Murray Kinsella Reports from Castres

IT’S EARLY ON Friday morning in Dublin Airport and the Red Army are getting ready to board a red-eye flight. Gavin Coombes is chief among their thoughts.

The talismanic number eight was missing from Munster’s matchday 23 when it was announced on Thursday afternoon. By Friday night, the brave and faithful will confirm that the West Cork man was fit and available for selection when they see him take a full part in Munster’s warm-up at Stade Pierre Fabre before watching from the stand.

Interim head coach Ian Costello had flagged that Munster would use their wider squad across these two December games against Stade Français and Castres, a six-day turnaround between the matches plus the travel to France factors in that decision.

“It might not be the same 23,” said Costello before the bonus-point win over Stade Français but even still, most Munster fans are surprised not to see Coombes and Shane Daly in the squad to take on Castres.

There is excitement about highly-rated 20-year-old Brian Gleeson getting a start at number eight, though, and supporters still fly out full of hope that Munster can back up their encouraging win against Stade Français. They end up missing Coombes’ gainline-winning power in an attacking display that is lateral and lacking punch.

The Munster selection still included most of their key men like captain Tadhg Beirne, Peter O’Mahony, scrum-half Craig Casey, and out-half Jack Crowley.

Friday night ends with big worries for Casey, who leaves Stade Pierre Fabre on crutches and in a knee brace, with a look of concern on his and his coaches’ faces. The scrum-half had been in flying form recently but appears to have suffered a serious injury.

Castres celebrate their win. Ben Brady / INPHO Ben Brady / INPHO / INPHO

He’s one of many Munster men who leave Castres bearing the scars of a miserable night.

Even though the southern province grabbed a losing bonus point that could prove crucial to them advancing into the knock-out stages of the Champions Cup, they’re rightly disappointed with their performance.

Crowley appears to have escaped without injury but he’s one of a few Munster players who would surely love a chance to replay the game in Castres.

Any trip to France needs to involve a good scan of the pages of Midi Olympique, the twice-weekly rugby newspaper, and Friday morning’s edition includes an article focusing on Crowley.

Castres was the scene of Crowley’s first-ever Champions Cup start at out-half for Munster in January 2022 when he shone in a 16-13 victory against the French side. Midi Olympique’s piece notes how Crowley’s star has been on the rise ever since.

“He is already a big player on the world stage,” writes David Bourniquel, but Crowley ends up enduring a night to forget when his kicking is poor and he struggles to get Munster’s attack going in their 16-14 defeat. Rugbyrama, the online sister publication of Midi Olympique, gives him a player rating of 3.5/10.

Team performances are never all down to the out-half but Crowley is someone who takes that burden on himself and will be disappointed with an outing that began and finished with missed kicks to touch that might have put Munster into try-scoring positions.

It’s also noted in the pages of ‘Midol’ that Munster are the team Castres have faced most often in this competition. These “best enemies” have had plenty of ferocious battles down the years and Friday’s encounter adds another chapter to that story.

‘No scrum, no win’ is a popular saying in French rugby and this edition of Castres v Munster underlined that it remains as true as ever. It wasn’t the only reason Munster lost but the reality is that their scrum was destroyed by the beefy home pack.

Munster fans at Stade Pierre Fabre. Ben Brady / INPHO Ben Brady / INPHO / INPHO

Trips to Castres always seem a bit bonkers. It’s a small town of 43,000 people in southern France but the rugby club punches above its weight, with the two most recent of its five Top 14 titles coming in 2013 and 2018. They were in the final again in 2022.

While the Champions Cup has never been a key focus for Castres Olympique [CO], defending their home patch has been. Named after their late, great owner Pierre Fabre, it is a proper fortress and last night’s win over Munster means they remain unbeaten there this season. Toulouse, La Rochelle, and Racing have all lost in Castres in recent months.

Along the walls of the wide corridor under the main stand are photos of CO’s great past players such as Gérard Cholley, Lionel Nallet, Yannick Caballero, Rodrigo Capo Ortega, robotic kicking machine Romain Teulet, and current boss Jeremy Davidson, who was captain from 1998 to 2000.

Out in the stands, there’s always a racket for 80 minutes after kick-off. Every refereeing decision against CO is booed and protested, every big play met with roars of approval. Chants and songs ring around the stadium throughout, while the drumming from the supporters club, les Amis du Rugby, in ‘Le Kop’ at one end of the ground is relentless.

There is good travelling support for Munster too, hundreds of fans making the journey through Toulouse – about a 90-minute drive away – where there are so many reminders that it’s a great rugby city. Images of Antoine Dupont and co. adorn many shops and street corners.

Castres are the little brother in the rivalry but they’re always up for the fight.

There’s nothing fancy about Stade Pierre Fabre or Castres but the welcome to the Irish media is always warm. There aren’t many grounds where staff come around offering journalists beer at 20-minute intervals during the game.

Ben Brady / INPHO Ben Brady / INPHO / INPHO

French rugby has a very different relationship with the media than is the case elsewhere. Access is pretty much all areas and wandering the tunnels of the stadium afterwards is revealing.

An hour after the final whistle, some Castres players are still celebrating in their changing room, continuing their supporters’ chants as they drink cans of beer.

In the ground-level members’ bar that opens out onto the pitch, Castres boss Davidson is toasting their victory with a pint of Guinness, which is reportedly pretty decent at Stade Pierre Fabre.

Meanwhile, Munster players are upstairs having their post-match meal in a cordoned-off area of the VIP section, rather bizarrely allowing punters to stand just metres away and watch them as they eat.

Several of the Munster men then limp out to the team bus, battered and bruised from a tough night in the wild and wonderful Castres.