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Steven Myler admits Northampton Saints will have to produce "something special" to beat French champions Castres Olympique on their home soil when the two sides kick-off their Heineken Cup Pool1 campaigns. - 08/10/2013 10:58
Steven Myler admits Northampton Saints will have to produce “something special” to beat French champions Castres Olympique on their home soil when the two sides kick-off their Heineken Cup Pool1 campaigns.
This clash at Stade Pierre Antoine could well have been a clash between the English and French champions, but while Castres defeat Heineken Cup winners Toulon in the final, Saints were edged-out by rivals Leicester Tgers at Twickenham.
However this season has witnessed a change in fortunes for the English club. Saints, bolstered by new signings George North and Alex Corbisiero, are second in the English Premiership having lost just one of their opening five games while Castres' defence of their title has wobbled are are down in 11th place.
Stade Pierre Antoine, however, remains a fortress of a stadium and they have already defeated Toulon, Stade Francais and Racing-Metro there this season. Northampton are well aware of the size of the challenge after two defeats there, although they did claim a 23-12 victory at Castres on their way to the 2011 Heineken Cup Final.
Outside-half Myler said: “They beat Toulon in the French final last season so they have something about them to do that. The French league is very strong and we expected Castres to come out as a unit and as French champions, put in a performance that will require something special from us to come away with a win.”
Since losing that final to Leinster, Saints have failed to get out of the pool stage. Myler added: “It just shows how tough the Heineken Cup is and why it means so much to the teams involved.”
A loose pass from Luther Burrell turned a possible Northampton Saints score into a try at the other end for the French champions that laid the foundation for them to notch their first win in the opening round of the Heineken Cup since 2005. - 12/10/2013 18:32
A loose pass from Luther Burrell turned a possible Northampton Saints score into a try at the other end for the French champions that laid the foundation for them to notch their first win in the opening round of the Heineken Cup since 2005.
Had Burrell’s pass reached his team mate it would have been curtains for Castres, but instead their flying wing Romain Martial intercepted, pinned back his ears and stayed five yards ahead of the chasing George North on the race to the posts.
Rory Kockott added the simple conversion and Castres were on their way to preserving their unbeaten home record this season. Steve Myler replied with a penalty for the English Premiership side, but Kockott landed a monster penalty off the half-way line to give the home side a 10-3 interval lead.
Saints lost Ben Foden to the sin-bin just before the break, but those three points were the only ones the visitors conceded while he was off. However, Kockett made it 13-3 three minutes into the second half.
At that stage Saints went back to basics and made headway through their driving mauls and power scrums. It brought a reward with a try from skipper Dylan Hartley and Myler’s conversion cut the deficit to three points.
Kockott stepped up to kick a penalty after 55 minutes after a truck and trailer offence from the Saints pack to provide some breathing space once again for the home side. Myler was wide with a penalty but quickly made amends with 10 minutes to play to make it 16-13.
But Kockott had the final word with his fourth penalty to wrap up the pints, and take his match account to 14 points.
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