Castres bury haphazard Bulls
Yesterday at 04:58 PM
MATCH REPORT: The Bulls were overpowered by a spirited Castres side in France in their Champions Cup game on Saturday evening as they went down 10-49.
It was a stretch too far for the relatively inexperienced Bulls side that struggled to get their set-piece working while their discipline also cost them dearly.
The Bulls started strong from the kick-off and this saw their first try in the sixth minute by Jan-Hendrik Wessels.
It was a brilliant start for the Bulls after camping out in Castres territory.
But the home side hit back immediately through a try by Palis as they got their first scoring opportunity.
It was 7-7 after 18 minutes of play.
Castres lost out on a possible second try after Wessels used the wrong ball in the line-out and the teams were called back by referee Matthew Carley.
After 30 minutes the home side took the lead thanks to a penalty kick by Fernandez, taking them to 10-7.
With seven minutes to go in the first half, the Bulls finally moved into Castres 22 again but it was a clear opportunity missed after a forward pass.
A host of errors by the Bulls granted the home side enough opportunity to control the game in the first half, but their defence kept them within striking distance to fight back.
Their line-outs were a mess and it was evident that communication was a problem.
After an exciting piece of play, the Bulls turned over possession and attempted to get their speedsters away but then got penalised again.
At half-time, the Bulls were very much still in contention, but they needed to limit their error rate as they got penalised relentlessly, causing them to trail 7-10 at the break.
*To recap all the action: CLICK HERE!!!
Early in the second half another penalty to Castres allowed them to stretch their lead to 13-7.
The Bulls eventually got some go-forward, first through a great little run by Aphiwe Dyantyi and then a driving maul that won them a penalty kick.
Jaco van der Walt converted and it was still a tight affair as the Bulls edged the score to 10-13.
The Bulls just couldn't get their discipline under control as another penalty ensued after a high tackle by Nizaam Carr offered the home side another three points.
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What followed was helter-skelter stuff as Castres attacked from all angles and finally, Baget dotted down despite some rigorous defending by the visitors.
Suddenly Castres was comfortably ahead, leading by 23-10.
With ten minutes to go and after Castres looked to have scored their third try, emotions were running high and a fracas broke out.
And what a try it was by Julien Dumora, managing to stay in contact with the ball while flying through the air.
Fernandez slotted a brilliant conversion from the sideline and it was all over for the Bulls as the clock was winding down.
As that wasn't enough, Castre scored again a minute later.
Leading 35-10 with five minutes left, the French were not done yet, and the Bulls had given up.
Their fifth try Theo Chabouni just rubbed more salt into the Bulls' wounds.
Baget got a hat trick a minute before full-time as he chased a kick towards the Bulls try line, it hit the post and bounced into his hands.
Man of the Match: Rémy Baget for his hat-trick.
Scorers:
For Bulls:
Tries: Wessels
Cons: Chamberlain
For Castres:
Tries: Palis, Baget 3, Dumora, Chabouni
Cons: Fernandez 2, Popelin 2
Pens: Fernandez 3
Teams:
Castres: 15 Julien Dumora, 14 Geoffrey Palis, 13 Vilimoni Botitu, 12 Jack Goodhue, 11 Rémy Baget, 10 Pierre Popelin, 9 Jeremy Fernandez, 8 Abraham Papalii, 7 Tyler Ardron, 6 Mathieu Babillot (captain), 5 Florent Vanverberghe, 4 Guillaume Ducat, 3 Levan Chilachava, 2 Gaetan Barlot, 1 Antoine Tichit.
Replacements: 16 Pierre Colonna, 17 Lois Guerois-Galisson, 18 Nicolas Corato, 19 Leone Nakarawa, 20 Simon Meka, 21 Santiago Arata, 22 Theo Chabouni, 23 Adrien Seguret.
Bulls: 15 Henry Immelman, 14 Sibongile Novuka, 13 Katlego Letebele, 12 Chris Barend Smit, 11 Aphiwe Dyantyi, 10 Boeta Chamberlain, 9 Bernard van der Linde, 8 Nizaam Carr (captain), 7 Celimpilo Gumede, 6 Kuyenzeka Xaba, 5 Sintu Manjezi, 4 JF van Heerden, 3 Mornay Smith, 2 Jan-hendrik Wessels, 1 Alulutho Tshakweni.
Replacements: 16 Joe van Zyl, 17 Dylan Smith, 18 Sebastian Lombard, 19 Deon Slabbert, 20 Corné Beets, 21 Keagan Johannes, 22 Jaco van der Walt, 23 Cornel Smit.
Referee: Matthew Carley (England)
Assistant referees: Hamish Smales (England) & Jamie Leahy (England)
TMO: David Rose (England)
