Castres 9 Munster 46: Munster's hopes of finishing top of Pool One were boosted with a 46-9 win at Castres in the Heineken Cup.

Marcus Horan and Shaun Payne both crossed early in the first half before the visitors conceded sloppy tries late in the first 40 minutes.
 
But Paul O'Connell and Tomas O'Leary scored two each in the second half, with John Kelly also going over, to help Munster record a comfortable victory - and an all-important bonus point ahead of the crunch clash with group leaders Sale.

Laurent Marticorena started the ball rolling with a penalty before Ronan O'Gara also scored as Munster dominated the early stages, culminating in Horan's try after 32 minutes.

Payne soon followed that up with another cross over to capitalise on expert team play by the Irish side.

Marticorena would not be denied, though, and kicked two more penalties to peg back Munster and give Castres a foundation upon which they failed to really build.

Munster responded gallantly after the break and Kelly quickly went over to take advantage of O'Gara's incisive kick.

O'Connell soon followed that up with his first of the match and wasted little time adding a second having secured the bonus.

With Castres disillusioned, O'Gara set up O'Leary with some alert play close to the line before the latter completed the route late on.

The bonus point win hurled Declan Kidney's side to the top of the Pool standings - leaving them level on 18 points with long-time leaders Sale Sharks, who they meet at Thomond Park next Saturday.

Crucially, Philippe Saint Andre's Sharks have another game before then - they line out against the Dragons on Sunday - but a buoyant Munster are right back in the hunt for top spot.

But on a night when Munster captain Anthony Foley was making his 155th competitive appearance for the province, the men in red were fittingly on song and are in good form heading into the showdown with the English side.