The Castres juggernaut overwhelmed a heavily rotated Edinburgh side as the French outfit shut out their visitors 33-0 in the Champions Cup. Castres ran in five tries, with Yann Ambadiang, Zarantonello, Ardron, Vargas, and Botitu crossing the line, while Popelin added four conversions to seal the scoreline.
Edinburgh, fielding a drastically reorganized squad under head coach Sean Everitt who rotated 11 players from last weekend’s strong win over Toulon in preparation for the 1872 Cup clashes with Glasgow Warriors, couldn’t replicate the same level of performance in their second pool match.
Despite enjoying plenty of early possession and territory, Edinburgh struggled to convert opportunities into points. The home side opened the scoring when Ambadiang sprinted in from the corner after a miscue at the breakdown by Cammy Scott and a mishandled clearance by Matt Currie on Edinburgh’s 22.
The visitors briefly threatened a reply, having already crossed for a potential try through Piers O’Conor, which was held up, and there was a squandered wide opportunity that could have given them the advantage.
But after the break, Castres took control. Zarantonello powerfully finished a maul at the back, then Ardron capitalized on a turnover from a throwing error by Edinburgh’s Ewan Ashman on his own five-meter line, diving over to extend the lead. Edinburgh’s hopes suffered a blow when O’Conor received a temporary sin-bin for a high tackle, enabling Castres to pile on more scores through Vargas and a standout performance from Botitu, who earned the match award.
Ashman’s potential try late in the game was disallowed due to a knock-on earlier in the move, underscoring a bruising day for Edinburgh. The result leaves both teams level with one win and one loss in Pool 2, as Edinburgh look ahead to the 1872 Cup double-header with renewed focus on recovering key players.
Castres’ lineup featured Palis, Ambadiang, Bottin, Goodhue, Vargas; Popelin, Fernandez; Walcker, Zarantonello, Azar, Maravat, Staniforth, Delaporte (captain), Ardron, Papalii. Replacements included Durand-Pradere, Guerois-Galisson, Corato, Nakarawa, Cope, Doubrere, Herve, Karawalevu.
Edinburgh’s starting XV consisted of Brown, McCann, M Currie, O’Conor, Wells, Scott, Vellacott (captain); Venter, Morris, O Blyth-Lafferty, Hunter-Hill, Young, McConnell, Douglas, Dodd. Replacements were Ashman, Jones, Hill, Boyle, Watson, Shiel, Lang, Goosen.
Referee: Andrea Piardi.
