Blair Kinghorn suffers another sore Toulouse moment but fellow Scotland star helps keep top spot

Blair Kinghorn was unable to prevent Toulouse slipping to their second successive defeat in the French top flight as Castres came out on top 28-23 at Stade Pierre-Fabre.

At a venue in which they have not won since April 2019, the champions started brightly with an early try from Thomas Ramos who added two conversions and three penalties. Péato Mauvaka also touched down for Toulouse but tries from Santiago Arata, Will Collier and Louis Le Brun put Castres in the driving seat. Le Brun, the Castres fly-half, converted two of them and kicked three penalties as the home side withstood a late Toulouse barrage to win the derby.

A forward pass by Kinghorn in his in-goal area after a penalty miss by Le Brun proved costly for Toulouse in the build-up to the Castres No 10’s try which gave the home side the lead for the first time in the match.

Jonny Gray has helped Bordeaux-Begles stay top of the French Top14. (Photo by ROMAIN PERROCHEAU/AFP via Getty Images)

Kinghorn, who started at full-back, has now been on the losing side two weeks running after winning his first 17 games in a Toulouse jersey following his move from Edinburgh last year. The French and European champions lost at home to Bordeaux-Begles last weekend.

Antoine Dupont, the France captain, is expected to return for Toulouse next week after being given extended leave following his role in helping the national side win Olympic gold in the rugby sevens in Paris in the summer.

It is Bordeaux-Begles who remain top of the table after the weekend action and Scotland forward Jonny Gray played his part in the team’s 30-27 home win over Bayonne. Gray has started the last four matches for Bordeaux after more than a year out with a serious knee injury.

La Rochelle, who beat Lyon 43-22 at home, are level with Bordeaux at the top on 18 points after five rounds of fixtures. Castres, Toulouse and Toulon are joint third on 15 points. Toulon lost 19-18 at Clermont Auvergne, with Ben White not selected.

Blair Kinghorn and Toulouse suffered a 28-23 derby defeat at Castres. (Photo by David Rogers/Getty Images)

Stuart Hogg was absent again from the Montpellier side as they lost 29-20 to Stade Francais in Paris. Montpellier are level with newly promoted Vannes on six points at the bottom of the Top 14.

The two sides will play each other on Saturday in Montpellier.