Racing 92 kept themselves in the hunt for a Champions Cup quarter-final place after overcoming domestic rivals Castres 29-7 at the Stade Yves-du-Manoir.
Having seen their qualification hopes severely dented by a narrow defeat to the same team last week, the Parisians were much better on Saturday.
Leone Nakarawa, as always seems to be the case, was excellent and his dexterity at close quarters allowed the hosts to gain an early lead.
Virimi Vakatawa also went over in the opening period while Maxime Machenaud kicked two conversions and a penalty for a 17-0 buffer. Although Rory Kockott reduced the arrears, the hosts went into the interval 10 points in front.
They saw Juan Imhoff red carded after the break but it did not affect them with Dimitri Szarzewski and Louis Dupichot going over to complete a bonus-point victory.
It takes them to 11 points in Pool 2, level with Munster, but the Irish province have a chance to move clear when they face Leicester Tigers on Sunday.
Following Teddy Thomas’ error last weekend, where he dropped the ball over the line and arguably cost Racing the game, the France international was nowhere to be seen for this encounter.
As a result, the former Champions Cup finalists were far more clinical early on. They controlled the opening passages of play and Nakarawa rewarded their dominance by using his vast wingspan to great effect by stretching out and touching down.
Christophe Urios’ men were struggling for continuity and the Parisians were benefiting from their inability to hold onto the ball.
They duly scored for the second time when Vakatawa crossed the whitewash before Machenaud extended their buffer.
Kockott did give Castres hope just shy of the interval and they pressed early in the second period, but the Parisians were too strong defensively.
When the hosts did get an opportunity to attack, they took it as Szarzewski powered over to effectively complete the victory.
Imhoff’s red card could have allowed the visitors back into the contest – an incident which also saw Kockott sin-binned – but Racing were ultimately too powerful on the day.
They therefore clinched the win and the bonus-point through the excellent Dupichot, who spotted an opportunity and touched down.
It effectively ended Castres chances of reaching the quarter-finals while Racing got themselves back into contention, although tough challenges await for the Parisians against Munster and Leicester Tigers.
The scorers:
For Racing:
Tries: Nakarawa, Vakatawa, Szarzewski, Dupichot
Cons: Machenaud 2, Iribaren
Pen: Machenaud
Red Card: Imhoff
For Castres:
Try: Kockott
Con: Kockott
Yellow Cards: Samson, Kockott
Racing 92: 15 Juan Imhoff, 14 Louis Dupichot, 13 Henry Chavancy, 12 Anthony Tuitavake, 11 Virimi Vakatawa, 10 Rémi Tales, 9 Maxime Machenaud, 8 Leone Nakarawa, 7 Bernard le Roux, 6 Yannick Nyanga, 5 Edwin Maka, 4 Donnacha Ryan, 3 Cedate Gomes Sa, 2 Camille Chat, 1 Eddy Ben Arous
Replacements: 16 Dimitri Szarzewski, 17 Vasil Kakovin, 18 Ben Tameifuna, 19 Boris Palu, 20 Wenceslas Lauret, 21 Teddy Iribaren, 22 Antoine Gibert, 23 Joe Rokocoko
Castres: 15 Julien Caminati, 14 Afusipa Taumoepeau, 13 Robert Ebersohn, 12 Florian Vialelle, 11 Kylian Jaminet, 10 Yohan Le Bourhis, 9 Rory Kockott, 8 Alex Tulou, 7 Steve Mafi, 6 Yannick Caballero, 5 Loic Jacquet, 4 Christophe Samson, 3 Yohan Montes, 2 Marc-Antoine Rallier, 1 Tudor Stroe
Replacements: 16 Kevin Firmin, 17 Mihaita Lazar, 18 Eric Sione, 19 Alexandre Bias, 20 Rodrigo Capo Ortega, 21 Yohan Domenech, 22 Benjamin Urdapilleta, 23 Thomas Combezou
Referee: Wayne Barnes (Eng)
Assistant referees: Matthew Carley (Eng), Paul Dix (Eng)
TMO: Rowan Kitt (Eng)
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