News

Castres take a crumb of comfort

Friday 21st November 2008

Castres left Paris with more than most on Friday, picking up a bonus point in a 19-12 defeat at the hands of Stade Fran�ais in the Top 14.

In a desperately uninspiring game played in heavy rain, the Parisians always seemed a step ahead in class, yet lacked a leading figure or two in the side to make their superiority count.

Castres full-back Romain Teulet kicked four penalties, but his side will be thoroughly disappointed they did not finish off one of three or four clear-cut chances they created, not least Phil Christophers ignoring Chris Masoe in space half-way through the first half.

Soft defence from Castres enabled the home side to build up a 10-0 lead, firstly after an early penalty from Falie Oelschig, and then when tacklers both failed to bring Julien Arias down and cover Djibril Camara outside him, for the game's only try.

There was plenty of loose open play in the first half despite the weather, with Mathieu Bastareaud in particular making a nuisance of himself to the visitors, and Castres scrum-half Kevin Senio breaking a couple of times.

But for all the thrust, there was barely any cut, and the score at half-time was 13-6, Camara's try and Oelschig's conversion separating the sides.

The second half was effectively drowned out by the rain, with breaks by Guillaume Bousses and Senio both foundering on dropped passes and the boot increasingly used as a weapon.

Oelschig and Teulet shared four more penalties, and Rodrigo Capo Ortega's punch could have cost his side a bonus point, but Oelschig missed the goal with two minutes to go.

The scorers:

For Stade Fran�ais:
Try: Camara
Con: Oelschig
Pens: Oelschig 4

For Castres:
Pens: Teulet 4