Castres wins (28-23) in this derby against Toulouse. Trailing at the break, the Tarnais came back from the locker room much better and inflicted a 17-3 victory on Toulouse in the second period. Ugo Mola’s men have a second defeat in a row and the defensive bonus point will undoubtedly not console them.
What better opportunity than success in a derby to get rid of a disappointing performance? Facing Olympic Castres, Stade Toulouse had the perfect opportunity to leave behind this painful defeat conceded at home, against Bordeaux-Bègles last weekend. An opportunity that Thomas Ramos and his gang missed, beaten by the CO (28-23) this Saturday evening in Pierre-Fabre. Seriously upset against the Girondins, the Haut-Garonnais were unable to counter the power deployed by the Castres in the second period, particularly in the scrum.
Toulouse more efficient
Promoted to captain and lined up at the opening for this short trip to the Tarn, Thomas Ramos only takes a few minutes to justify the choice made by Ugo Mola. Behind a scrum, Théo Ntamack places Toulouse in the lead. Rather than continuing in the same direction, Paul Graou then chooses to find his number ten in the closed zone which runs behind the line without opposition (8e). After a penalty from Louis Le Brun (13e) and another from Ramos (16e), Santiago Arata, as a trickster, takes advantage of a ball carried by his forwards to go to the short side and bring the CO to two units (18e). Ramos (26e) and Le Brun (31e) then each scored a new penalty before Peato Mauvaka, at the helm of a dynamic Toulouse maul, celebrated his first start of the season with a try (33e). With Ramos’ transformation, Toulouse returned to the locker room with a nine-point lead (20-11).
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No scrum no win
Jostled and upset, the Tarnais showed more commitment upon returning from the locker room. After several periods of one-pass play, Will Collier finally manages to cross the line powerfully. Back at two units (18-20), the CO continues to press where it hurts: in melee. Following a forward from Blair Kinghorn in his in-goal after a missed penalty by Le Brun, Abraham Papali’i took advantage of the advance of his forward pack to shift his opening half. The Tarn number ten bypasses the Toulouse defense and gives his team the advantage for the first time in this game (25-20, 55e). Le Brun takes advantage of a new penalty obtained by his big players in the scrum to definitively rule out the Stade (63e). Reduced to fourteen after the yellow received by Dorian Aldegheri, a new once sanctioned in the’test of strength, the Toulouse residents reduce the gap (79e) and offer themselves, like last week against Bordeaux-Bègles, a match point. With, here too, the same success: Toulouse lost for the second time in a row (28-23) and will have to be content with’a defensive bonus point.
In the ranking, Castres benefits from this success pour climb to third, tied with the evening visitors in fourth. The two teams are three points behind UBB and La Rochelle, firmly established in the first two places. During the next day, the Haut-Garonnais will try to take advantage of the Clermont reception to get out of the bad dynamic in which they find themselves. For its part, the CO will travel to Pau, a team which could well join the fight for the final stages.
