Munster first to qualify

Johne Murphy: Munster try-scorer

Munster were far from convincing despite beating Castres 26-10 at Thomond Park to become the first qualifiers for the Heineken Cup quarter-finals.

Johne Murphy's eighth-minute try set the Pool One leaders on their way to a 16-7 half-time lead, with Yannick Caballero hitting back for the French outfit.

Although Castres had nothing but pride to play for, their understrength side ensured a frustrating second half for the home faithful until Wian du Preez touched down with 12 minutes to go.

Munster's display was littered with unforced errors and missed chances and they will need to up their game at Northampton in round six if they are to secure a home draw in the last eight.

The Irish outfit set about their task with a couple of surges from man of the match Donnacha Ryan and James Couglan which almost brought them an early try.

But Castres could only watch as a training ground move at a lineout involving Ryan, Conor Murray and Murphy sent the latter through Thierry Lacrampe's weak tackle and over for a converted score.

Defiant

Pierre Bernard missed a kickable penalty after BJ Botha infringed at a scrum, but the Munster set piece gave very little away after that.

Ronan O'Gara, now the tournament's most capped player with 102 appearances, fired over the first of his penalty goals in the 16th minute.

But Castres, who enjoyed a good chunk of first half possession, silenced the large crowd with a try after Ibrahim Diarra's break and quick tap from Lacrampe.

Munster were caught cold as a quick thread of passes ended with Saimone Taumoepeau putting flanker Caballero past Lifeimi Mafi's challenge and over to the left of the posts.

Bernard added the extras to make it 10-7 but Munster tightened their grip in the second quarter, with O'Gara providing direction and captain Paul O'Connell impressing in the air and at the breakdown.

O'Gara stretched the lead back to nine points by the break with two more penalties but some defiant defending from the French kept the hosts at bay late on in the opening period.

Intensified

Bernard reduced the deficit to 16-10 with a crisply-struck long range penalty early in the second half, but O'Gara struck the right post when trying to reply at the opposite end.

The visitors then kept O'Gara out close to their posts, but a solid scrum led to the Cork man punting into touch as their try-scoring search intensified.

Castres' commitment in the tackle saw them hold out and Munster had to settle for another three points from O'Gara, who slotted over from a central position.

Murray had a try ruled out for blocking from O'Connell and despite having scrum half Lacrampe sin-binned for persistent infringements, Castres' try-line remained intact.

That was until Mafi found some space in midfield, getting the hosts enough momentum to send South African loosehead du Preez piling over from a few metres out.