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Castres Olympique showed their resilience
Castres Olympique showed their resilience, and their intent, at home in round two when they hit back to beat the Dragons 32-29 in a game that could have gone either way.
They will be back on home turf in the third round and will probably fancy their chances against a Sale Sharks side that went down to the Dragons in their opening game in Pool 2 before recovering to pip Pau a week later.
Sharks director of rugby Steve Diamond has picked a strong side to travel to Stade Pierre Antoine, but also knows the enormity of the challenge. “It will be a difficult contest out there in France, they are lying sixth in the Top 14, so we've got to go out and be competitive,” he said.
The Sharks have a good recent record against French opposition in the tournament and have never lost to Castres in Europe, twice beating them when they met in the European Cup. A second defeat for the Sharks would make it difficult for them to qualify, although in one of the most competitive pools of them all any tram could beat the other on its day.
Castres warmed-up for their European return with a 34-19 home win in the Top 14 over Montpellier and they have turned-over RC Toulon, Oyonnax and Racing 92 on their own patch in the domestic league. When they are good, they can be very, very good, but f they don’t switch on they can be vulnerable.
Match Facts
- These teams are yet to face off against each other in the Challenge Cup, however they have met in the Champions Cup with Sale winning both encounters in 2005.
- Castres Olympique have won only three of their last eight matches in the Challenge Cup, though they won their only fixture in this season’s tournament so far.
- Sale Sharks have won four of their last five pool matches in the Challenge Cup.
- Sale have also won six of their last eight Challenge Cup matches against French opposition including each of the last three.
Surpris à domicile par les Sharks de Sale (10-17)
Sale Sharks claimed a potentially crucial away win in the European Rugby Challenge Cup at Castres.
Nev Edwards handed Sale a dream start at Stade Pierre Antoine with a try in the first minute. But it was the Sharks defence that proved a match-winner. Steve Diamond’s side stunned Castres inside the first minute after Andrei Ostrikov charged down a kick.
Wing Edwards to continue his dream start to professional rugby and sprint in and score his third try in two games which Joe Ford confidently converted.
Castres immediately responded by putting the away side under intense pressure, and centre Florian Vialelle touched down just before the ten-minute mark. Dumora’s conversion levelled the scores.
Both teams struggled to take control of the game following the early tries, and a Dumora penalty just before the break gave the hosts a 10-7 lead at half-time. Neither side could make the pressure count until the 58th minute when Ford kicked a penalty to draw Sale level.
That provided momentum for Sale as the game wore on, forcing Castres into a number of mistakes as tempers flared. Both teams were reduced to 14 men when Will Addison and Marc-Antoine Rallier were each shown yellow cards, which made for a nerve-racking final 10 minutes.
Just seven minutes from time Charlie Ingall attacked down the right wing and Sale were awarded a late penalty try after Mathieu Caminati was sin binned for an illegal tackle, with Ford converting the try. Sale held on for the final few minutes leaving the final score 17-10 to the Sharks.
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