The Blues were not enough. Toulouse, despite Antoine Dupont and his other internationals, lost (19-13) on Saturday during the 22nd day of the Top 14 derby at its neighboring Castres, impregnable in its Pierre-Fabre stadium.
A derby, a real, old-fashioned one, in difficult weather conditions, with fervor, commitment, suspense, tension and a big sporting challenge.
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With this 19th consecutive match without defeat at home, the CO, now 3rd, double the defending champion in the standings and achieve a very good operation in the race for the final stages.
Deprived of the defensive bonus point, Stade Toulousain, unlike last season, will have no room for maneuver in the final sprint and see the first two places go away.
His bad winter series of six consecutive defeats had mainly been attributed to doubles, but this derby showed that even with his Blues, like a Romain Ntamack overall inside, he was not invincible.
The tone had been set as soon as the two teams arrived, with smoke bombs and fanfare, warm encouragement or loud whistles depending on the color of the bus.
The calls for respect were respected in the stands, but the fight was tough on the ground, swept by an icy wind.
Castres without Urdapilleta
He blew behind the backs of Toulouse in the first half, but the latter, deprived at the last minute of their hooker and captain Julien Marchand, replaced in the starting XV by his international friend Peato Mauvaka, did not know how to enjoy.
A slight forward from Thibaud Flament in a ruck saw a try by Sofiane Guitoune canceled just before the break, superbly served at the foot by Dupont, author of an incisive breakthrough in the axis.
Revanchists after their 41-0 defeat in the first leg, the Castres, deprived of their opener and scorer Benjamin Urdapilleta, hit with one hand, were able to turn their backs.
Even when, upon returning from the locker room, Toulouse scored the first try of the match by Richie Arnold, back from injury, after a good job by Flament, very active.
This test paradoxically had the merit of waking up Castres and its public, with first a drop from Julien Dumora, then a test from international hooker Gaëtan Barlot.
Already author of a double in the first leg against the Tarnais, the Argentinian winger Juan Cruz Mallia gave hope to the Red and Blacks, who did not manage to completely reverse the score and will be able to regret the seven points left at the foot by Thomas Ramos (1 of 4).
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