ACC, r3: Saracens defeat Castres, but Toulon remain top guns after 73-3 rout of Rovigo

12 December 2009

Guinness Premiership leaders Saracens fought back from 9-3 down at half-time to beat their French counterparts Castres 9-23 at the Stade Pierre Antoine on Friday night.

The result effectively ends Castres' involvement in this season's Amlin Challenge Cup - having already lost at home to Toulon as well - but it keeps Saracens' hopes alive in their quest for a quarter-final berth.

Second-half tries from replacements Andy Saull and Schalk Brits sealed the win, with fly-half Glen Jackson kicking both conversions, as well as two penalties and a drop-goal. The victory was just reward for a strong second-half performance from the English outfit after Castres’ bullish pack had threatened to put the game beyond reach in the opening period.

Amlin Challenge Cup - Pool results and tables

The Saracens defence stood strong though – twice denying the hosts on their own try-line – with Castres limited to just three penalties from the boot of full-back Thomas Bouquié.

Much was expected of this clash between the current leaders in France and England, but Castres showed their hand in team selection as they made 12 changes to their starting line up from their weekend defeat at Bourgoin.

Former England centre Phil Christophers captained the home side and their inexperienced line-up made good headway initially, but were restricted to just the three penalties despite dominating much of the first half. Bouquié’s third success put them 9-3 ahead a minute before the break, and with Saracens temporarily down to 14 men (due to Justin Melck’s 34^th-minute yellow) the Top 14 leaders looked well placed to go on and win.

But Saracens raised the bar after the interval, drawing level within 20 minutes thanks to two Jackson penalties before Saull made the crucial breakthrough with the game’s opening try after hooker Brits had been stopped just short. But the South African was not to be denied, and went over for his own score nine minutes from time when he intercepted an Alexandre Albouy pass to touch down under the posts.

Elsewhere in the ACC, Toulon ran in 11 tries as they smashed hapless Rugby Rovigo 73-3 in front of 9,700 fans at the Stade Félix Mayol.

Fijian winger Gabriele Lovobalavu was the star man, collecting four ties on the night to take his tally to six in the competition so far, while fellow wide man Sinoti Sinoti chipped in with two. The other try-scorers were full-back Clément Marienval, number eight Fotunuupule Auelua, and replacements Phil Fitzgerald, Ross Skeate and Thomas Sourice.

It may have been a one-sided match but coach Philippe Saint-André will be delighted both with the result, and also with the continued rehabilitations of Sonny Bill Williams and Felipe Contepomi following lengthy injury lay-offs. The latter kicked five conversions before being replaced by Sebastien Fauqué after an hour.

The win was Toulon’s biggest in Europe and keeps them four points clear of Saracens at the top of Pool 3, and crucially with an improved points differential of +94.

Montpellier were also victorious on Friday night, beating Olympus Rugby XV Madrid 57-24 to keep alive their own qualification hopes in Pool 2. The French side outscored their Spanish visitors by eight tries to three, with full-back Benjamin Thiery and winger Thierry Brana both grabbing two tries each. Captain for the night Joan Caudullo, lock Mamuka Gorgodze, flanker Mathieu Petitdemange and replacement Juan Figallo got the other tries, with Adrien Tomas kicking seven conversions.

Montauban lost 17-6 at Newcastle Falcons on Thursday in Pool 5. Marc Raynaud’s side had won both previous games in the competition, but came unstuck against the Guinness Premiership side after leading 6-3 at half-time. Newcastle full-back Alex Tait got the only try of the match (in the 56^th minute), while fly-half Jimmy Gopperth kicked four penalties. Montauban’s points came via a pair of drop-goals (from  Johan Dalla Riva and young fly-half Cédric Coll), while Scottish centre Andrew Henderson was yellow-carded midway through the second half.

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