Munster Crashes Out of Champions Cup After Narrow Defeat to Castres
The Munster Rugby team has been knocked out of the Investec Champions Cup after a thrilling but ultimately disappointing home defeat to Castres. The French side edged ahead by two points, securing their sixth victory over Munster in 20 European encounters.
Munster's Craig Casey had opened the scoring with a try, but Castres' early goal from Vuate Karawalevu was quickly cancelled out by Casey and then Jack O'Donoghue. However, before the interval, Castres took control when Theo Chabouni scored after a chipped pass over Munster's defense.
In the second half, Munster equalized through Tom Farrell's counterpart, but this was swiftly reversed as Geoffrey Palis capitalized on a looping pass to score Castres' third try. Munster trailed by nine points until Christian Amadaiang crossed for his team only to see Jeremy Fernandez extend Castres' lead with a superb conversion.
Munster made a late push for the win, which ultimately proved too little, too late. The final score was 29-27 in favor of Castres.
This means that Munster will now focus on competing in this season's Challenge Cup, pending the outcome of Gloucester's match against Toulon.
The victory marked Castres' second success over Munster in 20 European encounters and gives them hope for progressing further into the competition.
The Munster Rugby team has been knocked out of the Investec Champions Cup after a thrilling but ultimately disappointing home defeat to Castres. The French side edged ahead by two points, securing their sixth victory over Munster in 20 European encounters.
Munster's Craig Casey had opened the scoring with a try, but Castres' early goal from Vuate Karawalevu was quickly cancelled out by Casey and then Jack O'Donoghue. However, before the interval, Castres took control when Theo Chabouni scored after a chipped pass over Munster's defense.
In the second half, Munster equalized through Tom Farrell's counterpart, but this was swiftly reversed as Geoffrey Palis capitalized on a looping pass to score Castres' third try. Munster trailed by nine points until Christian Amadaiang crossed for his team only to see Jeremy Fernandez extend Castres' lead with a superb conversion.
Munster made a late push for the win, which ultimately proved too little, too late. The final score was 29-27 in favor of Castres.
This means that Munster will now focus on competing in this season's Challenge Cup, pending the outcome of Gloucester's match against Toulon.
The victory marked Castres' second success over Munster in 20 European encounters and gives them hope for progressing further into the competition.