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Santiago Arata scored his first Top 14 try on Thursday. The Uruguayan scrum half went over for an early score for Castres who downed Bayonne 26-23 in an away contest. The match was a rescheduled Top 14 fixture. Castres’ win sees the Tarns moving into 6th position.
Arata scored in the 2nd minute. He made a snipping run from a maul to beat three defenders before accelerating to the line. Argentine Benjamín Urdapilleta landed the conversion. Urdapilleta went on to score 16 points in the match. The former Pumas fly half has 249 points in the 2020-2021 Top 14 season. Pau’s Antoine Hastoy leads the scorers with 264 points.
Arata and Urdapilleta started at scrum half and fly half respectively. The Uruguyayan-Argentine halves combination is unprecidented at the elite level of professional rugby. A third South American played in the match; former Puma Mariano Galarza featured for Bayonne.
Castres’ next match is at home against Lyon on May 07. Lyon are presently in 5th place and have onme more competition point than Castres. Lyon are coming off an impressive 41-30 win over Clermont.
