Europe, Munster almost tasted their own medicine when Benjamin Urdapilleta missed a penalty in the 78th minute before also sending a drop goal attempt wide right at the death. The game finished with Castres left to rue an opportunity missed, and Munster left counting their blessings.
Down to 14 men early on, Rassie Erasmus’ men almost came through the sin-binning of Conor Murray unscathed only for Robert Emerson to intercept when the visitors were overly ambitious in midfield.
No sooner had Munster replied through Simon Zebo when the hosts struck again, this time through Zebo’s opposite Julien Dumora. However, repeated infringements from Castres as Munster pounded their line at least saw Tyler Bleyendaal reduce the gap to 14-10 with the hosts finishing the half down to 14 men.
Taking advantage of the extra man, a Dave Kilcoyne touchdown put Munster in front for the first time before an Urdapilleta penalty levelled matters to set up a tense final quarter. It could have been game, set and match to Castres were it not for excellent try-saving tackles from Keith Earls and Darren Sweetnam on opposite flanks and Munster ill-discipline put the fate of Castres well and truly in their own hands.
It would have been rough justice on Dave Kilcoyne, one of Munster’s standout performers on the day, had his 77th minute infringement decided proceedings. In windy conditions Urdapilleta’s kick was well off target, but Castres had one more roll of the dice after replacement Robin Copeland infringed in the final minutes.
Copeland was fortunate not to concede a penalty for slapping the ball from Rory Kockott’s hands, instead the hosts were handed a scrum and played out the round 1 clash in search of a Ronan O’Gara-esque finish, but it was not to be, their Argentinian out-half’s drop goal shot for glory going well right.
Castres impressed from the off, bringing huge energy in attack and putting Munster’s traditionally strong set piece elements under plenty of pressure, notably at scrum time. Munster’s defence was put to the pin of its collar during Castres’ early advances and the visitors did particularly well to survive three consecutive penalty kicks to the corner.
Scrum half Murray was already in the sin-bin for a desperate tap tackle on Yannick Cabellero without the ball when the flanker looked set to score in the fourth minute. And Zebo was perhaps fortunate not to join his team-mate on the touchline little more than a minute later after what looked like a deliberate knock-on five metres from his own line. Referee Matthew Carley decided a penalty was sanction enough.
But the hard work in defence would be undone on 12 minutes when, as Munster built pressure and phases in opposition territory, a long range pass from Chris Farrell was easily picked off by Ebersohn and the South African centre had a clear run to the posts with Urdapilleta adding the easy extras.
Urdapilleta was unable to extend the Castres lead with a 17th minute penalty after Munster continued to feel the pressure at scrum time, and it was not until the 29th minute that Erasmus’ charges eventually breached the Castres 22.
Once they did, the penalty count went Munster’s way with CJ Stander and Kilcoyne both coming close before full-back Zebo eventually crossed the whitewash, coming from deep to take a flat pass from Murray. Bleyendaal’s conversion brought Munster level.
Back came Castres who were driven on by their number 8 and man-of-the-match Maama Vaipulu. They showed the potency of their counter attack with Dumora touching down after Munster had failed to find touch in the windy conditions. Urdapilleta turned it into a seven-pointer.
Nonetheless, Munster always kept in touch and had the final say before half-time. Putting relentless pressure on the Castres try-line, in the end they settled for an easy three points despite justifiable claims for a penalty try. Ebersohn did at least see yellow and Munster duly made their numerical advantage count to lead 17-14 by the 47th minute.
Working up another head of steam on the resumption, some quick thinking from Murray caught the hosts somewhat off guard, his tap-and-go finding determined prop Kilcoyne who, with Stander in support, proved unstoppable from close range.
Urdapilleta’s only successful penalty drew the sides level again and that ended up being the final score of the match, a full 30 minutes from the referee’s final whistle.
Replacement Ian Keatley missed a long range opportunity off the tee to restore Munster’s advantage and further ill-discipline and a lack of precision dogged Munster during the closing quarter. Yet, their defence held firm with two textbook tackles from Earls and Sweetnam denying the French side out wide, with Kockott, who had a foot in touch, and Afusipa Taumoepeau both missing out on tries.
With this scrappy encounter almost done, Munster will not be happy that their fate lay in the hands of Urdapilleta and know only too well that were it not for the severity of the wind, his final attempts off the tee and out of hand could have paid dividends.
Speaking after his side picked up two hard-earned points in southern France, Munster director of rugby Erasmus said: “In the last two or three minutes we definitely tried really hard to throw it away. (A draw) is definitely not what we wanted, we would have loved more, but I guess when we start the week next week it’s better to see two on the board than zero.
“It’s definitely not one of the best performances we’ve had in the past few months, but I’d rather have two than nothing. Castres have only lost once at home this season. They’re a difficult team to play. They’re passionate, intense, but that doesn’t take away from the excuse we could have won the game.
“That’s the disappointing thing. We were maybe a little bit naive sometimes, but we’ll try and learn from that. It probably wasn’t one of the prettiest games to watch. Still, I would rather take that, getting two points and playing scrappy, than playing a wonderful, beautiful game like last week against Leinster, when we scored three tries and got one point out of the game.”
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