Stade Francais hold off courageous Castres

Stade Francais hold off courageous Castres

PARIS - Stade Francais dug in for a 29-25 win over Castres as the early match of round four of the French Top 14 rugby championship went down to the wire on Saturday.

Stade Francais' fly-half Jules Plisson (L) kicks the ball during the French Top 14 rugby union match between Stade Francais and Castres in Paris on September 10, 2016

Down to 14 men after Jules Plisson was sent off on 58 minutes, the Parisians dug deep to overcome a dogged Castres, who had come to the capital looking to bury last week's 26-18 reverse against La Rochelle.

The win puts Stade Francais provisionally top of the standings a point ahead of La Rochelle who host Lyon later Sturday, and Brive, who travel to Grenoble on Sunday.

Stade manager Gonzalo Quesada said his side had deserved the result.

"There is no miracle, just a team who have worked very hard since the beginning of the season," said Quesada.

"We're building a group with good spirit and resources. We were up against a Castres side who came to fight at all costs."

Lacking the dramatic edge from their 30-30 draw at Clermont, Stade Francais nevertheless gave a good show against a direct rival for the final phase and ahead of two tricky trips south to Pau and Toulouse.

The hosts again proved their efficiency up front with Plisson touching down after 15 minutes. But then as Plisson let six points go abegging, Argentine flyhalf Benjamín Urdapilleta kept Castres in touch 13-9 at half-time.

Tensions escalated after the break, and although the Parisians controlled the game 19-9, a series of bad decisions, with Hugo Bonneval seeing yellow for a high tackle, and Plisson red for a charge on the back of a Castres player on the ground, the visitors pulled ahead.

Samoan wing David Smith put Castres in front 19-22 with a try on 65 minutes.

But it was short lived as three minutes later, Geoffrey Doumayrou made a dive for the line for the hosts second try in an electric atmosphere with the Parisians reclaiming the lead 26-22.

They would never relinquish it, claiming a second win of the season after a 54-20 opening win over Grenoble.

For their part Castres had the consolation of leaving the capital with a bonus defensive point.

"It's a mixture of pride and disappointment," said Castres scrum-half Antoine Dupont.

"We took the lead but were quickly caught. We didn't give up but we didn't put the foot on the accelerator as we should have."

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