Castres vs Munster Prediction: Red Army can conquer Castres

Munster will be in for a real battle on Friday night when they make the trip to the Stade Pierre-Fabre to face Castres in the European Champions Cup (20:00, Premier Sports 1)

Alex Jack provides his best bets for Castres vs Munster as well as all the important teams and match odds.

Team news

The hosts make wholesale changes in the pack from the side that lost 38-8 at Northampton last time out, with only Leone Nakawara and Tyler Ardron keeping their places in the forwards.

There’s also six changes in the back division, with only fly-half Louis Le Brun keeping his place in the backline.

Le Brun will be partnered by scrum-half Jeremy Fernandez in the half-backs, while a new-look back-three consists of Remy Baget, Geoffrey Palis and Julien Dumora.

As for Munster, the Red Army have made six changes from the side that beat Stade Francais 33-7 last time out.

Niall Cannell, Stephen Archer, Tadhg Beirne, John Hodnett, Brian Gleeson and Mike Haley all come back into the starting XV for the trip to Southern France.

Jean Kleyn is progressing well with his return from a neck injury, but Friday’s game comes too soon for him.

Veteran scrum-half Conor Murray is unavailable due to an elbow injury, but the Ireland international expected to return to play at some point this month.

Castres vs Munster Odds

Castres are the 5/6 favourites to come out on top on home soil, while Munster are 1/1 to head back to Ireland with the victory.

A draw is available at 20/1, while between 51 and 50 points inclusive to be scored in the game is currently 5/2.

Munster to win @ 1/1 

Castres were blown away by Northampton Saints at a wet and windy Franklin’s Gardens last week and it’s little wonder they have made so many changes to their line-up after an underwhelming display in the East Midlands.

Munster should not and will not be fooled by that last performance in Northampton, with Castres a completely different beast when they play at the Stade Pierre-Fabre.

Winning all of their last nine home games in the Top 14, Castres are well known in France for their excellent record at Stade Pierre-Fabre.

However, Munster know how to get the job done away at Castres, having beaten them 16-13 in their previous meeting on French soil in 2022.

Many of this Munster squad will have memories of that game and what it took to win.

With conditions expected to be wet, with rain forecasted on Friday morning, that should suit Munster and their formidable set of forwards.

Northampton showed how this Castres squad can be exploited in the wet last weekend at Franklin’s Gardens and Munster are good value to do the same and come out on top on Friday.