Bath shrug off early blows to bag first win in France since 2015

Bath Rugby secured their first victory on French soil since 2015 to maintain their place at the top of Investec Champions Cup Pool 2 with one round of group matches to go.

Bath Rugby will face Edinburgh Rugby here at The Rec on Friday 16th January on the back of a superb 43-20 victory at Castres Olympique | Photo © Richard Briggs

The Blue, Black & White shrugged off two first-half yellow cards as they won 43-20 at Castres Olympique in Round 3 on Friday 9th January to give them their second success from three outings in the competition this season, following a 40-14 victory at home to Munster Rugby and a 45-34 defeat at RC Toulon.

And after the completion of Round 3 on Sunday 11th January, Johann van Graan’s side hold pole position with 11 points and Edinburgh Rugby – who will come to The Rec on Friday 16th January in Round 4 – lie in second place, a point behind.

Toulon (nine points) are third, Munster (six) are fourth, Gloucester Rugby (six) are fifth and Castres (five) – who started the game against Bath in second place – are bottom of the pile.

The Blue, Black & White outscored Castres by six tries to two and had 53% of the possession and 55% of the territory. Bath gained 261 metres in attack, the hosts gaining 241 metres. And whereas the visitors conceded only nine penalties, Castres – who also suffered two yellow cards, one in each half – gave away 16.

Before a crowd of 9,894, Castres took the lead with a sixth-minute try, Teddy Durand-Pradere touching down on the right from a line-out drive. Jeremy Fernandez converted.

But Bath were soon back on terms. In the 11th minute, Cameron Redpath held off the attentions of two would-be tacklers to cross from three metres on the left following a pass from Ben Spencer. Finn Russell added the extras.

However, the guests were down to 14 men almost immediately. Beno Obano was sent to the sin bin by Irish referee Eoghan Cross in the 13th minute – and Castres soon took advantage.

Nathanael Hulleu received the ball five metres out on the left in the 15th minute and touched down not far from the posts. Fernandez majored again and Castres led 14-7.

After Obano returned, the Blue, Black & White were shown their second yellow card. Will Muir received his marching orders in the 23rd minute after challenging Theo Chabouni in the air on the left, five metres from Bath’s try line.

But Bath soon tied the game once more. In the 32nd minute, Ted Hill crashed over from four metres beneath the posts following a pass from Spencer. Russell was successful from the tee.

And the travellers took the lead for the first time in the 36th minute, Tom Dunn scoring from a rolling maul on the right. Durand-Pradere was sin-binned for attempting to collapse the maul – and then Russell landed the conversion that took him past 500 points for Bath.

However, Castres – who are in 10th spot in the Top 14 – reduced Bath’s lead to 21-17 when Pierre Popelin slotted over a 22-metre penalty from the right in the 40th minute.

The Blue, Black & White claimed the bonus point in the 47th minute, when Alfie Barbeary passed to Obano three metres out and the loosehead evaded Christian Ambadiang’s attempted tackle to dive over on the left. Russell’s conversion attempt struck the left stick.

Fernandez kicked a 38-metre, 57th-minute penalty from in front of the posts to cut the gap to 26-20.

But anything Fernandez could do, Russell could do better when it came to penalties. The British & Irish Lion booted a 40-metre penalty from in front of the posts in the 62nd minute and Bath were 29-20 up.

And the cushion was extended in the 71st minute, when the Blue, Black & White grabbed their fifth try. Max Ojomoh offloaded to Muir 10 metres out and he ran in unopposed for a score that Russell converted.

Castres suffered another setback when Guillaume Ducat was yellow-carded – and Bath punished them with their final try, Tom Carr-Smith the scorer after coming off the bench only seconds earlier.

Carr-Smith touched down under the posts from 15 metres in the 77th minute having received the ball from Will Butt, who had made a powerful 23-metre run. Russell majored to complete the scoring.

So overall an excellent evening’s work from Bath, who showed why they are among the favourites for glory in this season’s Champions Cup.

Bath starting XV: 1 Beno Obano, 2 Tom Dunn, 3 Vilikesa Sela, 4 Quinn Roux, 5 Ross Molony, 6 Ted Hill, 7 Miles Reid, 8 Alfie Barbeary, 9 Ben Spencer, 10 Finn Russell, 11 Will Muir, 12 Cameron Redpath, 13 Max Ojomoh, 14 Henry Arundell, 15 Santi Carreras.

Bath replacements: 16 Kepu Tuipulotu, 17 Francois van Wyk, 18 Thomas du Toit, 19 Josh Bayliss, 20 Guy Pepper, 21 Tom Carr-Smith, 22 Will Butt, 23 Joe Cokanasiga.

Castres starting XV: 1 Quentin Walcker, 2 Teddy Durand-Pradere, 3 Will Collier, 4 Guillaume Ducat, 5 Florent Vanverberghe, 6 Baptiste Delaporte, 7 Baptiste Cope, 8 Tyler Ardron, 9 Jeremy Fernandez, 10 Pierre Popelin, 11 Nathanael Hulleu, 12 Jack Goodhue, 13 Vuate Karawalevu, 14 Christian Ambadiang, 15 Theo Chabouni.

Castres replacements: 16 Loris Zarantonello, 17 Atunaisa Sokobale, 18 Nicolas Corato, 19 Tom Staniforth, 20 Simon Meka, 21 Gauthier Doubrere, 22 Enzo Herve, 23 Geoffrey Palis.

Kick-off against Edinburgh, who are 10th in the 16-team United Rugby Championship, will be at 8pm.

Tickets are available at https://www.eticketing.co.uk/bathrugby/EDP/Event/Index/2525?position=1

Finishing on top of Pool 2 will hand Bath home advantage in the Round of 16 and increase their chances of a home quarter-final, should they reach that stage.