Top 14: Castres Olympique, humiliated in La Rochelle, suffers a huge knockdown
The Tarnais moved on the lawn of Marcel Deflandre to challenge the Stade Rochelais there. Pierre-Henry Broncan’s men had an afternoon in hell and lost heavily (53-7).
The movie of the game
3′: essay by Raymond Rhule for La Rochelle. Following a dismissal badly captured by Castres Olympique, the Rochelais put the pressure directly. And after a few phases of play, they find themselves 5m from the line. The South African center arrives launched, in an interval, and flattens. Untransformed trial. 5-0.
10′: try by Teddy Thomas for La Rochelle. The Castres have possession on the 22m of the locals but are intercepted on a jump from Ben Botica, by Teddy Thomas. The international winger quietly slips under the posts. Converted test. 15-0.
22′: try by Pierre Boudehent for La Rochelle. Nice movement of the visitors, who after a number of Teddy Thomas, and a little success, manage to register the third test of the meeting. Converted test. 25-0.
31′: try by Thierry Paiva for La Rochelle. After a few minutes spent in the 22m Tarn, the Maritimes find the fault by quickly playing a reduction to 5m from the line. The pillar starts flush with the ruck and dives into the in-goal. Converted test. 32-0.
48′: test by Pierre Bourgarit for La Rochelle. Following a well-structured maul by the locals, the international hooker slips behind the line and flattens another try for the Maritimes. Converted test. 39-0.
54′: penalty try for La Rochelle. For pushing in-goal Brice Dulin, who looked set to score a try, Geoffrey Palis is suspended temporarily and the Maritimes get a suppressed try. 46-0.
65′: test by Thomas Berjon for La Rochelle. The scrum-half is at the conclusion of a game at ground level, behind the back of the defense, by Jonathan Danty. Test converted 53-0.
79′: try by Pierre Colonna for Castres. The Tarn hooker saves the honor after a nice string of passes from the visiting forwards. Converted test. 53-7.
A one-sided game to forget
The Castres have spent a nightmarish afternoon. The tone was set from the kickoff with a missed reception which leads directly to the first try. This action is like the match. If the CO, with its slightly reorganized team, did not go to Deflandre with the status of favorite, it could still hope to appear better as was the case in Toulon, a little earlier in the season.
In defense first, the Tarnais missed too many tackles, were taken by the aggressiveness of the Rochelais, clinical on this meeting. By attacking the report is not better with many inaccuracies, testifies some the risky jumps of Botica, of awkwardness and the fault also with the competitions of the Maritimes, very effective in this field.
CO worst team outside Top 14
The CO are currently the worst team in the championship away from their bases. With only one point taken in six away games, Pierre-Henry Broncan’s men can’t do it. They managed to get a defensive bonus point during their trip to Perpignan on October 1, and a defeat (14-10).
Lessons from the game
Castres did not ward off the fate far from its bases and chained a sixth defeat, in as many games, outside this season. This afternoon, they came across a solid team from La Rochelle which left nothing behind and took advantage of all the weaknesses in Castres. In the standings, Castres is back and is now just ahead of the red zone, in 12th position. The CO will be keen to bounce back next week with the reception of Pau, Sunday December 4 at 5 p.m.