Champions Cup: Munster 17 Castres 17
47 mins: Try for Munster!
Clever grubber kick by Castres and Ambadiang almost got in through for a try but Munster just survived. Then, Farrell manages to secure a turnover, as Crowley kicks to touch. Some great passing by Munster, they get a penalty not far from the posts and Coombes tap kicks it and keeps going, they go wide and comes to Abrahams who shows bravery through contact to finish. Got a big bang for his trouble. Crowley misses the conversion, costly. It’s level.
Munster 17 Castres 17
42 mins: Second half under way and an eyecatching carry by Abrahams already. Castres win a scrum for a knock on a few moments later.
Half-time: Munster 12 Castres 17
Great half of rugby, entertaining but Munster find themselves five points behind and plenty of work to do. Could go right down to the wire, but they won’t be discouraged by how they’ve played so far.
38 mins: Try for Castres! Sokobale blasts his way through a few Munster players with a great carry and puts Munster under pressure again. After a few phases, advantage to Castres. And with advantage, chip over the top by Chabouni who accelerates for the chase, O’Donoghue fumbles the ball and Chabouni follows it in to score, fine try. Conversion scored by Fernandez.
Munster 12 Castres 17
36 mins: Try for Munster! They win a penalty and then a clean lineout and maul, from it Scannel carries the ball and lays off to Casey who does a brilliant sidestep to fool the defence and finish, superb. Crowley is too slow with taking the conversion, but would have missed anyway hitting the post.
Munster 12 Castres 10
31 mins: Castres fail to find touch from a penalty, Casey collecting. Then Daly collects from miles back through traffic, which the home crowd enjoys. But Castres win it back and again Karawalevu is dancing through the Munster defence and the French side get within five metres. But a massive turnover by Beirne.
26 mins: Penalty for Munster for offside by Castres. The lineout is caught by O’Donoghue but the maul afterwards is messy and Castres turn it over. Then from the scrum, Castres win a penalty, clear and escape.
22 mins: More magic from Abrahams as he swivels through a gap but then misjudges the pass to Casey. Great tempo to the game, already a much superior spectacle than the Leinster game earlier. Abrahams then does very well to win a lineout from a Crowley kick that looks certain to be a Castres ball.
19 mins: Try for Munster! Brilliant try. Scrum from halfway for Munster. Some great play by the backs, Abrahams with a superb take from an awkward pass, pass to O’Donoghue who offloads well to Casey to accelerate to the line. Crowley scores the conversion well.
Munster 7 Castres 10
15 mins: Referee Matt Carley has no time for Munster’s dissent, gives Castres a penalty and says if they do it again, they’ll be taken off. Castres knock the ball on though twice which allows Munster to edge up the pitch. Great pass by Casey to Daly, then some nice offloads but just drops it again after a great tackle by Cope.
12 mins: Try for Castres! Castres kick deep into Munster’s half with the penalty, they secure the lineout, then a superb line by Karawelevu. The Fijian flies through the Munster defence and they have no answer to his power. Excellent try and Fernandez converts. Munster up against it.
Munster 0 Castres 10
9 mins: Abrahams pinging a pass at pace to O’Connor but just couldn’t stay in play. Castres clear and then knock it on.
Deliberate knock on by Farrell then, lucky to avoid a yellow card.
6 mins: Munster star man Beirne makes his first big impact winning a penalty as Crowley kicks to touch. Bright rugby from Munster with offloads and quick passing before it’s knocked on by Casey after an overhit Beirne pass.
3 mins: Penalty scored by Castres! After dominating possession, they win a penalty and opt for the posts. Fernandez nails his kick.
Munster 0 Castres 3
Good atmosphere in Thomond as the team come onto the pitch, Stand Up and Fight playing.
The Pool 2 table is very tight, here’s how it looks:
Champions Cup table
Really all to play for then.
Leinster have beaten Bayonne to top their pool, 22-13 scoreline flatters them as they were behind for most of the game, but they got the job done again when it mattered. You can read what happened as it happened here.
“Munster and Castres share a storied and record-breaking history,” writes John O’Sullivan previewing today’s clash at Thomond Park.
“The first task for the players of both teams, ahead of a 20th meeting in the Champions Cup and all its previous iterations, is to pay little heed to past fixtures.
“In the mind of a player, such subject matter can be an unwelcome distraction.”
Read the preview in full below:
[ Munster have nothing to gain from the past in crucial clash with old foes CastresOpens in new window ]
At the moment, Leinster are playing and they’re 10-3 down at half-time. You can follow coverage here.
Hello and welcome to live coverage of Munster’s game against Castres in the final round of the Champions Cup pool stage. Kick-off at Thomond Park is at 5.30pm.
Munster could finish anywhere between second (for a home round of 16 game) and sixth (out of all European competitions), which shows how up in the air Pool 2 is. Munster can only control what they can and a bonus-point win would do the job to guarantee getting through to the next round one way or another. Here are the teams:
Munster: S Daly; T Abrahams, T Farrell, A Nankivell, B O’Connor; J Crowley, C Casey; J Loughman, N Scannell, M Ala’alatoa; J Kleyn, F Wycherley; T Beirne (capt), J O’Donoghue, G Coombes. Replacements: L Barron, M Milne, O Jager, E Edogbo, B Gleeson, E Coughlan, JJ Hanrahan, D Kelly.
Castres: T Chabouni; C Ambadiang, V Karawalevu, J Goodhue, G Palis; P Popelin, J Fernandez. A Sokobale, L Zarantonello, W Collier; G Maravat, T Staniforth; B Delaporte, B Cope, F Vanverberghe. Replacements: T Durand, A Tichit, A Azar, L Nakarawa, T Ardron, S Arata, E Herve, A Manu