Hartley and Saints are looking second class
NORTHAMPTON’S patchy season took an alarming turn for the worse at the Stade Pierre Antoine where they were taken apart by a hungry and extremely skilful Castres side who beat them in every department. In truth, even this score line flattered Saints.
Worryingly for England Dylan Hartley – returning from injury – and Courtney Lawes looked a long way off the pace as the Autumn Tests hove into view.
Neither made any impact on the game and other than a stalwart effort from skipper Tom Woods and some nice touches from Rory Hutchinson and Ben Foden it’s difficult to think of anything to enthuse over from Saints.
Castres in contrast were massively strong in the tight while their big forwards thundered forward impressively and their inventive backs probed constantly for openings. It was like watching France in the 1970s.
Northampton had their moments in the first half in terms of possession and territory but are playing with no confidence and composure at present and it showed.
Castres went ahead with a brace of penalties from their ever-reliable Pumas Benjamin Urdapilleta but after a yellow card for Rory Kockott Saints should have taken advantage. Five times they went into the corner, opting for a lineout instead of a shot at goal, and five times they were repulsed.
When the pressure came off Castres took full advantage.
The French were still shorthanded when their rumbustious Kiwi No.8 Alex Tulou picked up and charged as a ruck disintegrated and sped off into the wide spaces before flicking a nice inside pass to David Smith who scored with a flourish under the post
Kockott returned soon after and showed his class immediately when he spotted that Saints right wing James Wilson had been caught up in a maul and immediately chipped into that area, chasing hard to regather the ball.
Kockott, the South Africa who opted for France after three years residency, should have passed to his left where there was a simple run-in for Tulou but after making ground himself it was eventually prop Antoine Tichit who forced his way over.
After half-time it was mainly crisis management by Saints as Castres poured forward.
In the past the French side have been inclined to ‘declare’ prematurely but this time they kept their foot on the accelerator. Smith, formerly of Toulon, although nominally playing wing was everywhere and a thorn in Northampton’s side.
It was Smith’s beautifully worked try soon after the break that effectively finished the game as a contest and Castres’ next task was to secure a bonus point.
Saints, with Wood working overtime and replacement hooker Mike Haywood also bending his back, did resist with much more conviction for a while and even nicked a try back through James Wilson another whose head didn’t got down.
Castres, though, weren’t in the mood to just settle for a routine victory and they raised the tempo one more time to finish off with a brace of cracking tries from impressive replacements Alexandre Bias at flanker and scrum-half Antoine Dupont.