The French were in control from the off, with their pack far superior to the Italians', and it was no surprise when prop Carl Hoeft opened the scoring after ten minutes.

Full-back Jean-Baptiste Peyras-Loustalet, back in the Castres team after an injury break, then notched the second as the backs began to capitalise on the forward dominance.

Treviso wing Massimiliano Perziano managed to bring the score back to 14-5, but Scottish fly-half Gordon Ross, who had convertedboth Castres tries, then added a penalty, which Treviso kicker Andrea Marcato matched for a 17-8 half-time score.

Castres broke loose at the start of the second half, with man of the match laloa Milford and flanker Florian Faure both scoring within the first five minutes of the second half.

Peyras-Loustalet added his second on the hour mark, and although hooker Gianluca Faliva's try brough Treviso back to within three scores, Italian winger Pablo Canavosio's try took Castres decisively clear again.

Scottish wing Stuart Legg had the final word for Treviso with a try in the final movement of the game.

The scorers:

For Castres:
Tries: Hoeft, Peyras-Loustalet 2, Milford, Faure, Canavosio
Cons: Ross 4
Pen: Ross

For Benetton:
Tries: Perziano, Faliva, Legg
Cons: Marcato, Brussolo
Pen: Marcato

Castres Olympique: 15 Jean-Baptiste Peyras Loustalet, 14 Pablo Canavosio, 13 Phil Christophers, 12 Rafael Carballo, 11 Laloaoa Milford, 10 Gordon Ross, 9 Christophe Laussucq, 8 Florian Faure, 7 Julien Puricelli, 6 Alexandre Bias, 5 Karim Ghezal, 4 Pascal Pape (c), 3 Daniel Saayman, 2 Romain Terrain, 1 Carl Hoeft.
Replacements: 16 David Roumieu, 17 Jeremy Castex, 18 Rodrigo Capo Ortega, 19 Alex Manta, 20 Jonathan Wisniewski, 21 Laurent Marticorena, 22 Bradley Fleming.

Benetton Treviso: 15 Brendon Williams, 14 Emiliano Mulieri, 13 Andrea Sartoretto, 12 Marius Goosen (capt), 11 Massimiliano Perziano, 10 Andrea Marcato, 9 Fabio Semenzato, 8 Dion Kingi, 7 Zane Ansell, 6 Enrico Pavanello, 5 Michele Sutto, 4 Antonio Pavanello, 3 Pedro di Santo, 2 Franco Sbaraglini, 1 Augusto Allori.
Replacements: 16 Gianluca Faliva, 17 Matteo Muccignat, 18 Enrico Ceccato, 19 Marco Pelizzari, 20 Simon Picone, 21 Gabriele Brussolo, 22 Stuart Legg.

Referee: David Changleng