Castres hold off Racing to reach Top 14 Final
Christophe Urios's side struck an early blow through Tongan flank Maama Vaipulu, and despite a fightback from European Champions Cup runners-up Racing, they battled to an attritional victory thanks to 14 points from the boot of Benjamin Urdapilleta.
Castres will take on regular-season table-toppers Montpellier at the Stade de France on June 2 in their first Top 14 final since 2014, having won the title the previous year.
They only snatched the sixth and final play-off place with a late-season charge, before beating Toulouse to reach this semifinal.
The eighth-minute score from Vaipulu was followed by a conversion and penalty from Argentinian Urdapilleta as Castres quickly moved 10-0 in front.
But Racing, who were beaten by Leinster in the European Cup Final earlier this month, hit back through wing Juan Imhoff, with Teddy Iribaren slotting over the extra two points.
Louis Dupichot touched down to give Racing the lead for the first time in the match in the 25th minute, but Iribaren's second conversion proved to be their final points.
A brace of penalties from Urdapilleta saw Castres take a 16-14 half-time advantage, before successfully halting Racing in the second period.
A fourth penalty for Urdapilleta with 16 minutes to play ensured that Racing would need a try to draw level, and Castres clung on in the face of a late onslaught to book their ticket for the final.
On Friday, Montpellier thrashed Lyon 40-14 to back up their excellent regular season by qualifying for the final for only the second time.
Vern Cotter's men will be bidding for their maiden French top-flight title, after finishing a point clear of Racing in the league table.
The scorers
For Racing:
Tries: Imhoff, Dupichot
Cons: Iribaren 2
For Castres:
Try: Vaipulu
Cons: Urdapilleta
Pens: Urdapilleta 4
Teams:
Racing 92: 15 Louis Dupichot, 14 Teddy Thomas, 13, Virimi Vakatawa, 12 Henry Chavancy, 11 Juan Imhoff, 10 Remi Tales, 9 Teddy Iribaren, 8 Yannick Nyanga, 7 Baptiste Chouzenoux, 6 Wenceslas Lauret, 5 Leone Nakarawa, 4 Bernard Le Roux, 3 Ben Tameifuna, 2 Camille Chat, 1 Eddy Ben Arous.
Replacements: 16 Ole Avei, 17 Vasil Kakovin, 18 Boris Palu, 19 Antoine Claassen, 20 Antoine Gibert, 21 Benjamin Dambielle, 22 Joe Rokocoko, 23 Cedate Gomes Sa.
Castres: 15 Julien Dumora, 14 Armand Batlle, 13 Thomas Combezou, 12 Afusipa Taumoepeau, 11 David Smith, 10 Benjamin Urdapilleta, 9 Rory Kockott, 8 Maama Vaipulu, 7 Anthony Jelonch, 6 Mathieu Babillot, 5 Loic Jacquet, 4 Thibault Lassalle, 3 Daniel Kotze, 2 Marc-Antoine Rallier, 1 Antoine Tichit.
Replacements: 16 Kevin Firmin, 17 Tudor Stroe, 18 Rodrigo Capo Ortega, 19 Alex Tulou, 20 Florian Vialelle, 21 Ludovic Radosavljevic, 22 Steve Mafi, 23 Paea Fa’anunu.
Referee: Alexandre Ruiz
Assistant referees: Laurent Cardona, Bruno Gabaldon
TMO: Philippe Bonhoure
Agence France-Presse
