Top 14 – Castres – Montpellier notes: Vilimoni Botitu flamboyant, Billy Vunipola solid, Lenny Nouchi unhappy

The Tops

Titanic match from the third line center and captain of Montpellier, who pushed himself to the limit to last 80 minutes in a meeting where he was very often called upon to carry the ball, advance and defend. He notably made a very important scratch in front of his line in the second half. Special mention for his teammate Nicolaas Janse Van Rensburg, also very active at Pierre-Fabre.

• Vilimoni Botito: 7.5/10

Everything was far from perfect for Vilimoni Botitu, in this meeting finally won against Montpellier (30-26). Facing the Héraultais who had chosen great intensity on the advantage line, he sometimes suffered on impacts in the center of the field, like his all black associate Jack Goodhue. But Botitu, with two brilliant shots, allowed the Castres to return to contact as the score grew in favor of the MHR.

In the first period, while the CO was suffering (8-20), the Fijian took advantage of a very erratic rise from Madosh Tambwe to play a very long pass towards Dumora, who only had to extend the stride to finish in the goal (33^e13-20).

A little later, it was up to him to shine alone: ​​after good work from young Théo Chabouni at the entrance to the Montpellier 22m, Botitu converged in the interval, took the ball hand-to-hand then, with a sharp run , he dropped off four opposing defenders to finish between the posts. Castres remained alive (23-26).

At the end of the match, he was again the one who gave the light: a volleyed pass here for Ambadiang (72nd), another long jump pass for Goodhue there (73rd^e) or even a pass on a step always for Goodhue (79th), he created gaps for his teammates and allowed his team to increase the pressure on the Montpellier opponent. It would eventually pay off.

The Flops

The quote may seem harsh because the under-20 world champion made a striking entry, but it was he who missed the last touch which could have allowed Montpellier to leave the Tarn with a well-deserved victory. Instead, he fumbled the ball that Gauthier Maravat stole from him at the drop-off. A few minutes later, the Castres scored the victory try by their captain Matthieu Babillot.

For more than an hour, the Montpellier residents were in the lead, sometimes by a large margin (20-3 in the 26th^e) by imposing a big physical challenge on Castres, including in the middle of the field. An equation that CO opener Pierre Popelin had all the trouble in the world to solve. Imprecise on his choices of play but also on his play at the foot of occupation, he participated in keeping his team under pressure, or, in any case, did nothing convincing to get them out of it. His foot failures against the poles (2 out of 4, two missed transformations) end up tipping the scales towards the negative. Substituted at the hour mark (58^e) by Louis Le Brun, precisely at the time when the Castres regained momentum. Much more incisive in his races and his choices of play (despite a completely missed foot pass), the young Le Brun contributed to the good end of the game for the CO.

Castres notes:

15. Humor : 5/10

14. Ambadiang: 6/10

13. Goodhue : 4,5/10

12. Cast : 7.5/10

11. Palis: 5.5/10

10. Popelin : 3,5/10

9. Arata : 6/10

8. Slap : 6/10

7. Babillot (cap.) : 6/10

6. Cope : 5,5/10

5. Nakarawa : 4,5/10

4. Dozen : 5/10

3. Collier : 4/10

2. Colonna : 5/10

1. Tichit : 4,5/10

Montpellier notes:

15. Julien Tisseron: 4/10

14. Maël Moustin: 6.5/10

13. Auguste Cadot: 5/10

12. Arthur Vincent : 4,5/10

11. Madosh Tambwe : 4/10

10. Thomas Vincent : 5/10

9. Ryan Lawrence : 4/10

8. Billy Vunipola : 8/10

7. Sam Simmonds : 7/10

6. Nicolaas Janse Van Rensburg : 7/10

5. Bastien Chalureau: 6/10

4. Yacouba Camara: 6.5/10 replaced in the 41st minute by Lenny Nouchi : 4/10

3. Wilfrid Hounkpatin : 6/10

2. Jordan Wales : 5,5/10

1. Nika Abuladze: 6/10