Munster escape with a draw in France
Deep into injury time with the scores level and Munster desperately defending their own line, Castres were denied what they felt was a penalty at the breakdown by the TMO.
Seconds later, with the whistle in the referee's mouth, Benjamin Urdapilleta sliced a drop goal attempt well wide from kickable range.
Conor Murray was sin-binned after just four minutes and while he was off the field, Robert Ebersohn ran in for a try after a fabulous interception.
No sooner had Irish international wing Simon Zebo levelled for Munster than Julien Dumora's try re-established the French side's lead on 32 minutes.
Dave Kilcoyne scored early in the second half after some quick thinking from a penalty by Conor Murray, but Urdapilleta's penalty soon afterwards proved the last addition to the scoreboard in what was a grind of a second half.
The scorers:
For Castres Olympique:
Tries: Ebersohn, Dumora
Cons: Urdapilleta 2
Pen: Urdapilleta
For Munster:
Tries: Zebo, Kilcoyne
Cons: Bleyendaal 2
Pen: Bleyendaal
Yellow cards: Conor Murray (Munster); Robert Ebersohn (Castres)
Teams:
Castres: 15 Julien Dumora, 14 Taylor Paris, 13 Afusipa Taumoepeau, 12 Robert Ebersohn, 11 David Smith, 10 Benjamin Urdapilleta, 9 Rory Kockott, 8 Maama Vaipulu, 7 Steve Mafi, 6 Yannick Caballero, 5 Rodrigo Capo Ortega, 4 Loic Jacquet, 3 Daniel Kotze, 2 Jody Jenneker, 1 Antoine Tichit.
Replacements: 16 Marc-Antoine Rallier, 17 Mihaita Lazar, 18 Damien Tussac, 19 Christophe Samson, 20 Anthony Jelonch, 21 Ludovic Radosavljevic, 22 Florian Vialelle, 23 Armand Batlle.
Munster: 15 Simon Zebo, 14 Darren Sweetnam, 13 Chris Farrell, 12 Rory Scannell, 11 Keith Earls, 10 Tyler Bleyendaal, 9 Conor Murray, 8 CJ Stander, 7 Tommy O'Donnell, 6 Peter O’Mahony (captain), 5 Billy Holland, 4 Mark Flanagan, 3 Stephen Archer, 2 Niall Scannell, 1 Dave Kilcoyne.
Replacements: 16 Rhys Marshall, 17 Liam O’Connor, 18 John Ryan, 19 Robin Copeland, 20 Jack O’Donoghue, 21 Duncan Williams, 22 Ian Keatley, 23 Andrew Conway.
Referee: Matthew Carley (England)
Assistant referees: Tim Wigglesworth (England), Steve Lee (England)
TMO: David Grashoff (England)
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