Castres Olympique ran the Vodacom Bulls ragged in the second half to secure a 49-10 win in a Round 3 Investec Champions Cup match. Castres led 10-07 at the halftime break.
The Bulls made a brilliant start to the match attacking from everywhere. Jan-Hendrik Wessels scored for the back of a lineout maul which was converted by Boeta Chamberlain to lead 07-00 after seven minutes of play.
Ten minutes later Castres struck back when winger Geoffrey Palis scored in the corner. Pierre Poppin added the extra two points to level the scores 07-07.
Following several failed opportunities to score, Castres' Jeremy Fernandez converted a penalty to edge Castres into the lead 10-07 for the first time in the match with eight minutes left to play in the first half.
Castres ended the first half on the Bulls' tryline, but desperate defence by the Bulls kept the score at 10-07 with Castres leading going into the second half
The increasing ill-discipline by the Bulls gave Castres a further three points following a second converted penalty by Jeremy Fernandez to extend Castres' lead to 13-07.
Jaco van der Walt added a converted penalty for the Bulls, which was almost immediately replied to by a converted penalty by Castre's Jeremy Fernandez.
Castres upped the speed of their attack and following several brilliant attacks it was winner Rémy Baget who bulldozed his way over the Bulls tryline. Fernandez added the extra two to give Castres a 23-10 lead with sixteen minutes to play.
Castres secured the win with their third try when winger Julien Durnora scored in the corner following great interplay by the backs of Castres to extend their lead to 30-10 and nine minutes to play.
Two minutes later the Bulls dropped the ball in their twenty-two which was kicked ahead by Castres for Rémy Baget to pounce to score the fourth and bonus-point try to lead 35-10.
Jack Goodhue and Rémy Baget added two more tries during the final five minutes of the match to secure a 49-10 win.
Scorers:
Castres Olympique: Tries: Geoffrey Palis, Julien Dumora, Rémy Baget (3), Jack Goodhue. Conversion: Jeremy Fernandez (2), Pierre Popelin (3). Penalties: Jeremy Fernandez (3).
Vodacom Bulls: Try: Jan-Hendrik Wessels. Conversion: Boeta Chamberlain. Penalty: Jaco van der Walt.
Teams
Castres Olympique: 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 (c), 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.
Vodacom 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 (c), 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.