Coombes’ Late Winner Sends Munster Through To Last 16

Munster snatched a dramatic 16-13 win away to Castres Olympique as Gavin Coombes’ 77th-minute try made it three wins from three in the Heineken Champions Cup.

Young out-half Jack Crowley was 100% from the tee with three penalties and a conversion on his first European start.

Trailing 7-3 at half-time and then 13-9 as the game entered the final five minutes, Tadhg Beirne won a vital turnover penalty as Castres attacked.

Craig Casey nearly scored off a Chris Farrell pass on penalty advantage, but the ball went forward and Munster went for the corner.

The maul was held up but the ball squirted out to the right man in the right place at the right time as number 8 Coombes scooped it up and stretched every inch to touch down.

It was a hard-fought but deserved victory as Johann van Graan’s men played with plenty of attacking intent and came up with the goods in the nick of time.

Captain Peter O’Mahony said afterwards: “It’s incredibly difficult every time we come over here or Castres come to Thomond Park. It always seems to be an incredibly close, physical encounter.

“A real battle up front, a real battle of who breaks first and a battle of the nerves really. It was a real kick contest and it was difficult conditions to play in.

“Our message during the week was that it was going to be a proper 80-minute performance and we had to stick to what we’d been working on. That was really pleasing, we stayed in the fight until the end.

“Their other games did finish like that recently, La Rochelle and stuff, it goes to the wire. We were happy that we stuck to our process and stayed in the fight.”

Other results over the weekend mean Munster are through to the round of 16 with a game to spare. But they will want a favourable home seeding for the knockout stages and that means beating Wasps in Limerick next Sunday.

“Yeah, look, it sets it up well, but I mean, at the end of the day, it doesn’t really matter unless we go and perform next week,” added O’Mahony.

“It’s always about the next one. I suppose the hard thing about this is that you can’t dwell on it, you’ve got to have an eye to Wasps and what they’re going to bring to Thomond Park. It’ll take another big performance.”

This third round clash was a kicking battle throughout as Castres cleverly kept Munster pinned back, but the visitors kept the error count low in looking to gain a foothold.

O’Mahony was to the fore in a great pack effort in the first half, with the Munster skipper stealing Castres lineouts and playing his part in disrupting a number of mauls.

Crowley’s first penalty after 10 minutes from 41 metres gave Munster a 3-0 lead before Niall Scannell departed with a shoulder injury. Diarmuid Barron took his place at hooker.

An inventive Munster attack from deep saw Rory Scannell’s cross-field kick release Keith Earls on the left wing. He linked with Mike Haley whose pass inside found Chris Farrell but he was dragged down.

The ball was recycled and Crowley kicked to Andrew Conway on the right touchline with Castres giving away a penalty. Nonetheless, the home side managed to steal the subsequent lineout and clear their lines.

The French outfit hit the front on the half hour mark, a brilliant outside-of-the-boot dink in behind from Ben Botica was grounded by full-back Thomas Larregain.

Botica converted to make it 7-3 and Castres attacked again late in the half, winger Filipo Nakosi rampaging up the left but Haley got back to win the breakdown penalty.

The Munstermen started the second half brightly, going wide to Conway who pressed with a chip ahead before hacking forward but the ball went dead.

A Beirne turnover penalty in the 43rd minute maintained the momentum and great hands from Crowley, Farrell, Earls and Haley released Jack O’Donoghue on the left wing.

Although the attack was eventually halted by a knock-on, an off-the-ball tackle on Rory Scannell was spotted by the match officials and Crowley’s second penalty made it a one-point game.

A Haley break from deep initiated the next attack with Crowley and O’Mahony both offloading before another big carry from Farrell.

Castres conceded another penalty and Crowley edged Munster in front at 9-7. Botica returned the favour, rewarding the home scrum to retake the lead in the 54th minute.

Scrum half Rory Kockott, on as an early replacement, was keeping Munster pinned back with some well-placed kicks. A second penalty from Botica made it 13-9 with 14 minutes remaining.

Munster replacement John Hodnett showed great pace to make a surging break downfield, with Castres again infringing and Munster going for the corner.

Credit to the hosts, however, as they frustrated the men in red once again, steaking the lineout and relieving the pressure.

Nonetheless, Beirne’s turnover on the 75-minute mark gave Munster once last chance. The pack did the rest with Coombes coming up trumps once again to clinch a crucial away victory.