Castres stay on course
Defending champions Castres stayed on course for the French Top 14 play-offs Friday with veteran fullback Romain Teulet enjoying an emotional farewell at the Pierre-Antoine stadium which has been his home for 13 years.
Castres edged current leaders Montpellier 22-15 to go into fourth place in the standings on the penultimate weekend of the regular season.
South African scrumhalf Rory Kockott and opposite number Benoit Paillaugue exchanged first-half penalties before Castres scored what turned out to be the only try of the match.
Kockott side-stepped three defenders, but was held up just inches from the line.
The ball was quickly recycled as Montpellier struggled to quell the tide and fullback Brice Dulin burst through for the score. Kockott converted for a 16-9 lead at the interval.
Montpellier skipper Francois Trinh Duc succeeded with his eighth drop-goal of the season to cut the gap to 16-12 early in the second half.
Kockott then missed two penalties which allowed the 36-year-old Teulet to grab his moment in the spotlight on his last home appearance.
After replacing Dulin on the hour mark, he knocked over two confident penalties to leave Trinh Duc's last-minute effort an academic affair.
"It was a great way to give Romain Teulet a fine send-off," said Castres flyhalf Remi Tales.
"We applied a lot of pressure but Montpellier caused us many problems in attack and in defence.
"But we knew a defeat could mean the end of our season and we hung in there together."
Montpellier, who have already made sure of their play-off place, suffered another blow after the game when it was revealed that Fijian wing Timoci Nagusa could miss the rest of the season.
Nagusa suffered a serious shoulder injury and was replaced in the 39th minute by Lucas Dupont.
"He has dislocated his shoulder, it's serious," said Montpellier coach Mario Ledesma.
AFP
