Johann van Graan has lauded the character his Munster side showed to snatch a last-gasp victory over Castres that sealed the province’s passage to the knockout stages of the Champions Cup.

The game was dominated by the boot, but Munster ultimately held their nerve to clinch a 16-13 victory.

Fullback Thomas Larregain gave the home team the edge when he collected a clever kick by Ben Botica to touch down after 26 minutes.

Botica converted and kicked two penalties while young flyhalf Jack Crowley kept the visitors in touch with three penalties.

In the closing minutes, Munster opted not to kick at goal and were rewarded when hulking No 8 Gavin Coombes crashed over for the match-winning try.

“It was a tough game, two teams having a go at each other – a typical Munster vs Castres game,” Van Graan said.

“I’m incredibly proud of the group, you don’t just come here and win. We spoke about an 80-minute performance the whole week and we certainly got that. Everybody gave it their all and we’re very happy with the four points.

“We had one or two uncharacteristic errors in the lineout five yards away, we had one in the first half and one in the second half. You have to give credit to Castres’ lineout as well and they took a chance. Not a lot of teams contest five yards away, they took a chance and did.

“The one that mattered, we finished. I thought we had some very good attacking passages. One or two balls went to ground in the 22 but I thought from a performance point of view, it was some really good stuff.”