Leicester Tigers get their European Champions Cup campaign back on track with big win over Castres

Leicester Tigers 54 Castres 29: Jonny May was superb for the hosts, scoring two tries as Leicester raced to an impressive bonus point victory

Telusa Veainu of Leicester Tigers scores a try (Getty)

Jonny May grabbed two more tries for Leicester as the two-time European title-winners enjoyed a riotous twilight canter at Castres’ expense to move to the top of Pool Four in the Champions Cup.

Tigers raced to their first try bonus of the season and seven tries in all as they posted their highest score in Europe since a 62-point win over Treviso in 2010-11, before their scoring dried up in the final 25 minutes.

The only low points for Leicester were the sights of Matt Toomua and Ellis Genge limping off – both men hurt in innocuous incidents contesting the ball after a tackle – and the concession of a madcap bonus point to Castres as the visitors’ former Toulon wing David Smith ran in a hat-trick of tries in the closing stages.

Toomua appeared to twist his knee as he dived on a loose ball with Castres replacement Ludovic Radosavljevic in the last minute of the first half, a year to the weekend since the marquee Australian centre had his debut season for Leicester cut savagely short by a knee injury.

And Genge was cheered from the pitch in the 64th minute, after a rampaging performance of nine carries, having hobbled away from a pile-up of bodies with a problem in his left leg.

Man of the match Telusa Veainu also grabbed a hat-trick, outscoring England wing May by one, and the Tongan flyer said: “It was a good all-round performance, the boys played really well, I just had to hold my width and finish it off.”

Fly-half George Ford kicked 17 points for Leicester and said: “Our start was the foundation for the rest of the game, we wanted to start quick and up the tempo, and that comes from the forwards.

“To play off the back of that, we did our best on the inside to give our good finishers the opportunities. We put pressure on ourselves – me, Ben Youngs and Matty Toomua – that if we execute and hold numbers on the inside and play flat, we know we have got guys who can score tries.”

Ford tackles Samoan wing David Smith (Getty)

Leicester were gobbling up territory with ease, and accumulating three penalty goals by Ford to one from Castres scrum-half Rory Kockott, even before the opening try arrived in the 16th minute.

It was a lovely team effort, rippling with confidence, as Ford, Veainu and Gareth Owen mounted a daring attack from the home 22, and Genge made what would quickly become a typical charge up the middle, that allowed Tigers to stack heavy numbers on their left flank.

Tino Mapapalangi made a one-handed offload out of a tackle to his fellow Tongan, the No.8 Sione Kalamafoni – the leading carrier, numbers-wise, in the English Premiership this season – who ran 20 metres before he chipped infield for the rapidly-supporting May to score with a stooping pick-up.

Genge was treating opposing forwards like skittles in open play, and if Joe Marler and Mako Vunipola are the more obvious picks as loosehead props for England in next month’s international fixtures, Leicester’s 22-year-old former Bristol bruiser is setting a remarkable standard with his bone-rattling, sidestepping carries.

England coaches Eddie Jones and Steve Borthwick were in the Welford Road crowd but they will be expecting a much tougher assignment in the autumn series unless Argentina, Australia and Samoa turn up at Twickenham with Castres’ slapdash approach.

The club from the Tarn have long been a byword for French under-achievement in the European Cup. A draw with Munster last weekend was a decent start this season, but in their 13 previous years of participation, Castres had reached just one quarter-final – in 2001-02, which was also when they managed their last win away to an English club, Harlequins. The Castres away record in pool matches now stands at a measly four wins and a draw in 38 outings.

Leicester had snaffled a losing bonus point from their trip to Racing 92 in Paris last week, and apart from some worrying mis-fires in the line-out in this match, it was a chance to bump up their points tally against a side currently 11th in France’s Top14, and lacking a handful of leading players.

Leicester were good value for their big win (Getty)

With May flipping a lavish offload and Tom Youngs using a one-handed netball pass in various attacks, Leicester had their try bonus wrapped up before the interval, with Ben Youngs and Veainu, twice, going over.

May had his second try and ninth for the season since he joined from Gloucester, after Mat Tait scooped up a Castres fumble and sprinted 30 metres before his effervescent team-mate did the rest, two minutes into the second half.

Veainu’s third try and one for the other Leicester wing Nick Malouf – converted by Ford’s brother Joe - came either side of a catch-and-drive score for Castres No.8 Alex Tulou.

Then the electric Smith, who scored six tries during Toulon’s European title-winning years without appearing in a final, took over to take advantage of Leicester easing off the gas and dot down three times between the 66th and 77th minutes.

Scorers:

Leicester Tigers: tries: May 2, B Youngs, Veainu 3, Malouf; conversions: G Ford 4, J Ford; penalties: G Ford 3.

Castres: tries: Tulou, Smith 3; conversions: Kockott 3; penalty: Kockott.

Leicester Tigers: T Veainu; N Malouf, G Owen (rep M Tait 20th min), M Toomua (J Ford 41), J May; G Ford, B Youngs (S Harrison 74); E Genge (G Bateman 63), T Youngs (capt; G McGuigan 49), D Cole (P Cilliers 49), D Barrow, G Kitchener (D Tuohy 58), V Mapapalangi, L Hamilton, S Kalafamoni (B O'Connor 49).

Castres: A Batlle; T Paris (K Jaminet 18), T Combezou (F Vialelle 74), A Taumoepeau, D Smith; Y le Bourhis (L Radosavljevic 31), R Kockott; M Lazar (T Stroe 49), M-A Rallier (J Jenneker 49), D Tussac (E Sione 58), S Mafi, R Capo Ortega (capt; C Samson 58), Y Caballero, A Jelonch (B Delaporte 49), A Tulou.

Referee: G Clancy (Ireland).