Castres keep slim hopes alive

Geoffrey Palis fired Castres into the lead with a penalty after six minutes as they looked to bounce back from their 31-10 defeat by Sale Sharks.

Pau have fantastic record against French opposition, beating their domestic rivals by an average of 21 points at Stade du Hameau, but a try from David Smith put them 10 points behind after 13 minutes.

Pau hooker Thomas Bianchin was then shown yellow, before Palis fired another penalty over for a 13-0 advantage.

The front row forward returned to the field and made up for his misdemeanour by shunting his way over for a score.

Brandon Fajardo converted to pull the hosts back into within five points at the interval.

And the revival continued after the break. The ball was worked to centre Julien Fumat who crashed over, before Fajardo added the conversion to complete the comeback from 13-0 down, to 14-13.

Just as Pau snatched the lead Brandon Fajardo was shown yellow and sent to the bin, opening the door for a Castres onslaught. And Sivivatu took full advantage.

He stepped his way to the line and Fajardo converted to retake the lead.

And it didn't stop there.

Vialelle went over for Castres second try in as many minutes to give Castres a 25-14 lead.

The bonus-point was wrapped up for Castres five minutes from time when Julien Beziat crashed over to score.

The replacement hooker barged over from close range to secure a valuable victory over their rivals. Sean Dougall crashed over for a try at the death, but it was too little, too late.

The scorers:

For Pau:

Tries: Bianchin, Fumat, Dougall

Cons: Fajardo 3

For Castres:

Tries: Smith, Sivivatu, Vialelle, Beziat

Cons: Palis 2

Pens: Palis 2

Yellow cards: Thomas Bianchin (Pau, 24), Jale Vatubua (Pau, 51)

Teams:

Pau: 15 Romain Buros, 14 Marika Vunibaka, 13 Julien Fumat, 12 Jale Vatubua, 11 Mathieu Acebes, 10 Brandon Fajardo, 9 Thierry Lacrampe, 8 Brice Monzeglio, 7 Josefa Ulago Domolailai, 6 Loic Bernad, 5 Claude Dry, 4 Cameron Pierce, 3 Chris King, 2 Thomas Bianchin, 1 Julien Jacquot.

Replacements: 16 Quentin Lespiaucq Brettes, 17 Jérémy Hurou, 18 Euan Murray, 19 Giovanni Habel Kuffner, 20 Sean Dougall, 21 Samuel Marques, 22 Charly Malie, 23 Watisoni Votu.

Castres: 15 Geoffrey Palis, 14 Sitiveni Sivivatu, 13 Florian Vialelle, 12 Romain Cabannes, 11 David Smith, 10 Julien Dumora, 9 Julien Seron, 8 Johnnie Beattie, 7 Yannick Caballero, 6 Piula Faasalele, 5 Benjamin Desroche, 4 Christophe Samson, 3 Lucas Martinez, 2 Marc-Antoine Rallier, 1 Mihaita Lazar.

Replacements: 16 Julien Beziat, 17 Eric Sione, 18 Saimone Taumoepeau, 19 Mathieu Babillot, 20 Theo Hannoyer, 21 Francois Fontaine, 22 Remi Lamerat, 23 Antoine Dupont.

Referee: Ian Davies (Wales)

Assistant referees: Wayne Davies (Wales), Martyn Lewis (Wales)

Source: @ERChallengeCup