Both sides had long since been knocked out of Heineken Cup quarter-final contention, but the Dragons’ pride ensured an entertaining victory for the home fans.

Castres lost backrower Guilaume Taussac to the sin-bin in only the ninth minute, and Dragons winger Richard Fussell scampered over for the opening try seconds before Taussac made it back on to the field.

Dragons outside-half Craig Warlow and centre Ceri Sweeney both scored to give the home side an early 15-0 lead, and flanker Jamie Ringer sealed a try bonus point on the stroke of halftime.

Castres fly-half Romain Teulet finally put his side on the board with a 50th-minute penalty goal, and winger Yann Fior and English fullback Phil Christophers added consolation tries.