Munster director of rugby Rassie Erasmus admitted his side were lucky to leave Castres with two points at the end of an error-strewn encounter at Stade Pierre Fabre.

Munster were forced to survive a second-half onslaught from their hosts as they held on for a 17-17 draw in their Champions Cup Pool Four opener.

"In the last two or three minutes we definitely tried really hard to throw it away," said Erasmus, who saw Benjamin Urdapilleta's late penalty for the hosts held up by the breeze, while the Argentinian also fired an after-the-hooter drop-goal attempt wide of the upright.

"[A draw] is definitely not what we wanted, we would have loved more, but I guess when we start the week next week it's better to see two on the board than zero.

"It's definitely not one of the best performances we've had in the past few months, but I'd rather have two than nothing.

"Castres have only lost once at home this season. They're a difficult team to play. They're passionate, intense, but that doesn't take away from the excuse we could have won the game. That's the disappointing thing.

"We were maybe a little bit naive sometimes, but we'll try and learn from that."Erasmus insisted, however, that the result mattered more than the performance.

"It probably wasn't one of the prettiest games to watch," he said. "But I would rather take that, getting two points and playing scrappy, than playing a wonderful, beautiful game like last week against Leinster, when we scored three tries and got one point out of the game.

"Erasmus also refused to put an exact date on his departure from his position at Munster after it was reported it could leave to take up his new role as the South African Rugby Union's director of rugby as early as November 1.

"We know now who's the coach - Johann van Graan," he said.

"When he comes here and he's comfortable and Munster is comfortable, then I will leave. If that happens before November 1, then that will be so.

"Both sides scored two tries apiece, and the scorer of Castres' second, full-back Julien Dumora, said his team "deserved better" from the game.

He said: "We found holes. We had chances to score, but we made mistakes with our finishing."