David Corkery on Munster rugby: Reds prepare for another brutal encounter

The bigger they come the harder they must fall.

Having had only a six-day turnaround to prepare for their next Investec Champions Cup battle against another French side, Ian Costello would have spent much of this week preparing his players for what could well be another brutal encounter.

After last Saturday’s reckless visit of Stade Francis to Thomond Park, where the visitors truly should have had three instead of two red cards brandished against them, Costello and his coaching ticket will have had to find a happy medium with the work-load in the build-up.

Go too easy and the players will not be ready for what playing on French soil means to the French sides, whilst opting for a few sessions of last-man-standing, you run the risk of draining the players and risk picking up a few fresh injuries.

Even though Castres are at best a mid-table side in their Top 14 league and were completely annihilated when they travelled to Northampton last week in their first Champions Cup tie, Munster must be very wary of what lies in wait for them when they arrive at the gates of Stade Pierre-Fabre.

In typical French fashion, Casters who are coached by former Irish International Jeremy Davidson have some kind of mental block when it comes to winning away from home. 

However, when they lace up their boots in their dressing room and run out onto their turf some kind of mystical spell cloaks them with a blanket of invincibility.

Thus far this season, Castres have played 11 games in their Top 14 league, winning six and losing five and yes you guessed it, all of their six wins have manifested at home.

Only a few weeks ago they beat Ronan O’Gara’s La Rochelle and a few weeks prior to that they sent the mighty Toulouse scampering home with their tails lodged firmly between their legs. So for those who thought this game was going to be an easy win on the road, can I ask you to please think again...

Castres, again like most French sides, base their game around picking the biggest and ugliest forwards they can find and send them into battle with one directive, to demolish anything that stands in their way.

CRISIS

Even though Munster’s front row crisis has eased considerably with the return of Oli Jager and Dave Kilcoyne from injury, you can be sure as night follows day that Castres will target the Munster scrum thus looking to put as much pressure on the Munster half-back pairing.

Kilcoyne, 35, has not taken to the pitch since the St Stephen’s Day clash against Leinster in the URC nearly a year ago.

Having picked up a shoulder injury that day which ended up setting off a series of other misfortunate occurrences, Kilcoyne will hope that his run of bad luck has come to an end and that he will be able to see out the remainder of his career on his terms.

Thankfully Munster reported a reasonably clean bill of health after last week. They will still be without the services of Conor Murray and Jean Kleyn, but their bench is sure to play a vital role in subduing what is going to be a very determined and impactful bunch of unwavering French men.

During the week it was very interesting and somewhat concerning to read that Munster’s attack coach Mike Prendergast had confirmed his name was in the hat to become the province's next head coach.

I’m not 100% sure if the timing of this announcement was correct, but it's done now and I just hope it doesn’t undermine Ian Costello’s current leadership duties.

In recent years, the head coach role of Munster has become somewhat of a poison chalice, but Prendergast feels that the time is now right for him.

Having served his apprenticeship in France with Grenoble, Oyonnax, Stade Francais and Racing 92, before returning to Munster in 2022 you can be sure the knowledge he enjoys about French rugby will have been dispersed amongst Munster’s key playmakers for this tie.

It was extremely pleasing, last week, to see Thaakir Abrahams and Shane Daly cross the whitewash after some sublime passages of play and I really hope we will see more of this expansive game plan tonight.

REAL DEAL

Abrahams looks like the real deal, but one swallow does not make a summer and what his teammates want to see from him now is a level of consistency that the likes of Keith Earls and Simon Zebo brought to the jersey. Maybe this is asking too much, but all we can do is sit, watch and hope.

This game tonight is going to challenge Costello, Prendergast and all the players with a completely different set of circumstances to what they faced last week and if they take just one backward step they will be engulfed by a side who have forgotten how to lose in their back garden.