French Top 14 round three: Castres squeaks by Bayonne
Castres was able to squeeze past Bayonne at home in Stade Pierre-Antoine over the weekend.
Castres muscled their way through a tough Bayonne side at home on the weekend. Bayonne got out to a strong start and was able to take a seven point lead into halftime. However, Castres rounded into form around the 60th minute coming back for a 25-16 victory.
Recap
Bayonne got on the board first with a try from Jean Jo Marmouyet in the eighth minute and a conversion from Cendric Garcia gave the visitors a quick 7-0 advantage.
Garcia followed quickly by hitting a penalty just three minute later to extend the guests lead to 10-0.
The remainder of the half saw Castres, Romain Teulet, exchanging penalties with Garcia. Teulet managed to put the ball through the up-rights three times, while Garcia managed two of his own, allowing Bayonne to take a 16-9 lead into halftime.
After the break both teams were stuck playing defensive rugby, until winger Marc Andreu fought his way over the whitewash in the 59th minute. Teulet hammered home the conversion and the game was tied up at 16.
The rest of the match was left up to Teulet who put through an additional three penalties in the 68th, 73rd and 78th minutes respectively. The three scores were enough to put the game out of reach and seal a victory for Castres.
Analysis
Castres took advantage of an undisciplined Bayonne side using every opportunity to slot home penalties. The excellent day from Teulet, in which the full-back recorded six penalties and a conversion for 20 points, allowed the home side to settle for the three-point attempt more often. Castres now goes to 2-1 on the year and seem to have come into form over the past two weeks. Nevertheless, they may have to adjust their offensive game plan against the more skilled sides in order to get across the whitewash.
Bayonne dropped their first match of the young season and fell to the middle of the pack. Bayonne’s skilled defence was forced into penalties by the Castres side and without a particularly strong offence were not able to counter. Bayonne still have incredible skill with the fourth highest point differential in the league, however they will need to adjust on offence if they hope to force their way back to the top of the table by year’s end.
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