Dempsey refusing to read too much into Castres’ form
THE Castres team that arrive in Dublin tomorrow may not evoke the same kind of fear that some of the other French heavyweight Champions Cup sides do, but Girvan Dempsey has warned that they carry a major threat to his side.
Castres have not made a great start to their domestic season.
Castres are languishing fourth from bottom of the Top 14, five points above the relegation zone.
Granted, there is still plenty of time for them to turn their season around but history would suggest that French sides who are struggling domestically usually take their eye off the ball in Europe.
PROPOSITION
Had tomorrow’s game been played in France and not at the RDS, Leinster would certainly have a different proposition on their hands but as it is, Castres have won just three games this season and have lost their last two.
Dempsey however is refusing to read too much into their form and is adamant that his side face a ‘tough’ test at home.
“They have had a rough few weeks,” Dempsey admitted.
“This is their third week in a row on the road. The biggest thing is they are a team that travel well and they are not afraid to play away from home.
“Look at the game against Clermont: they played some really good rugby and they were well in the game and it was just an incredible bit of skill by (Noa) Nakaitaci for Clermont who scored a freakish try that won them the game.
“The game against Montpellier at the weekend was similar. They were in the game and had opportunities to win it.
“They brought in experience off the bench and put themselves in a position in a close game.
“They are not that old perception of a French side that doesn’t travel. They do travel.
“They are well coached. And they have good continuity of selection the last few weeks. The week before Clermont they got a cracking result against Racing at home, so they are a tough side.”
The back-to-back defeats to Clermont and Montpellier mean that Castres have something of a point to prove but Leinster themselves are desperate to hit the ground running after a disastrous Champions Cup campaign last season.
POSITIVE
Leinster got off to a horrendous start last year, losing 33-6 at home to Wasps and Dempsey admitted that his players are still motivated by the hurt as they seek a positive start this time around.
“We see this as a huge game for us,” the backs coach said.
“The learning from last year’s performance, it straight away put us on the back foot. None of the pools are easy so you know you need as many points on the board as possible to give you the best chance coming in to December.
“We realised that against Wasps at home last year and we have to be better this time against Castres.
“We’re fortunate this time in that we have continuity of players playing, we’re happy we’ve lot of guys with a lot of game-time under their belt and having trained with each other.
“We are a lot more confident in our attack and defence systems.
“It was gutting. We know we didn’t perform. We didn’t capitalise on the opportunities that we created. We didn’t score tries and we are much better at that this year.”