Cotter: Clermont cautious
Clermont coach Vern Cotter warned that his side are ready for a resurgent Stade Français when the two sides clash in the Top 14 this weekend.
Clermont sit second in the table on 23 points garnered from five wins out of six, with only unbeaten Toulon ahead of them on 27.
But the Kiwi warned that his team would be facing a Stade team that had bounced back full of confidence after trumping Perpignan 34-24 last weekend.
"We must be wary of the Parisians, who just won a very important game last week against Perpignan," said Cotter.
"Stade Français gained confidence from that and it's a team that often poses us problems.
"They've seen us on television and realise that we're still rebuilding. We know we must up our gameplan, and we also know that they're not the same opponents as Grenoble (whom Clermont beat 44-20 last weekend).
"We'll have to play differently, with, I hope, more precision at the start of the match."
Cotter, whose team then play Castres away before turning their attention to the Heineken Cup, said the sole injury doubt was utility back Aurelien Rougerie (back).
"So we'll certainly change our midfield partnership, but I think we'll rotate the squad a lot more against Castres before entertaining Scarlets for our first European match."
Comments
kid_diablo says...
"we'll rotate the squad a lot more against Castres before entertaining Scarlets for our first European match"
Hmm that sounds alot like resting players before the h cup. Don't tell the english vern they'll go crazy, you're supposed to run your players into the ground before the h cup so the ap sides stand a chance
Posted 10:13 27th September 2012