Munster cut loose to set up decider

RUGBY/Castres - 9 Munster - 46: They're something else, they really are. Not alone did they keep their flickering Heineken European Cup hopes alive, they did so vibrantly, even having the temerity to secure a bonus point as early as the 47th minute.

An under-strength Castres made for desultory opposition and all but disintegrated, but they still had to be subdued and were done so by one of Munster's most complete performances in their illustrious Euro history.

The net effect is that Munster have kept the outcome of Pool One alive until a typically seismic finale at home to Sale next Saturday, no matter what the Sharks do at home to Dragons tomorrow. It might require another bonus point, but victory then will assuredly earn them a quarter-final place at least as one of the two best runners-up.

Admittedly, while delighted with the seven-try win and especially the performances of their young guns, Declan Kidney said afterwards: "There's still a tough game to be played next week and the bonus point won't make any difference if we don't win."

Anthony Foley praised "an absolutely brilliant win and a great achievement to come down here and do it the way we did it. But I did say recently that one day we were going to give some team a good hiding and I'm happy that this came true in the south of France."

Saying they had to be "brave" to opt to play into a strong, first-half wind, the Munster captain also hailed the control of Ronan O'Gara at outhalf.

Ultimately, in the 10th of what have often been bad-blooded affairs, this was something of a bloodless coup. Many of the traditional virtues were applied, their rolling maul establishing a foothold and sucking the lifeblood from home team and fans alike.

At his towering best and ruling the air, Paul O'Connell led the way, and the two tries he scored merely varnished what was an unstinting physical effort.

The backrow were full of muscular intent, as was John Hayes in his best performance of the season, and Castres's limited attacking game was largely kept in check around the fringes.

Amazingly, they even made more tackles than Castres and missed considerably fewer, while the setpieces were excellent. And how Jerry Flannery played as well as he did through obvious back pain only he knows.

However, as Kidney had maintained beforehand, "We can't be afraid to attack either." And how!

Working off a stream of quick ball, forwards and backs alike contributed to their continuity game, and O'Gara was at his masterful best, taking Peter Stringer's silver-salver service flat and on the run to mix his game superbly with lengthy passes off either hand.

Outside him, Trevor Halstead cut the Castres midfield to shreds, with Barry Murphy also cutting an impressive swathe, as two other indigenous youngsters, Ian Dowling and Tomás O'Leary, coming on at right wing, pitched in. By the end, Castres were simply devoured by a rout - their heaviest in 27 Cup ties.

The sides exchanged penalties early on, and though Munster didn't convert openings in the 10 minutes Jeremy Castex was binned for bringing down one of several mauls, they began to make inroads into a porous Castres.

The first try came when, after a lineout in the corner, it seemed O'Connell was taken out in landing heavily, but the Munster pack sniff the line like tigers at feeding time, and although Denis Leamy was held up, Marcus Horgan was driven over the line by Hayes and O'Connell.

A brilliant second try followed five minutes later after Freddie Tuilagi spilled the ball in a double hit from John Kelly and O'Gara. Stringer's box kick bounced helpfully for Anthony Foley as the covering Guillame Bernad slipped, Stringer, Wallace and Horan took it on before the ball was moved crossfield off the recycle with skip passes by O'Gara and Halstead for Shaun Payne to score.

Early in the second half O'Gara put a clever angular kick through for Kelly to gather and score.

The bonus was swiftly secured. This time Murphy made the initial 50-metre incision from a perfectly weighted, left to right, skip pass by O'Gara, before O'Connell scored off a close-in offload by Stringer.

O'Gara pulled the strings again, first with a crosskick for Dowling then with a long, flat skip pass for O'Connell to score again, before making a 60-metre dash off an intercept and eventually offloading for the supporting O'Leary to score.

The team returned to the pitch and their loyal hordes, who claim ownership of this team in a way no other European outfit can better, for a mutual love-in.

SCORING: 2 mins: Marticorena pen 3-0; 10: O'Gara pen 3-3; 33: Horan try 3-8; 38: Payne try 3-13; 40: Marticorena pen 6-13; 40 (+4): Marticorena pen 9-13 (half-time 9-13); 42: Kelly try, O'Gara con 9-20; 47: O'Connell try, O'Gara con 9-27; 57: O'Connell try 9-32; 67: O'Leary try, O'Gara con 9-39; 80: O'Leary try, Manning con 9-46.

CASTRES: P Christophers; Y Fior, N Raffault, F Tuilagi, B Fleming; L Marticorena, M Barrau; J Castex, D Romieu, D Attoub, K Ghezal, N Spanghero, R Froment, G Taussac, G Bernard. Replacements: C Hoeft for Taussac (19-25 mins), J Puricelli for Froment, R Teulet for Marticorena (both 65 mins). Sinbinned: Castex (15 mins), Teulet (72 mins).

MUNSTER: S Payne; J Kelly, B Murphy, T Halstead, I Dowling; R O'Gara, P Stringer; M Horan, J Flannery, J Hayes, D O'Callaghan, P O'Connell, D Leamy, D Wallace, A Foley (capt). Replacements: T O'Leary for Kelly (44 mins), F Pucciariello for Horan (72 mins), M O'Driscoll for O'Connell (73 mins), D Fogarty for Flannery (73 mins), S Keogh for Foley, J Manning for O'Gara, G Connolly for Halstead (77 mins).

Referee: Chris White (England).