Castres continues its winning streak at home against Stade Toulousain. This Saturday, Castres Olympique overthrew a two-faced Toulouse team during the 5th day of Top 14 (28-23). Initially overwhelmed by Toulouse pressure in the first period, the Tarnais were able to make the difference after returning from the locker room, thanks to their commitment in the scrum and the remarkable performance of Abraham Papali’i.
Already defeated last week against UBB, the Haut-Garonnais continued with a second defeat and still failed to win at Pierre-Fabre, where they have not won since April 2019.
Stung in their pride as champions during the defeat against Bordeaux-Bègles, the Toulouse residents wanted to display a conquering state of mind within the framework of this derby. In the first period, the Rouge-et-Noirs were able to suffocate their opponents with considerable pressure put on offensively and defensively. The forwards played a big role in attack, to create impact and push their team forward, but also in defense, with several decisive and authoritarian tackles from Joel Merkler and Manny Meafou in particular.
Captain and lined up at the opening in the absence of Romain Ntamack, Thomas Ramos was particularly inspired in the creation and finishing, scoring the first thirteen points for Toulouse including a try taking advantage of the wait-and-see attitude of the opposing defense on closed scrum (8th).
Three small points for Toulouse in the second period
If they were able to set the pace on several sequences under the leadership of Rémy Baget, the Castres had difficulty matching during the first act, in particular because of their indiscipline and their inaccuracies in the rucks. Scrum half Santiago Arata was still able to take advantage of a good maul from his teammates five meters away to get back into the match (18th).
But Toulouse learned from their mistakes and wanted to be diligent this evening, with an effective try by Peato Mauvaka on a high-quality ball carried (33rd). Returning from the locker room, the Tarn forwards sounded the revolt with several decisive scrums won, followed by the masterful work of Abraham Papali’i. Will Collier (49th) and Louis Le Brun (55th) were thus able to score a try each following scrums to allow the CO to get back in front.
The Toulouse then had a lot of difficulty in the ruck zones, losing balls and offering too many points to their opponents. At the very end of the match, Toulouse’s numerical inferiority following the yellow card received by Dorian Aldegheri definitively buried their hopes of victory. This resounding success during the 44th derby between the two teams allows the Castres to return to tie with their evening opponents in third place. Stade Toulousain will absolutely have to get back up next week against ASM so as not to see UBB and La Rochelle take too much of a lead.
