Racing 92 went through all the emotions. While the Ile-de-France residents had stopped their series of five losses in a row by winning against Toulon on March 10 (20-6), Stuart Lancaster’s men snatched victory this Saturday against Castres (23-21) by playing a few moments at 12 against 15!
This success comes at a time when Nolann Le Garrec and Gaël Fickou, both started in the victory of the French XV against England a week ago (33-31), made their return with their club. The Racing scrum half also scored his team’s first 6 points following two penalties (5th, 15th). He scored 13 in total, including the winning penalty in the 77th minute.
Victory despite indiscipline
Despite having possession to its advantage, Racing stumbled for a time against the Castres defense. Antoine Gibert tried to find the solution with his foot, without success (28th). Fortunately for Racing, the liveliness of Christian Wade broke through the opposing block. Found on the 40 line after a touch, the Englishman interfered in the interval before hooking Le Brun to flatten (11-6, 32nd).
Castres nevertheless almost reacted immediately. But Delaporte’s forward, ten meters from the goal, stopped the revolt (34th). Castres had already had a glimpse of Racing’s power on the wings with Wade’s try. The CO was just as helpless after the demonstration of Wame Naituvi (20-6, 35th). After a restart of the 22, Naituvi stamped his feet and outclassed everyone in the race!
Pierre Popelin’s reduction in the score, thanks to a penalty (20-9, 54th), preserved the suspense as to the outcome of the match. Racing’s advance was not synonymous with serenity, as evidenced by the scrums, which were often messy and took a long time to set up. The pace of the match was impacted by these phases of play, but also by the clash between Camille Chat and Levan Chilachava, earning both players a yellow (57th).
Popelin lacked composure
After a succession of faults, and a new yellow from Thomas Laclayat (66th), Racing had to hold on with only 13 players. The Castres pressure intensified and the sanction fell: a penalty try against the Ile-de-France residents (20-16, 68th). Asphyxiated, the Racingmen even saw their lead reduced to nothing after Jérémy Fernandez’s try. The reprieve, made possible by Popelin’s failure to convert (21-20, 73rd), promised a thrilling end to the match.
Hopes of victory seemed buried when Naituvi was guilty of a high tackle and left his team at 12 (75th). Castres was, however, penalized on his 40 meters, enough to allow Le Garrec to restore the advantage to his team (23-21, 77th). Sanctioned 12 times in the second half, the Racingmen escaped defeat thanks to another failure by Popelin on a penalty (78th). Racing survived, Racing won. This victory against a rival in qualifying propels Racing to 3rd place. Castres is fifth.
