Thomas Combezou scored twice as Castres thrashed Leicester Tigers 39-0 to maintain their faint hopes of qualifying for the Champions Cup quarter-finals.
With the Midlanders effectively out of Europe before this encounter, Matt O’Connor decided to make a number of changes and that was evident in their performance.
His inexperienced charges struggled and the French outfit opened up a 27-0 lead at the interval thanks to Benjamin Urdapilleta and Combezou tries.
Urdapilleta also kicked two penalties in the first half as the Top 14 outfit dominated every facet of the game.
The pain continued for the English club in the second period with Armand Batlle going over twice to move Castres closer to Munster and Racing 92 in their group. Although results would have to go their way, they do have an opportunity of finishing at the top of Pool 4.
It was always going to be difficult for the visitors, with the teams taking contrasting approaches to the contest, and the full-strength home side dominated from the start.
Leicester were under pressure immediately and a mistake from Tom Brady allowed Christophe Urios’ men to go 7-0 ahead inside of a minute. After the wing had spilled the ball from a box-kick, Urdapilleta displayed excellent footballing skills to kick ahead, regather and score.
The fly-half then added successive three-pointers before Castres went over for the second time as Batlle’s break was finished by Combezou.
O’Connor’s men were given a boost when Batlle was yellow carded for a cynical infringement close to his own line, but the Tigers could not benefit from his absence.
Instead, the hosts went up the other end and crossed the whitewash for the third time as pressure eventually yielded a second try for Combezou.
Urdapilleta’s conversion took them 27 points clear at the break before Batlle, who returned from the sin-bin, touched down at the start of the second half.
Despite Leicester being understrength, it was an excellent performance from Castres, who had won seven consecutive Top 14 matches before their defeat to Agen last weekend.
The hosts were just as impressive in defence as they were offensively and they repelled a number of Tigers’ attacks.
O’Connor’s men continued to press but the reward was not forthcoming and they suffered yet another humiliating defeat in Europe. In truth, the contest fizzled out in the final quarter but Castres did finish with a flourish after Julien Dumora fed Batlle to complete the win.
The scorers:
For Castres:
Tries: Urdapilleta, Combezou 2, Batlle 2
Cons: Urdapilleta 3, Le Bourhis
Pens: Urdapilleta 2
Yellow Card: Batlle
Castres: 15 Geoffrey Palis, 14 Kylian Jaminet, 13 Thomas Combezou, 12 Florian Vialelle, 11 Armand Batlle, 10 Benjamin Urdapilleta, 9 Ludovic Radosavljevic, 8 Alex Tulou, 7 Mathieu Babillot, 6 Yannick Caballero, 5 Thibault Lassalle, 4 Alexandre Bias, 3 Damien Tussac, 2 Marc-Antoine Rallier, 1 Antoine Tichit
Replacements: 16 Kevin Firmin, 17 Tudor Stroe, 18 Daniel Kotze, 19 Victor Moreaux, 20 Steve Mafi, 21 Yohan Domenech, 22 Yohan Le Bourhis, 23 Julien Dumora
Leicester Tigers: 15 George Worth, 14 Tom Brady, 13 Matt Smith, 12 Charlie Thacker, 11 Adam Thompstone, 10 Joe Ford, 9 Sam Harrison, 8 Valentino Mapapalangi, 7 Will Evans, 6 Dominic Ryan, 5 Mike Fitzgerald, 4 Harry Wells, 3 Pat Cilliers, 2 Harry Thacker, 1 Greg Bateman (c)
Replacements: 16 Tatafu Polota-Nau, 17 Michele Rizzo, 18 Ben Betts, 19 Joe Maksymiw, 20 Brendon O’Connor, 21 Harry Simmons, 22 Mathew Tait, 23 Nick Malouf
Referee: Andrew Brace (Ireland)
Assistant referees: Stuart Gaffikin (Ireland), John Carvill (Ireland)
TMO: Simon McDowell (Ireland)
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