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Nigel French
10-try thriller

Wasps sting Castres for 7 tries as they pull within a point of Leinster in Pool 2

The Coventry-bound club had the bonus point wrapped up after 40 minutes.

Wasps 41

Castres 17

WASPS UNDERLINED THEIR ‘back in it’ status in pool 2 of the Champions Cup with a comfortable bonus point win over Castres today.

The Coventry-bound club scored seven tries against the Top 14 side, and the maximum return of five pool points moves them to 12 points, just a point off joint leaders Leinster and Harlequins with two rounds of games to be played in January.

Tries from Jake Cooper-Woolley, Nathan Hughes, Tom Varndell and Ben Jacobs sealed the bonus before half time as the hosts took a 25 – 5 lead into the changing rooms at Adams Park.

Marc-Antoine Rallier had grounded Castres only reply in the opening period, but although Max Evans claimed the first score of the second half, both tries went unconverted.

Castres would score a third try before the finish through Florian Houerie, but by that 77th minute score Wasps had already extended their lead further through Varndell and Guy Thompson before Ben Jacobs bulldozed over for the game’s 10th try.

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