Edinburgh send Castres packing

Editor

Fluent Edinburgh completed the Heineken Cup double over French visitors Castres at Murrayfield and boosted their bid to avoid the wooden spoon in Pool Two with a 32-14 victory on Friday.

Fluent Edinburgh completed the Heineken Cup double over French visitors Castres at Murrayfield and boosted their bid to avoid the wooden spoon in Pool Two with a 32-14 victory on Friday.

The opening exchanges were scrappy as both sides made a series of unforced errors, Edinburgh were handed the first scoring chance when the Castres front row collapsed the scrum – but Phil Godman sent the penalty wide.

He was handed an instant opportunity to make amends as Simon Cross was bodychecked off the ball, and this time the stand-off made no mistake from 30 metres.

The Gunners were dealt a shock in the 10th minute, however, when the Frenchmen created a superb try.

A slick handling move left the home defence stretched, giving hooker Romain Terrain the time and space to nip over in the corner. Romain Teulet added the tricky conversion.

The score stirred Edinburgh into more attacking action of their own and winger Andy Turnbull was hauled down a couple of paces from the line.

Hugo Southwell then combined with Simon Webster to put more pressure on the visiting markers.

It seemed only a matter of time before the Gunners would break through – and it was Ben Cairns who did the damage in the wake of great handling and offloading. Godman's kick which followed was straight and true.

Gunners continued to hold sway, but they could not turn domination into more quick points.

And they were set back on their heels again when Castres bagged another breakaway touchdown.

Skipper Rodrigo Ortega rumbled through the middle, mowing down Nick De Luca in the process, before sending Iosefa Tekori over for Teulet to convert.

Castres were rocked a minute later as Terrain was sin-binned for killing the ball.

Edinburgh continued to enjoy the bulk of possession and territory after the restart, but the tackling of the French side was hard and secure.

They had no answer, however, when Southwell found an extra gear to rip through a space and send Godman over for a top-notch try.

Even better was to come for the home fans as substitute Chris Paterson slotted a penalty and immediately goaled another fantastic touchdown by Ross Ford, following a charge from Scott Newlands.

Paterson laid on the bonus point effort for Andy Kelly with the final move of the game.

The scorers:

For Edinburgh:
Tries:
Cairns, Godman, Ford, Kelly
Cons: Godman, Paterson 2
Pens: Godman, Paterson

For Castres:
Tries:
Terrain, tekori
Cons: Teulet 2

Edinburgh: 15 Hugo Southwell, 14 Andrew Turnbull, 13 Ben Cairns, 12 Nick De Luca, 11 Simon Webster, 10 Phil Godman, 9 Greig Laidlaw, 8 Allister Hogg (c), 7 Simon Cross, 6 Scott Newlands, 5 Ben Gissing, 4 Craig Hamilton, 3 Gavin Kerr, 2 Ross Ford, 1 Allan Jacobsen.
Replacements: 16 Andrew Kelly, 17 Kyle Traynor, 18 Roland Reid, 19 Steve Lawrie, 20 Mike Blair, 21 John Houston, 22 Chris Paterson.

Castres: 15 Thomas Bouquié, 14 Laloaoa Milford, 13 Charles Sika, 12 Thomas Sanchou, 11 Matthieu Bourret, 10 Romian Teulet, 9 Kevin Senio, 8 Steve Malonga, 7 Joe Tekori, 6 Lei Tomiki, 5 Colin Gaston, 4 Rodrigo Capo Ortega (c), 3 Fabio Staibano, 2 Terrain, 1 Gideon Lensing.
Replacements: 16 Akvsenti Giorgadze, 17 Cral Hoeft, 18 Daniel Saayman, 19 Kirill Koulemine, 20 Chris Masoe, 21 Steve Kefu, 22 Paul Bonnefond.

Referee: James Jones (Wales)
Touch judges: Jonathan Mason (Wales), Huw Griffiths (Wales)
Assessor: Paul Bridgman (England)