Castres narrowly beat Newport Gwent Dragons 32-29 in an entertaining game at Stade Pierre-Antoine in the European Challenge Cup this afternoon.
The match started off slowly but fly-half Daniel Kirkpatrick found space in the Dragons defence and went over for the first try of the afternoon.
Geoffrey Palis converted but Dragons replied soon after with a penalty from Dorian Jones.
Palis crossed for a try of his own, before Jones added three quick penalties after Palis converted his own try.
Jones' direct kicking kept Dragons within touching distance and they came out of the second half firing. Carl Meyer grabbed a try back before Elliot Dee gave the Welsh side the lead.
Jones converted both tries but Thomas Combezou crossed for Castres, with Palis converting and then adding a further penalty to put the French team back in front.
Alex Tulou then scored to give Castres a bonus point, before Meyer added a consolation penalty late on for Newport.
The Dragons remain top of Pool 2 in the Challenge Cup, while Castres move up into second.
Calum Gillon
