Champions Cup: Munster v Castres Olympique, Thomond Park, Saturday, 5.30pm – Live on Premier Sports 1
Munster and Castres share a storied and record-breaking history. The first task for the players of both teams, ahead of a 20th meeting in the Champions Cup and all its previous iterations, is to pay little heed to past fixtures.
In the mind of a player, such subject matter can be an unwelcome distraction. Munster head coach Clayton McMillan knows all about the danger of distractions, which is probably why he deflected any suggestions linking him to the vacant New Zealand job. He did, however, express his sympathies for the recently deposed All Blacks coach Scott Robertson.
“It’s not normally the New Zealand way to make such a big decision, but it’s one that’s been made and my initial thoughts are with Scott and his family," said McMillan.
“Nobody likes to see players or coaches have to go through that, so my thoughts are with him. To be perfectly honest, with all respect, I haven’t even given any thought to the question that you’ve just asked. We play Castres at Thomond Park, we need a win and really, that’s where all my attention is going.”
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There’s plenty at stake for both sides and performance levels will decide the outcome. Not home advantage, not the statistical patterns of previous encounters and not external expectations of what should transpire. It is set up to be an 80-minute wrangle in front of a near-capacity attendance.
Permutations for the knockout phase matter only for the victors.
“I think there’s a real danger in chasing points,” acknowledged McMillan. “They’ve got to be earned. So, we’ll be approaching a match where it’s win the game first.
“We have put a good plan in place and there’s been good buy-in from the players. If we execute that, then we give ourselves a good chance. If we execute it particularly well, then it opens up the opportunity for us to maybe chase a bonus point. If we don’t win, we have no chance.”
Craig Casey’s swift recovery from an AC shoulder joint injury sustained against Toulon last weekend is a huge plus. The Munster team shows three changes from the trip to France.
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Thaakir Abrahams is named on the right wing in place of the injured Calvin Nash, Niall Scannell is in at hooker while Jean Kleyn replaces Edwin Edogbo. Oli Jager is on the bench – his first matchday involvement since October – while Lee Barron is also among the replacements.
McMillan was asked about how much of a boost Casey’s recovery trajectory is – from having his arm in a sling post-match at Stade Felix Mayol to starting. He was also asked about the influence of the scrumhalf on the squad.
“Every team probably has three or four players that are the heartbeat of the team, both on and off the field,” said the Munster head coach. “They have a lot of value through their leadership, their ability to make other people look and feel good; he’s one of those players for us. He was confident after the game, so I’m happy that he’s proved himself right.”
The Irish province had victory snatched from their grasp in Toulon with a contentious late penalty. However, it highlighted the team’s need to improve in-game discipline.
“That’s probably the one area that let us down, or inhibited our ability to win – our discipline,” McMillan admitted. “There’s a fine edge between being competitive, particularly around the tackle-ball area, the breakdown and the vying-to-win-the-ball-back mentality, and then getting that slightly wrong.
“I’m sometimes loath to call it discipline. I think it’s inaccuracies and decision making. So those are the things we try and work on as skills, just like any other part of the game. We didn’t quite get that right and in big games, all games really, if you’re operating with less than 15 people on the park (a reference to two yellow cards in Toulon) it makes life hard on yourself.
“We’re not a good enough team at the moment to be operating with 14 for 20 minutes of the game, so definitely a work-on.”
Castres, like their hosts, have won just one of three Champions Cup pool games – a 33-0 victory at home to Edinburgh – and have made five changes from the side that lost 43-20 at home to Bath last time out. The repositioning of 25-year-old former French underage international Florent Vanverberghe, from secondrow to number eight, offers an insight into the visitors’ thinking.
The 37-year-old Leone Nakarawa and Canadian Tyler Ardron are familiar faces. So too is ex-All Black centre Jack Goodhue, as well as Australian Tom Staniforth, long-serving wing Geoffrey Palis and Fijian international Vuate Karawalevu, who is ostensibly a wing but playing in the centre.
The French side have a formidable lineout, a modest scrum and a penchant for ill-discipline (43 penalties conceded) in the tournament to date that makes Munster (27) seem like choir boys. They have pace out wide, size in the centre and a good goal-kicking outhalf in Pierre Popelin.
Munster’s ceiling is higher. The challenge is to reinforce that superiority. The players have been forewarned.
“We’ve talked at length this week around what’s at stake; players, the coaching group, everyone in the building has been to this dance before,” McMillan said.
“We put ourselves under some pressure to get a performance and what excites us, what gives us confidence, is that there has been a bit of a Munster trait to be able to rise to these occasions and deliver a result.”
A familiar assignment with no room for complacency.
Munster: Shane Daly; Thaakir Abrahams, Tom Farrell, Alex Nankivell, Ben O’Connor; Jack Crowley, Craig Casey; Jeremy Loughman, Niall Scannell, Michael Ala’alatoa; Jean Kleyn, Fineen Wycherley; Tadhg Beirne (capt), Jack O’Donoghue, Gavin Coombes. Replacements: Lee Barron, Michael Milne, Oli Jager, Edwin Edogbo, Brian Gleeson, Ethan Coughlan, JJ Hanrahan, Dan Kelly.
Castres: Theo Chabouni; Christian Ambadiang, Vuate Karawalevu, Jack Goodhue, Geoffrey Palis; Pierre Popelin, Jeremy Fernandez; Atunaisa Sokobale, Loris Zarantonello, Will Collier; Gauthier Maravat, Tom Staniforth; Baptiste Delaporte (capt), Baptiste Cope, Florent Vanverberghe. Replacements: Teddy Durand-Pradere, Antoine Tichit, Aurelien Azar, Leone Nakarawa, Tyler Ardron, Santiago Arata, Enzo Herve, Atu Manu.
Referee: Matthew Carley (RFU)
