Castres 17-17 Munster: Two match points each after error-ridden draw
By Michael Cantillon
Last Updated: 16/10/17 8:12am
Munster and Castres played out a 17-17 draw at the Stade Pierre-Antoine in Champions Cup Pool 4 in a scrappy affair which will do little to satisfy either camp.
A frenetic first half saw tries from Robert Ebersohn and Julien Dumora for Castres and a Simon Zebo effort for Munster, with the French side 14-10 ahead at the break.
A Dave Kilcoyne try for Munster in the second half looked to have put them on course for a precious away victory, but the accuracy of the Irish province left a lot to be desired, as they failed to make use of the territory they gained.
Castres fly-half Benjamin Urdapilleta levelled things up with a penalty at 17-17, but missed a late penalty and drop-goal attempt at the death to win it for the hosts.
A strong start by Munster with ball in hand was entirely flipped around after just six minutes when, after Afusipa Taumoepeau had won a superb turnover on the ground, Conor Murray was sin-binned for tackling Dumora without the ball when a try looked on.
Munster defended strongly but, just when it seemed as if they would survive the sin-bin period unscathed, centre Chris Farrell threw a dangerous long pass which Ebersohn intercepted to run in the opening try.
The Munster response was a good one, albeit there were still errors galore, and after 31 minutes Zebo crossed for their first try to level things after a superb Murray pass and Rory Scannell dummy line.
Almost immediately, however, the Irish province were behind again as centre Scannell blotted his copy-book by missing touch and, with brother Niall Scannell down injured, Castres ruthlessly exploited the space with Dumora crossing.
Munster piled on the pressure towards the close of the first half and were eventually rewarded when Ebersohn was sin-binned for cynically stopping Murray from touching the base of the post.
Peter O'Mahony and co decided to take the simple points on offer, leaving the half-time score at 14-10 to Castres.
Munster started the second period strongly and after 47 minutes they hit the front, as after quick thinking by Murray, who took a tap penalty, prop Kilcoyne powered his way over for a great score.
Bleyendaal's conversion stretched the lead to three points but Munster failed to build on it whatsoever, and just three minutes later Urdapilleta levelled things with a penalty following Murray's discretion at the scrum.
Thereafter, Munster failed to make use of promising field position with countless knock-ons and turnovers conceded, while Castres could, and probably should, have won it themselves at the last.
First Urdapilleta missed a penalty attempt from a similar position to his previous successful one with just two minutes remaining.
Then, after Munster survived a TMO review on Robin Copeland slapping the ball out of a Castres player's hand at the ruck (referee Matt Carley ruling it just a knock-on), Urdapilleta sent a drop-goal wide to end the game.
Considering the amount of errors in their display, Munster will be somewhat relieved, if frustrated, to leave with two points, while Castres will also know the game was firmly there for the taking.
Whether or not a draw is a good result for either side will only be determined in time, with Munster hosting Racing 92 next week, live on Sky Sports Arena, and Castres travelling to Leicester.
