Perfect Carter kicks Racing into semi-finals

All Blacks legend Dan Carter marked his return from injury with a perfect six penalties to lead Racing 92 to a 21-16 win over Toulouse and into the French Top 14 semi-finals Saturday.

The 34-year-old had been sidelined with a calf injury suffered in the European Champions Cup final three weeks ago.

But the 112-capped fly-half star made up for lost time to guide the big-spending Parisians into a semi-final clash against Clermont in Rennes next Friday.

"Toulouse and us, we are both tough defensive sides and hard to attack against," said Carter who said he was relishing facing Clermont next weekend.

"We will go into the game with confidence. We only have six days to prepare for a very tough game against the best side in the tournament."

Carter insisted that Racing can't take anything for granted against Clermont, who ended the regular season on top of the table, despite beating them twice during the campaign.

"We won't read too much into that. They are a quality side and are number one in the table for a reason. It's a huge game and we will have to be at our best.

"They are very solid, have few weaknesses and feed off mistakes."

In a tight first-half of few openings, it was the boot which dominated with Carter and Sebastien Bezy kicking the points as Racing went in at the interval with a 12-6 lead.

Bezy trimmed the deficit early in the second period before Johan Goosen took over kicking duties from Carter to pop over a long-range penalty for a 15-9 lead.

The All Blacks star made it five successful penalties as Racing edged further ahead at 18-9 after Toulouse were forced into a string of errors following a smart break from energetic Racing full-back Brice Dulin.

But Toulouse then grabbed the game's only try on 66 minutes when Gael Fickou slipped through a poor tackle by Carter to just touch down -- his 10th try of the league season -- with Bezy adding the extras to trail 18-16.

Carter made amends with his sixth penalty and Racing survived some desperate last-minute pressure from Toulouse to keep their season alive.

On Sunday, Montpellier face 2013 champions Castres in a play-off for the fifth time since 2011.

It's the first time, however, that Montpellier, coached by former South Africa World Cup winner Jake White, have been at home.

The winner will face Toulon at Rennes in the semi-finals next weekend.

"I hope to make being at home count," said Montpellier captain Fulgence Ouedraogo, who has endured four losses against Castres in the play-offs including an extra-time 22-19 defeat in 2014.

"I expect this to push us and quickly free us to put on a great match."

European Challenge Cup champions Montpellier had been looking at making the semi-finals without needing a play-off up until the last day of the regular season.

However, a bonus-point 44-3 win for Toulon against Bordeaux-Begles combined with a 40-25 defeat for Montpellier -- who had started the weekend in second spot -- at Racing was enough for Toulon.

"We have bust our guts all season for matches like these so I would not understand why we wouldn't be ready," said Montpellier scrum-half Benoît Paillaugue. 

"Even if we are fatigued compared to other teams who have played fewer games, we have to find a fresh mentality and physicality to get through."

Win or lose Sunday, Castres can look back on a season of relative progress after just escaping relegation as 12th-place finishers last season.

"To be on the play-offs after what happened last year can only bring happiness," said Castres skipper Rodrigo Capo Ortega.

Source: AFP