Sport

Second-string Castres no match for Northampton

Northampton 45 Castres 0: NORTHAMPTON COLLECTED their first Heineken Cup win of the season with a bonus-point success at Franklin…

Mon Dec 19 2011 - 00:00

Northampton 45 Castres 0:NORTHAMPTON COLLECTED their first Heineken Cup win of the season with a bonus-point success at Franklin's Gardens yesterday.

The notable action came in the final quarter as the Saints scored five tries to finally crush the poor visitors.

Stephen Myler kicked the remaining 20 points for Northampton. With both teams already seemingly out of the competition, the game lacked real bite.

Northampton should have capitalised on their huge share of possession early on, but it was not until late in the game that they were able to do so. Castres began with only two of the 15 who started last week’s game in France and they were soon under pressure.

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Stephen Myler took his first penalty chance to give Northampton the lead after 12 minutes, but despite dominating possession and territory they failed to increase that 3-0 lead before the interval.

The Castres scrum continued to be frequently penalised by referee George Clancy and from two of the awards Myler extended the Saints lead with successful kicks from 35 and 45 metres. A fourth penalty from Myler after 50 minutes gave the Saints a 12-0 lead before Bernard missed another opportunity for the visitors.

Dickson and Soane Tonga’uiha were introduced by Northampton on the hour in an attempt to give the Saints some attacking variety and it soon paid dividends when Ben Foden and Vasily Artemyev both outflanked the visitors’ defence for tries which Myler converted.

Castres were demoralised and battered from their tackling stint and conceded further tries to Mike Haywood and Greig Tonks and a final one from Foden who ran 50 metres to score. Myler converted two of them.

NORTHAMPTON: Foden; Artemyev, Clarke, Downey, Elliott; Myler, Roberts; A Waller, Hartley, Doran-Jones, Lawes, Sorenson, Wood, Nutley, Manoa. Replacements: Tonks for Clarke (68), Armstrong for Downey (61), Dickson for Roberts (61), Haywood for Hartley (62), Craig for Lawes (51), Ingle for Nutley (63).

CASTRES:Denos; Nicolas, Bonnefond, Garcia, Lakafia; Bernard, Lacrampe, Peikrishvili, Bonello, Kruger, Rolland, Murray, Roussel, Malonga, Bornman. Replacements: Inigo for Nicolas (68), Kockott for Lacrampe (61), Ducalcon for Peikrishvili (52), Rallier for Bonello (52), Coetzee for Kruger (45), Capo for Rolland (68), Caballero for Bornman (43). Sin Bin: Roussel (22).

Ref: George Clancy (RFU).

Tries: Foden 2, Artemyev, Haywood, Tonks.

Cons: Myler 4.

Pens: Myler 4.

Att: 11,670