Good news, but only just. The Saints believe in living dangerously at the moment. There were many times when this game could have been lost. It is easy to blame the opposition, Castres came with the game plan of slowing us down and took every opportunity to act an injury, but there wasn't the fire needed in the team (or in the supporters to be honest).
This was another game that showed our weakness with the boot. We could have been 11 points in the lead by half time but too many missed kicks allowed Castres to remain in touch leading to a nail biting second half. When TinTin took a relatively straight forward penalty only for it to make a maximum of 5 inches off the ground then we knew it was going to be a struggle. Brooce, after a good day kicking last week, was no better. The calls for Smyler to be allowed back in as the first choice are getting louder.
Fodes try came within a minute of the second half starting. Many got their hopes up and thought that this was a new invigorated team. It wasn't to prove so however and everything bogged down. The only thing that brightened this performance is that the following day Cardiff had as much of a struggle (in fact slightly more) against Edinburgh. This seems to have lead to some confusion as to who is top of the pool. The Blues are claiming it, but surely the points difference is in the favour of the Saints.
Golden moment - Smyler took a penalty. It hit the upright, it then hit the cross bar, it bounced over (phew) and then hit the linesman on the head. Classic.
Scorers:
Saints - Tries: Brooce, Fodes; Cons: TinTin; Pens: TinTin, Smyler
Castres - Try: Tekori; Drop goal: McIntyre; Pen: Bernard (2)
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