Munster Rugby Talking Points: Expect fireworks as Reds take on familiar foe in France

Munster travel to the south of France to face old rivals Castres at the cauldron-like Stade Pierre Fabre on Friday evening, with Ian Costello’s side hoping to maintain their winning start to their Champions Cup campaign.

Castres Munster history

These two are old ‘friends’, as Friday’s meeting will be the 19th match between them in Champions Cup history, and appropriately Castres were Munster’s first-ever away trip in the competition way back in 1995. 

Ten of those clashes have taken place on French soil, with Munster winning five of those, losing four and drawing one.

The last encounter was less than two years ago, with Munster just about escaping with the win, by 13-16, thanks to a 78th-minute Gavin Coombes try. You do not win easily in Castres.

Every time these two lock horns we are reminded of the infamous clash in January 2002 in France that the home side won 21-13, but it was the unsavoury clash between Munster prop Peter Clohessy and Castres back row Ismaella Lassissi that garnered all the headlines.

Clohessy claimed he was bitten on the arm by Lassissi during that game, and after Munster made an official citing, Castres responded with a counter-claim, that Lassissi had been the victim of racist abuse by the Young Munster man. While Castres would later withdraw this allegation, Lassissi ended up receiving a 12-month suspension, although this was eventually overturned on appeal. 

They met a few months later in that year’s semi-final, with Clohessy ending up in the sin bin, as this time Munster won.

2018 saw another feisty clash, with Castres scrum-half Rory Kockott ending up with a three-week suspension after being found guilty of eye-gouging Munster flanker Chris Cloete, while hooker Marc-Antoine Railler also got to sit out a week for the manner he upended Peter O’Mahony off the ball.

Do not expect Barbarians=style rugby on Friday, but do expect fireworks of a different kind.

Momentum

Munster would have been delighted with their victory over Stade Francais last Saturday, with them picking up all five points on offer in their 33-7 win over the French side.

Meanwhile, Castres took a bit of a walloping in Franklin’s Gardens to Northampton Saints, as they lost 38-8, with there never being much doubt around the outcome of that result.

An illustration of how Castres are such a different animal on home soil can be derived from a quick look at their results at the Stade Pierre Fabre this season. 

They have played six and won every single one of them, with the likes of Ronan O’Gara’s La Rochelle and European champions Toulouse being amongst their victims. That aforementioned defeat to Northampton was their sixth straight reversal on the road though. They certainly are consistent.

There is no escaping the realisation that Castres do not have any realistic ambitions in this competition. Their focus is very much on the domestic scene and qualifying for the Top 14 playoffs. Their sole motivation in this competition, as always, revolves around putting on a show at home in front of their own fans. Qualification and progress to the knockout stages? They can take or leave it.

Squad health

Oli Jager and Dave Kilcoyne are available for selection again, which is hopefully a sign that Munster’s front-row injury crisis is at an end, while Tom Ahern also looks ready to go. Both Conor Murray and Jean Kleyn require another week or two to get back in the frame, but the picture is certainly looking rosier than it did a month ago.

On Friday, Munster actually face an opponent with a worse injury crisis than their own, which will be a novel experience. Castres are down the likes of Baptiste Delaporte, Baptiste Cope, Christian Ambadiang, Tom Staniforth and a number of others, and considering they have one of the smaller squads in the Top 14, they really feel the pinch when they lose that many players at once.

These absences present Munster with a great opportunity to grab their second win in the competition, which would put them in a great position to push on for home ties in the knockout stages.