Champions Castres stay on course in Top 14

Defending Top 14 champions Castres stayed on course for the French Top 14 play-offs Friday with veteran full-back Romain Teulet enjoying an emotional farewell at the Pierre-Antoine stadium which has been his home for 13 years.

Castres edged current leaders Montpellier 22-15 to go into fourth place in the standings on the penultimate weekend of the regular season.

South African scrum-half Rory Kockott and opposite number Benoit Paillaugue exchanged first-half penalties before Castres scored what turned out to be the only try of the night.

Kockott side-stepped three defenders but was held up just inches from the line.

The ball was quickly recycled as Montpellier struggled to quell the tide and full-back Brice Dulin burst through for the score. Kockott converted for a 16-9 lead at the interval.

Montpellier skipper Francois Trinh Duc succeeded with his eighth drop goal of the season to cut the gap to 16-12 early in the second half.

Kockott then missed two penalties which allowed the 36-year-old Teulet to grab his moment in the spotlight.

After replacing Dulin on the hour mark, the 1.65m (5ft 5in) back knocked over two confident penalties to leave Trinh Duc’s last-minute effort an academic affair.

Montpellier, who have already made sure of their play-off place, suffered another blow after the game when it was revealed that Fijian winger Timoci Nagusa could miss the rest of the season.

Nagusa suffered a serious shoulder injury and was replaced in the 39th minute by Lucas Dupont.

“He has dislocated his shoulder, it’s serious,” said Montpellier coach Mario Ledesma.