The China Mail - 'Emotional' Castres fall short at Bordeaux-Begles in first game since Raisuqe death

Raisuqe, who turned 30 in July, was killed on May 8 after being hit by a train while driving to training and his mother and father were present at Stade Chaban-Delmas to watch the game.

Following the match, players from both sides came together for an emotional on-field rendition of the gospel song "We Shall Overcome" -- synonymous with Fijian rugby -- with Raisque's mum in tears.

Raisuqe's team-mate and compatriot Leone Nakarawa was also overcome by emotion as the whole stadium rose to applaud the singing.

"With all we've experienced, we were going to play a game with a lot of emotion," Castres' winger Remy Baget said.

"On top of the pressure of the match, the resultat and everything, tears were expected," he added.

"We managed to control the emotions withing the squad because we could broken down,"

The hosts, who are preparing for next weekend's Champions Cup final against Northampton, stay second in the table with two rounds of the season to play.

Castres are fifth and strengthened their claim for a place in the play-offs with a bonus point thanks to Jeremy Fernandez's late penalty.

Pre-game, Bordeaux-Begles fans unfurled a banner saying 'Rest in Peace Josaia', illustrating the impact the Olympic silver medallist's death has had on the sport in France.

The away side, five-time French champions, started the game the better, racing into a 14-0 lead after 17 minutes which included a superb finish from Uruguay scrum-half Santiago Arata.

The half-back celebrated his try by looking up to the sky in reference to the passing of Raisuqe, who had become a popular member of the Castres squad since his arrival in 2021.

The home team took control of the fixture before half-time however, scoring five tries to make it 29-14.

The pick of them came just before the half-hour mark from fly-half Matthieu Jalibert, who also set-up half-back partner Maxime Lucu seven minutes earlier.

Castres came back into the match thanks to two second-half touchdowns but were unable to find the crucial try late on.

- O'Gara suspension -

Raisuqe's first club in France, 13th-placed Stade Francais moved a point out of the relegation play-off spot with a 31-30 win over Lyon thanks to a 79th minute penalty from English fly-half Zack Henry.

Bottom-side Vannes suffered a 38-32 loss at Bayonne and Perpigan dropped into 13th place with a 31-13 loss away to Clermont.

Champions Toulouse entertain Racing 92 in the final game of the day.

On Sunday, Ronan O'Gara's La Rochelle face Montpellier in the hunt for the play-offs with the former Ireland fly-half in the midst of a five-week suspension.

Last week, O'Gara refused to leave the team bus for the start of the win at Vannes in protest against his ban for his behaviour towards a match official in January's loss at Toulon.

V.Liu--ThChM