Castres Olympique edged Benetto Rugby 39-07 at the death to book a final eight spot in the Investec Champions Cup.
Castes Olympique came out the blocks firing for their side’s first Champions Cup knockout game since 2002. It took just three minutes for Remy Baget to establish a lead, assisting himself by kicking the loose ball.
But Benetton weren’t to be deterred and went over themselves through Thomas Gallo in five minutes.
Castres didn’t take long to respond themselves, though, as Theo Chabouni restored the hosts’ lead before the 20-minute mark.
Baget sealed his brace soon after with his acrobatic interception, seeing him free and in space to soar home.
The Italian side wasn’t about to let that affect their ambitions, though. Ignacio Mendy soon pierced the Castres defence, before centre Nacho Brex finished off an inspired break which started inside the Benetton 22.
The back-and-forth first half wasn’t over there as Mathieu Babillot was on hand to breeze home just before the midway point.
Coming back out for the second half with the score in their favour, it didn’t take long for Benetton to get back in front.
Castres first saw themselves reduced to 14 due to an Adrien Seguret red card for an elbow to the face before Bautista Bernasconi immediately made the advantage count down the wing.
A home penalty for Castres brought things level but Paolo Odogwu’s raw pace shone through for the visitors to gift the lead back to the Italians. Hugging the blindside to bomb his way down half of the pitch, Odogwu sent the visiting bench into delirium heading into the final 20 minutes.
Christian Ambadiang then to the chance to boast his pace as the number 14 charged down a loose ball to set up a thrilling finish.
Trailing 32-37 in the 77th minute, Castres attacked without let-up, and their efforts were finally rewarded when Jeremy Fernandez went over.
It was his resulting conversion that meant the side found the lead once more in the tie and ultimately booked their spot in the quarters. Unforgettable scenes at the Stade Pierre-Fabre.
Scorers:
Castres Olympique: Tries: Rémy Baget, Theo Chabouni, Rémy Baget, Mathieu Babillot, Christian Ambadiang, Jeremy Fernandez. Conversions: Louis le Brun (2), Jeremy Fernandez. Penalty: Louis le Brun.
Benetton Rugby: Tries: Thomas Gallo, Ignacio Mendy, Nacho Brex, Bautista Bernasconi, Paolo Odogwu. Conversions: Tomas Albornoz (3). Penalty: Tomas Albornoz (2).
Teams:
Castres Olympique: 15 Theo Chabouni, 14 Christian Ambadiang, 13 Adrien Seguret, 12 Andrea Cocagi, 11 Rémy Baget, 10 Louis le Brun, 9 Santiago Arata, 8 Abraham Papalii, 7 Gauthier Maravat, 6 Mathieu Babillot (c), 5 Florent Vanverberghe, 4 Paul Jedrasiak, 3 Will Collier, 2 Gaetan Barlot, 1 Quentin Walcker. Replacements: 16 Loris Zarantonello, 17 Lois Guerois-Galisson, 18 Aurelien Azar, 19 Leone Nakarawa, 20 Baptiste Delaporte, 21 Jeremy Fernandez, 22 Jack Goodhue, 23 Nathanael Hulleu.
Benetton Rugby: 15 Rhyno Smith, 14 Ignacio Mendy, 13 Tommaso Menoncello, 12 Nacho Brex, 11 Paolo Odogwu, 10 Tomas Albornoz, 9 Andy Uren, 8 Lorenzo Cannone, 7 Manuel Zuliani, 6 Riccardo Favretto, 5 Eli Snyman (c), 4 Scott Scrafton, 3 Simone Ferrari, 2 Bautista Bernasconi, 1 Thomas Gallo. Replacements: 16 Siua Maile, 17 Mirco Spagnolo, 18 Giosue Zilocchi, 19 Federico Ruzza, 20 Michele Lamaro, 21 Alessandro Garbisi, 22 Jacob Umaga, 23 Malakai Fekitoa.