Castres got their Top 14 campaign off to a fine start when they claimed a hard-fought 25-20 win over Montpellier at the Altrad Stadium on Sunday.
In a repeat of last season’s final, the champions showed that that triumph was no fluke as they dominated for large periods and eventually outscored their hosts by three tries to two with Scott Spedding crossing for a brace.
Spedding was Castres’ hero as apart from his two tries, he also made a try-saving tackle on Vincent Martin in the game’s closing stages which helped his side to secure the result.
Montpellier opened the scoring in the seventh minute courtesy of a penalty from their new signing Johan Goosen but Castres drew level five minutes later when Benjamin Urdapilleta added a three-pointer off the kicking tee.
The home side dominated for the next 10 minutes and were rewarded midway through the half when Martin Devergie powered his way over the try-line from a line-out drive deep inside Castres’ 22.
Goosen added the extras to give his side a 10-3 lead before Urdapilleta reduced the deficit to four points when he landed his second penalty in the 28th minute.
Another Goosen penalty meant the home side led 13-6 by the half-hour mark but Castres struck back shortly afterwards when Spedding crossed for a deserved try after a strong run from Alex Tulou in the build-up.
Urdapilleta slotted the conversion which meant the teams were level at 13-13 when they changed sides at the interval.
The second half started brightly for Castres and four minutes after the restart their captain, Rodrigo Capo Ortega, went over for their second try after brilliant work from Spedding in the build-up.
And in the 51st minute, Castres extended their lead when Spedding crossed for his second try. This, after Martin Laveau did well with a powerful run inside Montpellier’s 22 and when his progress was halted, the ball was recycled quickly before Julien Dumora offloaded to the former Clermont full-back, who rounded off in the corner.
That was the last time Castres would score points as Montpellier upped the ante on attack in a bid to regain the initiative.
After several attacks, the home side eventually made a breakthrough when Paul Willemse dotted down from close quarters in the 63rd minute and Goosen’s conversion meant Castres now held a narrow 25-20 lead.
In the 73rd minute, the visitors were reduced to 14 men when Camille Gerondeau was yellow carded for playing the ball from an offside position at a ruck deep inside his half.
Montpellier finished stronger and thought they had drawn level in the 79th minute when Martin dotted down in the right-hand corner. But his effort was disallowed when television replays revealed he put a foot in touch after a desperate cover tackle from Spedding at the corner flag.
That was a crucial moment in the bigger scheme of things and helped seal a deserved win for the champions.
The scorers:
For Montpellier:
Tries: Devergie, Willemse
Cons: Goosen 2
Pens: Goosen 2
For Castres:
Tries: Spedding 2, Capo Ortega
Cons: Urdapilleta 2
Pens: Urdapilleta 2
Yellow Card: Gerondeau
Montpellier: 15 Johan Goosen, 14 Vincent Martin, 13 Yvan Reilhac, 12 François Steyn, 11 Gabriel Ngandebe, 10 Aaron Cruden, 9 Ruan Pienaar, 8 Martin Devergie, 7 Wiaan Liebenberg (c), 6 Julien Bardy, 5 Paul Willemse, 4 Julien Le Devedec, 3 Jannie Du Plessis, 2 Bismarck Du Plessis, 1 Grégory Fichten
Replacements: 16 Vincent Giudicelli, 17 Yvan Watremez, 18 Konstantine Mikautadze, 19 Kevin Kornath, 20 Julien Tomas, 21 Arthur Vincent, 22 Henry Immelman, 23 Antoine Guillamon
Castres: 15 Scott Spedding, 14 Martin Laveau, 13 Robert Ebersohn, 12 Yann David, 11 Taylor Paris, 10 Benjamin Urdapilleta, 9 Ludovic Radosavljevic, 8 Alex Tulou, 7 Camille Gerondeau, 6 Baptiste Delaporte, 5 Rodrigo Capo Ortega (c), 4 Christophe Samson, 3 Daniel Kotze, 2 Kevin Firmin, 1 Antoine Tichit
Replacements: 16 Marc-Antoine Rallier, 17 Tudor Stroe, 18 Victor Moreaux, 19 Steve Mafi, 20 Yohan Domenech, 21 Julien Dumora, 22 Thomas Combezou, 23 Marc Clerc
Referee: Mathieu Raynal
Assistant referees: Adrien Descottes, Jean-Claude Labarbe
TMO: Mourad Zitouni
Photo credit: Official Castres website