The sun shone brilliantly on the travelling Red Army and Blue Battalion from Munster and Leinster now stationed in the picturesque southern French rugby hotbed of Toulouse. Gerry Thornley reports from Toulouse.
More of the same is forecast this weekend. It should be quite a double header.
For Munster especially they know this base better than any outside of their own province, this being their sixth time here. Their comparative worldliness is palpable.
It's Munster's misfortune that they are the first team ever in the history of the European Cup to have won their first five games and yet can still be overtaken as pool winners by their opponents on the final day. And their opponents must win to stay alive. This game couldn't have panned out worse really.
Of all the cauldrons in all of France, the Stade Pierre-Antoine is liable to be as white hot as any Munster could have picked this afternoon. Munster won here at the start of last season's campaign but some of the players can recall with equal clarity the torrid day in the Heineken Cup's inaugural year when Castres scored a late try to win. The partisan crowd were stoked up to such a degree that Munster now joke they were almost half relieved.
Furthermore, Castres were not only a better side in the first meeting in Thomond Park this season compared to last but have since improved again. Yet Munster give the impression of a team who may have turned a corner, who've had their wake-up call and are now primed for a return to their best. And, with John Hayes passed fit yesterday, if all else fails they've got the best replacements' bench they've probably ever taken into a game.
Besides, by comparison to this afternoon, last week Munster's necks were really on the line, albeit at home to the comparatively inferior Harlequins.
"There was a lot of pressure last week," says Niall O'Donovan, Munster's assistant-coach. "If we had lost then we were facing being out of the competition completely." This week, that pressure is on Castres, for they know they mightn't qualify at all if they lose.
Another way of looking at that of course is that it will give them an additional motivation, and an extra edge today, for nothing motivates quite like fear.
"I watched them before Christmas and they beat the living sugar out of Montferrand," admitted O'Donovan. In last year's meeting here Castres had more holes in their defence than the proverbial soupstrainer and capsized completely in the last 10 minutes.
However, as the Thomond meeting showed, when their line was only breached once, Castres' defence has tightened immeasurably. "They don't give up tries, plus their fitness levels have come up as well," said O'Donovan.
"They'e getting more and more phases together, and they're lasting that bit longer as well."
O'Donovan has no doubts about what to expect. "When they played against Montferrand none of their backs were under six feet. They're big strong runners who just run straight and they play a very direct game. It's going to be very, very physical. We remember last year. After 20 minutes I was nearly thinking 'if we hold it to 45 we'll be doing well'."
Another explosive start by Castres seems almost as sure as the sun shining. "It's all going to come down to what we do in the first 20 minutes of the game. Without a shadow. How we can actually stand up to them in the first 20 minutes, 'cos knowing them they'll throw the kitchen sink at us. What's different to other years is that they're actually lasting longer as well."
Castres still hadn't finalised their starting line-up by yesterday yet you can't help but feel that Munster's chances will rise significantly if the metronomic and curiously individualistic kicking style of converted scrumhalf Romain Teulet is ruled out of the equation.
In which case the dangerman Ugo Mola, the Cup's leading try scorer with seven tries thus far, will switch from wing to full back and presumably Gregor Townsend will take over the goal-kicking.
As familiar as they are with this Toulouse base, slightly over an hour from Castres, Munster will be further inspired by their remarkable travelling support. Officially it's expected to number about 500. Unofficially, it's liable to be upward of 1,000 in the 9,000-odd sell-out.
Logic decrees that Castres are favourites to win: they're at home and they're playing for their lives, therefore they'll probably win. Yet Munster so often turn logic on its head.
It's just a hunch, but they're a big occasion team, you sense they're due one of their big performances and one of their big wins.
Castres v Munster
Stade Pierre-Antoine, Castres
(3.00 local time, 2.00 Irish)
Live on Network 2 and RTÉ Radio One.
CASTRES: R Teulet/U Mola; U Mola, N Berryman, E Artiguste, S Longstaff; G Townsend, A Albouy; M Reggiardo, R Vigneux, B Moyle, N Spanghero, C Fernandez-Lobbe, A Costes, I Lassissi, R Froment. Replacements: tbc.
MUNSTER: D Crotty; J Kelly, M Mullins, J Holland, A Horgan; R O'Gara, M Prendergast; M Horan, F Sheahan, P Clohessy, M Galwey, M O'Driscoll, J Williams, A Foley, A Quinlan. Replacements: J Hayes, J Baleny, P O'Connell, D Wallace, D Hegarty, J Staunton, R Henderson.
REFEREE: Tony Spreadbury (England).
PREVIOUS MEETINGS: 1995-96 - Castres 19 Munster 12. 2000-01 - Castres 29 Munster 32, Munster 21 Castres 11. 2001-02 - Munster 28 Castres 23.
LEADING TRY SCORERS: Castres - Mola 7, Berryman 3. Munster - Jason Holland 3.
Leading points scorers: Castres - Teulet 54. Munster - O'Gara 81.
ODDS (Paddy Powers): 4/6 Castres, 16/1 Draw, 6/5 Munster. Handicap odds (= Munster =4pts) 10/11 Castres, 14/1 Draw, 10/11 Munster.
FORECAST: Munster to win.
