Toulouse, Racing 92, Toulon, Stade Francais, La Rochelle and Montpellier are French club teams that most South Africans will know due to the many SA players and coaches who have achieved great success in Top 14 and EPCR competitions over the past 20 years. .
Castres won’t be much of a familiarity down south, but their opponents in Saturday’s Investec Champions Cup tie, Vodacom Bulls, command just as much respect as the French leaders.
Castres have finished in the top 14 five times and their visit to Stade Pierre-Fabre, named after former owner Pierre Fabre, is considered one of the toughest stadiums in France and Europe. It has a capacity of 12,300, the smallest of the top 14, but a packed Stade Pierre-Fabre can accommodate 80,000.
It’s an intimidating experience for the teams that play there every season, and the Bulls will be able to talk about it firsthand on Saturday night.
Castres recently beat Pau 23-19 in a top-14 home tie, and then beat Ireland’s Munster 16-14 in their Champions Cup pool match in December.
Rory Kockott is the most famous South African to play for Castres. The former Lions and Sharks scrumhalf played 219 games between 2011 and 2021, won two Top 14 titles and was capped 11 times for France, including being selected for the French national team between 2014 and 2015. For the 2015 World Cup.
Former Cheetahs and SA U20 center Robert Ebersohn is also a South African Castres favorite. He played 97 games in his eight-year French club career, starting with Montpellier in 2013 (54 games), before joining Castres between 2016 and 2020, finishing in 2020. 2021 after playing 24 games with Beziers.
But it was Kockott who brought South Africa to Castres and his performances were a credit to his formative years with the Lions and Sharks, with the majority of his rugby playing in Durban between 2007 and 2010.
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Kockott developed his game at Castres, becoming one of the most lethal goalkeepers in the top 14 and in European competition. Now 38 years old, he scored 1,297 points at Castres before moving to Stade Francais in 2023, where he played 19 games.
Kockott’s impact on Castres is not well documented in South Africa, but it demands a return visit and belated applause. In 2011, he was influential in helping Castres reach the top 14 semi-finals before losing 24-15 to Toulouse.
He performed brilliantly in the 2012–13 season, playing in almost every game as Castres won the coveted Top 14 title. He scored 13 of his 19 points in the final as Castres shocked star-studded Toulon, who had just won the Champions Cup that season.
Kockott finished the season as the league’s top scorer (376) and was named Player of the Tournament.
Castres enjoyed a purple patch with Kockott at the peak of his powers, losing to Toulon in the final the following season.
Kockott and Castres’ crowning achievement was finishing the 2017-18 regular season in sixth place and earning a spot in the final playoff qualifiers before breaking into the top 14. They beat Toulouse in the quarter-finals, Racing 92 in the semi-finals and Montpellier in the final.
For perspective, Toulouse finished the regular season in third place, Racing in second and Montpellier in first.
The Bulls surprised many by training at the Toulouse Stadium this week while the Toulouse-based French giants were preparing to face the Sharks in Durban.
The travel distance from Toulouse to Castres is 77 km by bus or 64 km by train, with travel times ranging from 1 hour to 1 hour 20 minutes.
The time difference may be just over an hour, but the two clubs are more than an hour apart in every way and the Bulls will need to be at their best if they are to win in Castres.
It would be fitting for Bulls’ director of rugby Jake White to call Kockott this week to convey the reality of how tough things will be on Saturday for the visitors to South Africa, who are yet to win this match. Season Champions Cup.
Photo: EPCR Rugby
