After losing their first 2 games to Pau and Toulon, Castres finally got a tick in the winners column in round 3, beating Bayonne 48-17.

It was an impressive effort considering they lost their fly-half in the opening quarter and even reduced to 13 men at the 24 minute mark.

Both sides gave away crucial field position early, Castres through scrum penalties and Bayonne through inefficient lineout work.

Vilimoni Botitu started at Centre and had a mixed game with a couple of passes hitting the ground, attempted offloads going astray but did manage to score directly from a Sireli Maqala mistake on the tryline.

Botitu took on more of a distributor role to cover the loss of their 10, and carried for 11 metres on 8 runs, 2 linebreaks, 2 offloads and was busy defensively with 10 tackles.

Castres lost their opening match of the season to Section Paloise 15-17.

Vilimoni Botitu, the lone Fijian in the match started on the bench, entered the game in the 57th minute. He had mixed results including a wild pass that went over the touchline but late in the match he made a break down the left touchline, tying up several defenders, offloading and setting up a wonderful try with 2 minutes remaining.

Castres had one final shot at winning the game but couldn’t get the job done.

A road trip against Toulon in round 2 for the Olympians.

Vilimoni Botitu came off the bench for the Flying Fijians in the 65th minute to replace Josua Tuisova.

Botitu made an immediate impact, nearly breaking through to score with his first touch. He also put in a couple of jarring tackles defensively.

Vilimoni Botitu has been grafted into the side that will play Scotland this weekend in Suva. He takes the vacant #23 jersey with Sireli Maqala moving into the starting side for Iosefo Masi.

Botitu had a strong finish to the Top 14 season and provides great impact off the bench as proven in past performances.