Castres capitalise on indiscipline from Montpellier

Castres 29-23 Montpellier, Stade Pierre Antoine
Scorecard

Castres have kept their hopes alive of making it to the knock-out stage of European Champions Cup after they edged out Montpellier in a close 29-23 encounter at Stade Pierre Antoine on Sunday.

The first quarter of the game saw, Castres fly half Ben Urdapilleta and his counterpart Demetri Catrakilis exchange penalties.

Even though Akapusi Qera's try put the visitors in front, it was Castres, who dominated the first half with wing Horacio Agulla crossing over and Urdapilleta scoring two penalties and a conversion to take them to six-point lead at half time.

The first quarter of the second half saw Montpellier bounce back strongly with tries from fullback Jesse Mogg and Fiji international Nemani Nadolo as they claimed a seven point lead.

Nemani Nadolo gap reduced the gap to four points but what transpired after that was self destruction from Montpellier. Replacement Paul Willemse was sent off in the 61st minute after knocking out Rory Kockott while three minutes later Jannie du Plessis was sin-binned reducing the visitors to 13-men temporarily.

Castres capitalised on the advantage as replacement Alexandre Bias strolled past the post in the 64th minute while Urdapilleta added the extras following which Kockott's penalty ensured a six-point win for the home team.

Castres are placed at third despite the win while Montpellier are at second in Pool 4 which is topped by Leinster.