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T. Manu (23'), E. Gailleton (40'), F. Isa (59'), A. Grandidier-Nkanang (80')
Tries
C. Ambadiang (14'), T. Durand (36')
A. Desperes (23', 40+1', 80')
Conversions
T. Vidal (15', 37')
A. Desperes (9', 34', 48')
Penalties
T. Vidal (6', 44', 61', 70')
This game told us that Section Paloise’s home attack is no longer a one-man project. Without Joe Simmonds, they still played with the same snap and variety that has made the Hameau a bad place to defend. Axel Desperes didn’t try to be Simmonds; he just kept the tempo, took the points, and let Pau’s carriers and edges do the damage.
It also underlined where Castres Olympique are right now: resilient enough to live in the fight, not yet reliable enough to suffocate a side that thrives on front-foot ball. They hung around through Theo Vidal’s boot and a couple of sharp moments out wide, but when they needed their set piece and tackle accuracy to clamp down, it wasn’t there often enough.
This wasn’t a procession. Castres were 13–17 up just before the break, helped by Teddy Durand’s close-range finish and a yellow shown to Clément Mondinat. The hinge came immediately after: Pau went from a man down to a man up on the scoreboard when Emilien Gailleton struck on the stroke of half-time. That flip mattered. It reasserted the home rhythm and forced Castres to chase rather than squeeze.
CARRIES
CLEAN BREAK
DEFENDER BEATEN
TACKLE
MISSED TACKLE
TURNOVER WON
TURNOVERS CONCEDED
PENALTY CONCEDED
YELLOW CARD
POSSESSION
SCRUMS
LINEOUTS
From there, Pau’s shape held because the pack set a reliable platform and their 10 kept nudging the scoreboard. Desperes’ penalties on 9, 34 and 48 minutes were not glamorous, but they stopped the game ever drifting into Castres’ territory-first script. When it did open, Pau had the strike threats: Tumua Manu early, Gailleton before the interval and, when it got nervy late on, Aaron Grandidier-Nkanang at the death to stretch the margin and deny the visitors a losing bonus.
The decisive shove, though, came from the back row. Facundo Isa changed the collision picture after half-time, punching past the gain line and finishing for 28–20 on 59 minutes. His 16 carries for 83 metres told you where Pau found front-foot ball when the game tightened. Around him, Beka Gorgadze (19 tackles) and Loïc Credoz (17) did the unseen stuff that let Pau absorb long defensive sets without falling apart. When Piqueronies talks about rotating fresh bodies in the pack to keep the intensity high at home, this is what he means; the bench helped close it out, with Guram Papidze adding 10 tackles and Daniel Bibi Biziwu carrying with intent.
Desperes deserves more than a line on the scoreboard for his 15 points and a try assist. He managed pace. He shifted Pau between punch off nine and width, and his willingness to bank three kept Castres’ ill-discipline costly. In context — with Joe Simmonds sidelined — that continuity at 10 is exactly what Pau needed to prove. The attack looked like itself.
Castres did plenty to keep it alive. Vidal’s 16 points were clean, Christian Ambadiang finished well, Adam Vargas found 60 metres, and Santiago Arata asked questions around the ruck. But the numbers tell on them: 22 missed tackles and only two clean breaks from 113 carries is a lot of work for not much incision. More damaging, the set piece couldn’t be the choke valve — a 50% scrum and 63% lineout return (5 of 8) is a rough away-day recipe, and Durand’s three penalties conceded added to the drip of territory. They were within two at 70 minutes, but they never looked like bullying Pau off the gain line to finish the heist.
There were Pau blemishes. Fourteen turnovers conceded, a sloppy yellow for Mondinat, and some messy moments from Thomas Jolmès won’t thrill Sébastien Piqueronies on review. Better sides than this Castres will punish that looseness. But 175 tackles made with structure intact, and the ability to score either side of half-time and at the buzzer, speak to a side comfortable winning different ways at home.
Does 35–26 flatter Pau? A little. It was a two-point scrap deep into the last minute, and the late strike rubbed out Castres’ losing bonus. But the pattern felt familiar: Pau at the Hameau will find their tempo eventually, and if you can’t keep your scrum, lineout and tackle rate tidy for 80, they’ll cash in. For Pau, the takeaway is reassuring — depth at 10 and the same multi-threat in the red zone. For Castres, the template to make these trips ugly is there, but until the set piece and defensive connection tighten, “in the fight” won’t be enough against the league’s form attack.
