Munster cruise without theatrics

Mick Galwey sat behind a table in a small portakabin, a dozen tape recorders thrust towards him and asked to pick through the strands of a Munster victory that had guaranteed a home quarter-final against Biarritz in Thomond Park next Sunday (2.45).

In two short sentences he encapsulated not only the essence of Munster's victory over a spirited and resilient Castres team at Musgrave Park on Saturday, but also the mindset and attitude that has underpinned their Heineken European Cup adventure over the past two seasons.

"We're here to win games. Unfortunately we're not entertainers, but we want to be winners."

The Munster captain's face creased with laughter, aware how his tongue-in-cheek revelation sounded: there is, though, many a true word spoken in jest. The province has fostered a remarkable winning culture, where victories are the most precious commodity. The manner in which the winning post is reached is secondary.

On Saturday, Munster played some superb rugby in the opening 30 minutes, high tempo, good recycling, excellent ball retention. They grabbed a brace of tries and might have added a couple more. In the second half, backed by a strong wind, the pace of their game dropped, but apart from a 10-minute passage, they smothered the contest with a commonsense approach. Ronan O'Gara kicked long and they policed the midfield with extra bodies.

Castres never gave up, and indeed clawed their way back to just a seven-point deficit on 51 minutes, but the remaining half-chances of the match belonged to the home side. The decision to play against the wind, taken by Galwey after winning the toss, held the key to the contest.

"We always seem to play into the wind," the Munster captain admitted. "Especially on a day like today, we were going to because it always focuses a team.

"Sometimes you'll go out thinking that the wind will do it for you, certainly it didn't do it for us in the second half: we worked harder in the first half."

Conditions were demanding, the drizzle, strong wind and sodden underfoot conditions had to be factored into any gameplan. Galwey concurred: "It wasn't a day for flashy rugby, we just wanted to play winning rugby."

Munster's pick-and-drive philosophy in the first 40 minutes, the emphasis on the quick tap-and-go from penalties and free kicks, combined with exemplary handling and rucking placed Castres under intense pressure from which they managed to escape only periodically.

The visitors' cause was dogged by typical Gallic indiscipline, a fact that their Irish international second row, Jeremy Davidson, alluded to in the aftermath. "I think you have all seen it before, French indiscipline. It's quite hard to account for at times. The first half was really ridiculous. We couldn't get into the game. So many penalties were given away that we didn't have the ball."

One glaring and costly lapse was the sin-binning of centre Eric Artiguste on 17 minutes. Referee Colin White had twice warned the French team for persistent offside prior to dismissing Artiguste for a similar infringement. Munster led 8-5 at that juncture, having recovered from the concession of an early try to Castres full back Guillaume Delmotte.

Castres explored the blindside from a ruck on the Munster 22 through hooker Raphael Ibanez, but with defenders outnumbering attackers, there appeared little danger. Delmotte, though, took a good line, used his strength to eke out a gap and his arcing run took him away from Peter Stringer's tackle. Gregor Townsend failed with the conversion.

"We were never going to panic," Galwey said. "This team is not known for panicking in pressure situations, we reacted well, went up the field and got a penalty to bring it back to 5-3."

O'Gara kicked the penalty, Anthony Foley was driven over for an unconverted try from a lineout before full back Dominic Crotty took advantage of another excellent passage of play from the Munster pack to force his way over in the corner against a Castres team down to 14 players. The outhalf kicked a superb touchline conversion.

During this period of ascendancy it was the Munster pack that deserved the plaudits, outside of the occasional surge from Killian Keane and Mike Mullins in midfield. The Munster eight excelled, but it was in the second half that the true quality of the performances of man of the match David Wallace and the ageless Peter Clohessy were revealed. The work-rate of the pair was remarkable, both in ball carrying and their defensive duties.

Townsend dropped a goal and kicked a penalty while O'Gara tagged on a couple of penalties as the game petered out to an easily discernible conclusion. Galwey then turned his attention to next weekend. "We've just one game to win this month and we must treat that like a final. We won't be looking beyond that."

Biarritz's pilgrimage to the home of Limerick rugby - Thomond Park - next Sunday and the reception they can expect will make Donnybrook seem like a theatre audience. Munster coach Declan Kidney will demand of his players that they approach the game in the same professional manner that has seen them win five or their six pool matches: then again, the players will demand it of themselves. It is their way.

Scoring sequence: 4 mins: Delmotte try, 0-5; 10: O'Gara penalty, 3-5; 16: Foley try, 8-5; 24: Crotty try, O'Gara conversion, 15-5; 38: Townsend drop goal, 15-8. Half-time: 15-8; 50: O'Gara penalty, 18-8; 51: Townsend penalty, 18-11; 62: O'Gara penalty, 21-11.

MUNSTER: D Crotty; J Kelly, M Mullins, K Keane, A Horgan; R O'Gara, P Stringer; P Clohessy, F Sheahan, J Hayes; M Galwey (capt), J Langford; A Quinlan, A Foley, D Wallace. Replacements: J Holland for Kelly (h-t); J Staunton for Crotty (72 mins).

CASTRES: G Delmotte; F Plisson, O Sarramea, E Artigutse, P Garrigues; G Townsend, F Seguier; L Toussaint, R Ibanez (capt), M Reggiardo; J Davidson, F Laluque; J Diaz, T Labrousse, G Taussac. Replacements: S Bonarimo for Toussaint (54 mins); T Bourdet for Laluque (54 mins); A Albuoy for Seguier (57 mins); A Larkin for Plisson (64 mins); C Batou for Ibanez (70 mins); L Tsbadze for Reggiardo (70 mins). Sin binned: E Artiguste (17-27 mins).

Referee: C White (Eng).