Champions Cup: “Always a guy to make up for it”, how Castres closed ranks against Munster

The bill had been a little too high for two weeks. And Munster came to collect the tip Friday evening in Castres. Except that the Tarnais closed their wallets, and instead saved in their bank account with a view to a possible qualification for the round of 16 of the Champions Cup. That the victory over the Limerick players still makes it largely possible (16-14). “Victory was essential to stay alive in this competition,” said Olympian manager Jeremy Davidson straight away. It’s done. And it was also important to win for next week, in order to gain confidence. »

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Because next Saturday, the CO will have the right to a new meeting in prime time, in the Top 14 this time, against UBB in Pierre-Fabre. And when we know that Bordeaux-Bègles has the best attack in the championship (350 points scored), we understand why the manager relished this success all the more, and the defensive attitude of his team, among others. Because the two previous Castres outings were not models in terms of solidity.

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Between the 54 points in Clermont, and the 38 in Northampton, the “blue and white” remained with a heavy record of 92 units conceded in the space of 160 minutes. With the Irish left at 14 points on Saturday, Castres thus signed its third best defensive copy, accounting at least, of the season, after that delivered against Stade Français, mid-October (35-13), and against Perpignan in September ( 27-12). “We showed courage and solidarity,” praised CO back Julien Dumora. We were very good defensively against a Munster team who sequenced the playing times perfectly.”

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Ardron, Maravat and Goodhue had warm shoulders

The state of mind highlighted by the Béarnais was valuable in this case given the indiscipline of the “blue and white”. At 14 for half an hour (three yellow cards), Castres had, mainly after the break, to plug the slightest hole for a Munster, certainly clumsy and often penalized without strangely receiving a card for all that, but more oppressive. “I’m delighted with the pressure we were able to put on the Irish. Even if they were offloading, we always had a guy to make up for it, who worked for the team,” Davidson said.

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Tyler Ardron finished the game with 13 tackles, 12 for Jack Goodhue and Gauthier Maravat. Without forgetting this defense on a carried ball (54), interesting defensive sequences (22, 24), or this ball recovered on the 40 meter line with Santiago Arata’s pressure on Paddy Patterson (60). “We have to keep all that because next weekend, we will challenge a very fast and dangerous Bordeaux back triangle,” warns the manager. A triangle that must be contained in order to avoid bankruptcy.