Castres crush Saints with 41-7 bonus-point win

Castres 41-7 Northampton Saints, Stade Pierre Antoine
Scorecard

Northampton Saints left the Stade Pierre-Antoine battered and bruised after receiving a heavy 41-7 thrashing from Castres during the 2016-17 European Rugby Champions Cup pool stage clash on Saturday.

The French side ran five tries against the English Premiership side with left-wing David Smith (30, 44) scoring a double.

Loosehead prop Antoine Tichit (39), replacement openside-flanker Alexandre Bias (74) and replacement scrum-half Antoine Dupont (77) scored a try each for the hosts.

Fly-half Benjamin Urdapilleta managed to convert three tries in addition to scoring a couple of penalties, while replacement fullback Julien Dumora slotted the remaining two conversions.

In response, Saints' right-wing James Wilson (72) was the lone try scorer for the visitors, while fly-half Stephen Myler slotted the conversion.

The Saints will now host Leinster, while the Castres will face Montpellier at the Altrad Stadium next round.