Massive underdogs Castres upset Montpellier to claim Top 14 glory
Castres stunned Montpellier to claim a surprise 29-13 victory in Saturday’s engrossing Top 14 final at the Stade de France.
Montpellier came into the meeting as strong favourites, having finished top of the table at the end of the regular season and Vern Cotter’s men were high on confidence following a resounding 40-14 semi-final win over Lyon.
Their opponents, by contrast, had only taken the sixth and final play-off berth, edging out Toulouse and Racing 92 en route to the decider in Paris.
Montpellier were desperate to end the club’s wait for a Top 14 title, having lost the 2011 final, but their agonising drought goes on while Castres were left to celebrate a fifth crown – and their second in six years.
Benjamin Urdapilleta starred for the victors, slotting all of his efforts from the tee to finish with 19 points, including converting tries from Julien Dumora and Steve Mafi at the end of either half.
Montpellier, meanwhile, were left to rue their ill-discipline and inability to match Urdapilleta’s efficiency with the boot – both Ruan Pienaar and Francois Steyn guilty of spurning opportunities – as Castres survived the fightback that threatened to materialise early in the second half.
Le @CastresRugby remporte un nouveau Bouclier de Brennus, 5 ans après son dernier titre, suite à sa victoire (13-29) contre Montpellier ?#MHRCO pic.twitter.com/o5aQAifkh2
— TOP 14 Rugby (@top14rugby) June 2, 2018
Pienaar wasted the chance to draw first blood inside five minutes as he erred from the tee, and Urdapilleta showed him how it was done by making no mistake shortly afterwards.
Steyn’s monster effort soon had Montpellier back level but the favourites continued to show a damaging lack of discipline, Urdapilleta punishing two further transgressions to open up a six-point lead with a quarter of the game gone.
That advantage was stretched to nine on the half-hour, after Steyn had sent a penalty from inside his own territory narrowly wide, and when Castres were pinged much closer to the posts Pienaar took over duties and pulled his side back to within three.
But Montpellier’s scrappy opening period was summed up shortly before the interval as a botched line-out resulted in excellent field position for Castres, who worked the ball right for Dumora to barge over, Urdapilleta adding the extras to maintain his unblemished record.
LE CO EST CHAMPION DE FRANCEEEEEEEEEE ! ILS L'ONT FAIT, nos joueurs ont battu le @MHR_officiel 29 à 13 ! QUEL MATCH, QUEL PARCOURS, QUELLE EQUIPE et QUEL PUBLIC !
#TousEnsemble #Fierté #IrreductiblesCastrais ?? pic.twitter.com/dnByz7TMrX— Castres Olympique (@CastresRugby) June 2, 2018
One sensed Cotter’s men would not be so sloppy after the resumption and so it proved, twice turning down kickable opportunities before winning a penalty try once Loic Jacquet had been sin-binned for the latest in a succession of cynical fouls from the retreating Castres.
The response from Christophe Urios’ side was impressive, however, as they charged back into Montpellier territory and drew another penalty in front of the posts, from where Urdapilleta was never going to miss.
The same could not be said of Pienaar when he erred from the 10-metre line with 13 minutes remaining, and the game was up when Mafi crashed over to allow Castres’ celebrations to begin in earnest.
Comments on RugbyPass
A lot of fans just joined in for the fun of it! We all admire O'Gara and what he has done for La Rochelle
3 Go to commentsThe RFU will find a way to mess this up as usual. My bet is there will be no promotion into the the Premiership, only relegation into National League One. Hopefully they won’t parachute failed clubs into the league at the expense of clubs who have battled for promotion.
1 Go to commentsWell that’s the contracts for RG and Jordie bought and paid for. Now, what are the chances we can persuade Antoine to hop over with all the extra dosh we’ll have from living at the Aviva & Croke next season…??? 🤑🤑🤑
2 Go to commentsWow, that’s incredible. Great for rugby.
2 Go to commentsYou probably read that parling is going to coach the wallaby lineout but if not before now you have.
14 Go to commentsIf someone like Leo Cullen was in O’Gara’s place I don’t hear Boo-ing. It’s not just that La Rochelle has hurt Leinster and O’Gara is their Irish boss. It’s the needle that he brings and the pantomime activity before the game around pretending that Munster were supporting LaRochelle just because O’Gara is from Cork. That’s dividing Irish provinces just to get an advantage for his French Team. He can F*ck right off with that. BOOOOO! (but not while someone is lying injured)
3 Go to commentsDid the highlanders party too hard before the game? They were the pits.
1 Go to commentsWhat a player! Not long until he’s in the England side, surely?
2 Go to commentsHe seems to have the same aura as Marcus Smith - by which I mean he’s consistently judged as if he’s several years younger than he actually is. Mngomezulu has played 24 times for the Stormers. When Pollard was his age he had played 24 times for South Africa! He has more time to develop, but he has also had time to do some developing already, and he hasn’t demonstrated nearly as much talent in that time as one would expect. If he is a generational talent, then it must be a pretty poor generation.
4 Go to commentsThe greatest Springbok coach of all time is entirely on the money. Rassie and Jacques have given the south african public a great few years, but the success of the springbok selection policy will need to be judged in light of what comes next. The poor condition that the provincial system is currently in doesn’t bode well for the next few years of international rugby, and the insane 2026 schedule that the Boks have lined up could also really harm both provincial and international consistency.
21 Go to commentsJake White is a brilliant coach and a master in the press. This is another masterclass in media relations and PR but its also a very narrow view with arguments that dont always hold water. White wants his team to win, he wants the best players in SA and wants his team competitive. You however have to face up to the reality of a poor exchange rate and big clubs with big budgets. SA Rugby cant compete and unless it can find more money SA players will keep leaving regardless of Springbok eligibility and this happened in 2015 - 2017. Also rugby is not cricket. Cricket has 3 formats and T20 cricket is where the money is at. When it comes to club vs country the IPL is king but that wont happen because the international calendar does not clash with the club calendar in rugby. So the argument about rugby going down the same path as cricket is really a non-starter
21 Go to commentsNZ rugby seem not to have learnt anything from professional rugby. Super rugby was dying and SA left before they died with the competition. SA rugby did a u turn on their approach to international players playing overseas and such players are now selected for Bok teams. As much as each country would love to retain their players playing in local competitions, this is the way the world is evolving my friends. Move with it or stay 20 years behind the times. One more thing. NZ rugby hierarchy think they are the big cheese. Take a more humble approach guys. You do not seem to have your players best interests at heart.
3 Go to commentsBeaches? In Cardiff? Where?
1 Go to commentsHe is right , the Crusaders will be a threat. Scott Barrett, ( particularly), Fergus Burke , Codie Taylor, ( from sabbatical) etc due back soon for the Crusaders. There are others like Zach Gallagher too. People can right the Crusaders off, Top 8 , here we come !!
1 Go to commentsWe will always struggle for money to match the other sides but the least the WRU can do is invest properly in Welsh rugby. Too much has been squandered on vanity projects like the hotel and roof walk amongst others which will never see a massive return. Hanging the 4 pro sides out to dry over the last decade is now coming back to bite the WRU financially as well as on the pitch. You reap what you sow.
1 Go to commentsWhat do you get if you cross a doctor with a fish? A plastic sturgeon
14 Go to commentsWhat happened to feleti Kaitu’u? Hasnt played in a while right?
1 Go to commentsGregor I just can’t agree with you. You are trying to find something that just isn’t there. Jordie Barrett has signed until 2028. By the end of that he would have spent probably 11-12 years on Super Rugby and you say he can’t possibly have one season playing somewhere else. It is absurd. What about this scenario, the NZR play hard ball and he decides to leave and play overseas. How would that affect the competition. There seems to be an agenda by certain journalists to push certain agendas and don’t like it when it’s not to their liking. I fully support the NZR on this. Gregor needs to get a life.
3 Go to commentsHope he stays as believe he can do a great job.
1 Go to commentsMake what step up? Manie has a World Cup winner’s medal around his neck and changed the way the Springboks can play. He doesn’t have anything to prove to anyone. The win record of the Boks with him in the team is tremendous. Sacha can be wonderful and I hope he has a very succesful Bok career, but comparing him to Manie in terms of the next Bok flyhalf is very strange. Manie is the incumbent (not the next) and doing pretty incredibly.
4 Go to comments