Good evening, and welcome to The42′s live coverage of Castres v Munster in the Heineken Champions Cup. Kick-off in France is in less than 15 minutes, and we’ll be taking you through the action for the full 80.
Teams on the way in a tick.
Munster:
15. Mike Haley
14. Andrew Conway
13. Sammy Arnold
12. Rory Scannell
11. Keith Earls
10. Joey Carbery
9. Conor Murray
1. Dave Kilcoyne
2. Niall Scannell
3. John Ryan
4. Tadhg Beirne
5. Billy Holland
6. Peter O’Mahony (captain)
7. Chris Cloete
8. CJ Stander
Replacements:
16. Kevin O’Byrne
17. Jeremy Loughman
18. Stephen Archer
19. Fineen Wycherley
20. Arno Botha
21. Alby Mathewson
22. JJ Hanrahan
23. Jaco Taute
Castres:
15. Scott Spedding
14. Martin Laveau
13. Thomas Combezou
12. Florian Vialelle
11. Taylor Paris
10. Benjamin Urdapilleta
9. Rory Kockott
1. Paea Faʻanunu
2. Kévin Firmin
3. Marc Clerc
4. Thibault Lassalle
5. Loic Jacquet
6. Yannick Caballero
7. Mathieu Babillot
8. Maama Vaipulu
Replacements:
16. Marc-Antoine Rallier
17. Antoine Tichit
18. Wilfried Hounkpatin
19. Christophe Samson
20. Kévin Gimeno
21. Robert Ebersohn
22. Armans Batlle
23. Ludovic Radosavljevic
1 – Castres 0-0 Munster: Joey Carbery has gotten us under way at the home of the French champions.
2 – Castres 0-0 Munster: Carbery will have a pop from 45m after Castres were pinged for going off their feet near midfield.
2 – Castres 0-3 Munster: Sinks it. Lovely start for the visitors’ 10!
5 – Castres 0-3 Munster: The hosts are building phases on Munster’s 22. Maama Vaipulu just forced an ‘Oh my Lord!’ from Wayne Barnes as the big number eight carried straight into the referee.
6 – Castres 0-3 Munster: Huge defensive effort from Munster, and Castres eventually spill the ball forward. They went from side to side across Munster’s 22 and essentially got nowhere. Dropped ball evokes a huge ‘COME ONNNN’ from one of the men in red.
8- Castres 0-3 Munster: Munster’s scrum capitulates on their own put-in and Castres are awarded a penalty. Benjamin Urdapilleta goes for goal but skews it off the tee, wide on the near side.
9- Castres 3-3 Munster: Niall Scannell is penalised for ‘charging the man and not the ball’ as Scott Spedding sent one skywards. This time, the Castres 10 finds the target off the tee. Teams are level.
13 – Castres 3-3 Munster: Urdapilleta catches a high kick but is driven into touch by Peter O’Mahony. Munster kick away possession from the resulting lineout, and Castres now under pressure with the ball in their own 22. Massive counter-ruck from Keith Earls of all people, there.
14 – Castres 3-3 Munster: What a passage! CJ Stander with the bosh ball blows a man away and breaks 40 yards through midfield. On the next phase, Joey Carbery is absolutely thumped in the tackle and the ball flies into touch. Two massive collisions.
15 – Castres 3-3 Munster: Munster win the penalty on their scrum this time. Carbery points to the posts from the 10-metre line.
16 – Castres 3-3 Munster: Carbery pushes this one wide right. Poor kick.
19 – Castres 3-3 Munster: Munster win another penalty as Caballero takes Peter O’Mahony out in the air during a lineout. Carbery, again, points to the sticks, this time from the left-hand side, 30m from goal.
20 – Castres 3-6 Munster: Up go the flags!
21 – Castres 3-6 Munster: Castres knocking on the door deep in Munster’s 22. Hooker Kévin Firmin was stopped just shy of the line but the French champions are now building again, six or seven metres short.
23 – Castres 3-6 Munster: Castres go over and celebrate, Munster are claiming a knock-on after CJ Stander wound up emerging with the ball. Let’s have a look. It looked like Beirne possibly held it up, also.
25 – TRY CASTRES! Castres 10-6 Munster: The TMO awards the try, which is converted.
The hosts lead, but there’s potential for further controversy here. Peter O’Mahony has told Wayne Barnes that Chris Cloete believes he had his eye gouged by Rory Kockott. Barnes has referred it to the citing officer.
27 – Castres 10-6 Munster: After Cloete is penalised for crossing, Spedding has a pop from all of 60 yards. Just inches short — serious effort.
33 – Castres 10-6 Munster: Really stop-start now, a whistle every minute or so. Not much happening in the way of quality from either side. Castres in possession inside Munster’s half until Urdapilleta knocks on a woeful pass from Cockott.
34 – Castres 10-6 Munster: Castres penalised at the scrum again but Carbery misses touch. Dreadful few minutes of rugby, to be frank.
36 – Castres 10-6 Munster Magical little dummy from Keith Earls who bursts down the left. He tries to chip ahead but the ball deflects off Spedding into touch.
Munster win their own lineout and are now building in the hosts’ 22.
37 – Castres 10-6 Munster: Huge turnover by five-time French international Mathieu Babillot. Immense strength over the ball.
39 – Castres 10-6 Munster: Munster seem to have absolutely no plan once in possession. A couple of times, now, the carrier has been looking around for an option before taking contact. No real cohesion.
Still, they’re back on the Castres 22 now and win a scrum as the ball becomes unplayable.
40 – Castres 10-6 Munster: Lovely half-break by Conor Murray who offloads to Rory Scannell, and the latter takes Munster to within three of the line!
Kockott is penalised for not rolling away — he gets a yellow card — and Munster go quickly! And they get turned over. Good Lord.
40 – Castres 10-6 Munster: Urdapilleta restarts the game. Let’s see if Munster can make the most of their man advantage over the next nine-and-a-bit minutes.
44 — Castres 10-6 Munster: Munster demolish Castres in the scrum and win a penalty about 35-40 yards out, in front of the posts. Celebrated like a try by the forwards in red.
45 – Castres 10-6 Munster: Dear, oh dear. Carbery’s kick flies well wide. A big let-off for Castres.
46 – Castres 10-6 Munster: Munster on the attack again. Carbery prods a penalty into touch and it’s red ball on the Castres 22.
47 – Castres 10-6 Munster: Caballero steals the lineout. So frustrating for Munster. It’s been that type of performance so far. Johann van Graan will be tearing his hair out.
48 – Castres 10-6 Munster: Another Munster penalty as Peter O’Mahony is again taken out in the air during a lineout. Carbery once more turns for touch, and drills a really good kick deep inside Castres’ 22. Can they win the lineout this time?
They go to the back, and Stander takes it. Munster mauling it.
50 – Castres 10-9 Munster: Castres again pinged as they whip the maul down. Carbery slots the three points from close range.
Kockott, meanwhile, is back on after his yellow at the end of the first half.
54 – Castres 13-9 Munster: Just so frustrating! Munster steal a Castres lineout in their own 22 but for some reason Peter O’Mahony tries to funt the ball clear on the swivel, slicing it into touch.
Castres go again and Niall Scannell is sin-binned for bringing the maul to ground. Castres’ Argentine out-half Urdapilleta splits the sticks from the left-hand side.
58 – Castres 13-9 Munster: Kockott is penalised for handling the ball in the ruck before it was out. Murray’s going to have a go for Munster here from just inside the Castres half.
59 – Castres 13-9 Munster: Murray doesn’t quite catch his kick and pushes it wide right. It looked a touch short in any case.
65 – Castres 13-12 Munster: Munster earn a penalty right in front of the posts after some stellar work by Beirne to grab a loose ball. Carbery takes his three, and the gap is one point again.
70 – Castres 13-12 Munster: Oh, so close for Munster! A wonderful move sees Peter O’Mahony skipped and Andrew Conway break down the right-hand side. He chips ahead, seems to gather the ball and dot it down, but on the replay it’s clear he just spills it as he picks it up on the ground.
Meanwhile, Castres are down to 14 again because during the move, O’Mahony was absolutely taken out, landing on his shoulder.
Munster have a penalty, and Carbery’s going to give it a bash from 45m out on the right-hand side.
He pushes it wide again. Not his day.
70 – Castres 13-12 Munster: It was Marc-Antoine Rallier who was binned for Castres.
72 – Castres 13-12 Munster: Again so close for the visitors. Wonderful work by Earls, Murray and Conway down the short side. Conway puts Murray away but his pass his correctly adjudged to have gone forward. Good catch by Wayne Barnes. Conway gutted, understandably. JJ Hanrahan is on for Carbery, also.
74 – Castres 13-12 Munster: Kilcoyne is pinged for bringing down the subsequent scrum, and not for the first time today there’s a bit of handbags. Munster would be as well staying away from that type of garbage with just six minutes remaining. They’re only wasting their own time.
75 – Castres 13-12 Munster: Ah, that’s really clever work by Niall Scannell. He makes the ball unplayable in the maul and Munster are awarded a scrum. It’s go-time for the men in red — can they pull this out of the bag?
76 – Castres 13-12 Munster: You could probably see it coming: Castres win a penalty off the resulting scrum. A gut-punch for Munster.
78 – Castres 13-12 Munster: Spedding drills it to within seven of the Munster line. Castres now in no rush, picking and going inside the Munster 22.
HUGE turnover by Beirne! Munster win the penalty and go up the line.
79 – Castres 13-12 Munster: Oh for… Castres steal the lineout. That should be that.
A wasted opportunity for Munster as they’re edged out by the French champions on a frustrating evening.
That’s it from us, folks. Thanks for joining us and keep an eye on The42.ie for post-match reaction and analysis this evening and throughout the week.
