Stormers’ horror run continues after loss to Toulon while Northampton flex their quality against Castres
Split with Baptiste Serin and Tommy Freeman.
The Stormers did not find a winning return as Toulon cleverly beat the Capetonians 14-24 at Nelson Mandela Stadium in Gqeberha on Saturday.
The visitors were the better of the two sides throughout and opened the scoring through an opportunistic effort from Gabin Villiere in the first five minutes. Man of the match Baptiste Serin kicked the conversion beautifully on a day where he didn’t miss a kick with three conversions and a penalty.
Toulon would have to wait until the second half for their second try through Argentina star Facundo Isa, who barged his way over just before the hour mark.
The French giants scored their final try through Serin five minutes later which was richly deserved for a complete performance.
Click here to see teams and scorers
The Stormers will have lots to think about but one positive was Joseph Dweba who scored just before half-time in a neat display. Manie Libbok nailed the conversion as he would for Warrick Gelant’s acrobatic finish earlier in the game.
Ultimately Toulon’s composure and control was the perfect foil for what the Stormers had to offer.
Saints run rampant at home
The Premiership champions showed exactly why they achieved that title with a stunning 38-8 win over Castres at home on Saturday.
The visitors barely had a sniff all game as Saints scored six tries on the day with outgoing number eight Juarno Augustus bagging a double either side of half-time. Fraser Dingwall was the first of the try scorers with Temo Mayanavanua also scoring in the opening 10 minutes.
Outside of those tries, hooker Curtis Langdon scored as did promising young star Henry Pollock. England star Fin Smith kicked four of the conversions on the day.
For Castres, their sole try came in just before the 70th minute through Pierre Colonna while Louis Le Brun kicked an early penalty.
The teams
Stormers v Toulon
Stormers: 15 Warrick Gelant, 14 Suleiman Hartzenberg, 13 Ruhan Nel, 12 Jean-Luc du Plessis, 11 Leolin Zas, 10 Manie Libbok, 9 Paul de Wet, 8 Willie Engelbrecht, 7 Ben-Jason Dixon, 6 Keke Morabe, 5 Ruben van Heerden, 4 JD Schickerling, 3 Neethling Fouche (c), 2 Joseph Dweba, 1 Ali Vermaak
Replacements: 16 Andre-Hugo Venter, 17 Leon Lyons, 18 Sazi Sandi, 19 Adre Smith, 20 Marcel Theunissen, 21 Louw Nel, 22 Herschel Jantjies, 23 Seabelo Senatla
Toulon: 15 Marius Domon, 14 Gaël Drean, 13 Jérémy Sinzelle, 12 Mathieu Smaili, 11 Gabin Villiere, 10 Dan Biggar, 9 Baptiste Serin, 8 Facundo Isa, 7 Jules Coulon, 6 Lewis Ludlam, 5 David Ribbans (c), 4 Matthias Halagahu, 3 Kyle Sinckler, 2 Teddy Baubigny, 1 Dany Priso
Replacements: 16 Mickael Ivaldi, 17 Daniel Brennan, 18 Beka Gigashvili, 19 Brian Alainu’uese, 20 Yannick Youyoutte, 21 Enzo Herve, 22 Antoine Frisch, 23 Jiuta Wainiqolo
Northampton v Castres
Northampton Saints: 15 James Ramm, 14 Tommy Freeman, 13 Tom Litchfield, 12 Fraser Dingwall (c), 11 Ollie Sleightholme, 10 Fin Smith, 9 Alex Mitchell, 8 Juarno Augustus, 7 Henry Pollock, 6 Angus Scott-Young, 5 Tom Lockett, 4 Temo Mayanavanua, 3 Elliot Millar-Mills, 2 Curtis Langdon, 1 Emmanuel Iyogun
Replacements: 16 Craig Wright, 17 Tom West, 18 Luke Green, 19 Chunya Munga, 20 Alex Coles, 21 Jacob Petelo Mapu, 22 Archie McParland, 23 Rory Hutchinson
Castres: 15 Theo Chabouni, 14 Josaia Raisuqe, 13 Adrien Seguret, 12 Joris Dupont, 11 Nathanael Hulleu, 10 Louis le Brun, 9 Santiago Arata (c), 8 Feibyan Tukino, 7 Tyler Ardron, 6 Yann Peysson, 5 Leone Nakarawa, 4 Guillaume Ducat, 3 Aurelien Azar, 2 Loris Zarantonello, 1 Lois Guerois-Galisson
Replacements: 16 Pierre Colonna, 17 Wayan de Benedittis, 18 Nicolas Corato, 19 Mathieu Babillot, 20 Abraham Papalii, 21 Jeremy Fernandez, 22 Vilimoni Botitu, 23 Rémy Baget