By Tom Harrington
Northampton Saints got their Investec Champions Cup campaign underway with a stomping 38-8 win over French side Castres Olympique. Player of the Match Juarno Augustus shined with a brace for the Black, Green and Gold despite confirming last week that he is leaving the club at the end of the season.
Fraser Dingwall opened the scoring inside five minutes, a theme with Northampton, the England centre darting through a gap on Castres’ try-line. The visitors clawed three points back through fly-half Louis le Brun, two minutes later Northampton’s Temo Mayanavanua broke through the line at speed and doubled the host’s score. With Fin Smith converting both scores Saints lead 14-3 after a quiet first-half.
Northampton again out of the blocks the quickest, Castres penalised for not releasing after Henry Pollock got over the top of the ruck. A tap and go combined with a long pass to the touchline gave Juarno Augustus an easy slide over the paint. Curtis Langdon scored his sides bonus point try, a scrappy outcome as the ball bounced around on the floor.
A brace for Augustus from a thought-out tap and go, showing Saints’ front pack power. Castres only try for the afternoon also came through a tap and go, substitute Pierre Colonna pushed over the whitewash alongside his front row teammates.
The sixth and final try came from Henry Pollock in the 74th minute, another forward pack drive over the line, much to the dismay of Castres as a 30-man brawl sparks. An odd day at the Gardens, the weather the main story in Northampton causing both sides problems but it’s Saints who come out on top, full-time 38-8.
NORTHAMPTON SAINTS: 38
Tries: 6 (Dingwall 4’, Mayanavanua 8’, Augustus 44’ 62’, Langdon 49’, Pollock 74’)
Conversions: 3 (Smith 4’, 8’, 49’)
Penalties: 0
Yellow Cards: 0
Starting XV: 15 James Ramm 14 Tommy Freeman 13 Tom Litchfield 12 Fraser Dingwall© 11 Ollie Sleightholme 10 Fin Smith 9 Alex Mitchell 1 Emmanuel Iyogun 2 Curtis Langdon 3 Elliot Millar-Mills 4 Temo Mayanavanua 5 Tom Lockett 6 Angus Scott-Young 7 Henry Pollock 8 Juarno Augustus
REPLACEMENTS: 16 Craig Wright 17 Tom West 18 Luke Green 19 Chunya Munga 20 Alex Coles 21 Iakopo Mapu 22 Archie McParland 23 Rory Hutchinson
CASTRES OLYMPIQUE: 8
Tries: 1 (Colonna 68’)
Conversions: 0
Penalties: 1 (le Brun 6’)
Yellow Cards: 0
Red Cards: 0
Starting XV: 15 Theo Chabouni 14 Josaia Raisuqe 13 Adrien Seguret 12 Joris Dupont 11 Nathanael Hulleu 10 Louis Le Brun 9 Santiago Arata© 1 Lois Guerois-Galisson 2 Loris Zarantonello 3 Aurelien Azar 4 Guillaume Ducat 5 Leone Nakarawa 6 Yann Peysson 7 Tyler Ardron 8 Feibyan Tukino
REPLACEMENTS: 16 Pierre Colonna 17 Wayan de Benedittis 18 Nicolas Corato 19 Mathieu Babillot 20 Abraham Papali’i 21 Jeremy Fernandez 22 Vilimoni Botiti 23 Remy Baget
NORTHAMPTON SAINTS PLAYER RATINGS
Northampton Saints
15 James Ramm 8
Strong in the air despite conditions, great line breaks constantly getting over the gain-line.
14 Tommy Freeman 7.5
Quiet week for the winger with most play going through the middle, some goods takes in the air and constantly pressing.
13 Tom Litchfield 7.5
Strong in midfield defensive and attacking with some breaks over the gain line.
12 Fraser Dingwall 7.5
Like his centre counterpart strong in defence and attack.
11 Ollie Sleightholme 7
Like his wing counterpart Freeman, a quiet week for Sleightholme good attacking presence but also picked up a knock early in the second period.
10 Fin Smith 8
Smart choices with his kicks in the windy conditions, really put the hosts onto the front foot during the full 80.
9 Alex Mitchell 8.5
Electric in attack, constantly scouting for the best option and where to go, assisted Langdon.
1 Emmanuel Iyogun 8
Strong in scrummage, good attack and defensive presence.
2 Curtis Langdon 8
Good score to be able to collect the ball, like the front row good scrummage and defensive presence.
3 Elliot Millar-Mills 8
Good scrummage and great at breakdowns.
4 Temo Mayanavanua 8
Good speed and line break for his try, good in the air at lineouts.
5 Tom Lockett 7.5
Good defensive presence and strong in the air.
6 Angus Scott-Young 7.5
Strong defensive presence, brought off early in the second half.
7 Henry Pollock 8
Passion from the youngster, over every breakdown, strong scrum, charge downs and a try to his name.
8 Juarno Augustus 8.5
Player of the Match for a reason, two tries both showing his power, over every ruck and good at scrums, Saints fans will be disappointed that he is leaving at the end of the season.
REPLACEMENTS
16 Craig Wright 7
17 Tom West 7
18 Luke Green 7
19 Chunya Munga 7.5
20 Alex Coles 7.5
21 Iakopo Mapu 7.5
22 Archie McParland 7.5
23 Rory Hutchinson 7.5
TALKING POINTS
Augustus’ influence: It was announced last week that the South-African back row would be leaving the Saints at the end of this current season but this afternoon he played his heart out. Northampton Director of Rugby Phil Dowson said: “It’s been a tricky fortnight for him, contract wise, that’s disruptive but I thought this week he was much more like himself, I thought he was outstanding.”
Henry Pollock’s first European start: The 19 year old made his European debut this afternoon after impressing in the Gallagher Premiership, his director Dowson: “I don’t think we need to big him up anymore, look at him play, he’s an outstanding player and character. That’s his first European game and he’s clearly very talented and very driven, he’s in the environment where he is pushed to get better and he’s got player around him like Tom Pearson and Juarno Augustus and player to learn from
Response from Saints: After losing for the first time at home in 19 games to Gloucester, Dowson believes that his side had the perfect response:“I thought for long periods of that game we were very good, the effort, intent and everything we spoke about during the week.”
The weather: With the game being played during storm Darragh many high kicks ended up losing ground but how did the champions overcome the conditions – “I thought Fin and Mitch (Alex Mitchell) just about coped with it you know it’s swirling around, we worked hard chasing kicks down to put them back under pressure and create more opportunities for us.”
The next round for Northampton: Saints will travel to Pretoria for next weekends clash against the Bulls but Fraser Dingwall believes that todays game sets them up perfectly. He said: “Realistically we’re playing against a South-African teams its going to style with the physical side of tonight and the set piece battle and how aggressive we can be in contact areas, they’ve got some dangerous backs, it will be a massive challenge but its something we want to get stuck into.”
