Dominant: Clermont
Clermont took a stranglehold on Pool 5 as they defeated Leinster 28-21 at Aviva Stadium in Dublin on Saturday.
It was unpleasant viewing for the home fans, who were hoping for a response from the holders following last week's defeat at Marcel Michelin.
However, a late try from Fergus McFadden did offer some hope of making the knockout stages as they await games against the Scarlets and Exeter knowing that only two victories will do.
Leinster lost hooker Richardt Strauss to a knee injury on eleven minutes which meant Sean Cronin emerged much earlier than home head coach Joe Schmidt would have liked against the physical Clermont pack, a pack he used to lead.
That injury came in between a penalty apiece from Morgan Parra and Jonathan Sexton in a balanced opening seventeen minutes at the Dublin venue.
However, it was to be Parra who would further trouble the scorers before the end of the first quarter as Jamie Heaslip was pinged for entering a ruck from the side. It was a simple three points for Clermont, who knew that an away win would all but seal top spot in Pool 5.
Leinster managed to level matters with fifteen minutes remaining until the half-time break when Clermont were offside after a good bust from Heaslip took the Irish to within five metres. Sexton made no mistake with the ensuing penalty in a nip and tuck opening.
Clermont then turned on the style in the final ten minutes of the half when - after Parra's third penalty - Sitiveni Sivivatu skipped down the left before handing to Lee Byrne who passed to Naipolioni Nalaga. The wing's carry took them to within five metres before recycled ball from Parra saw Wesley Fofana hit the ideal scoring line. Parra's conversion made it 16-6 which was how it stayed until the break as Leinster's Heineken Cup title defence was waning.
Leinster will host the Scarlets before travelling to Exeter in their Pool run-in, but they would not have been looking any further than the here and now and when Parra extended the lead three minutes after the interval, it was becoming worrying as Clermont's class was clear.
Sexton did reduce the deficit back down to ten minutes on 46 minutes although the home cheers were muted when blindside Sean O'Brien was shown yellow for an off-the-ball tackle on Sivivatu. It wasn't quite the final nail in the coffin but it was mighty close to being curtains for the champions, who were being outmuscled in several, if not all, facets of the action.
Parra's resulting three points off the tee from that O'Brien offence made it 22-9 as the match continued to grow into a one-sided affair. The second-choice France scrum-half was at it again ten minutes later as this time Mike Ross was being given a torrid time at the scrum. That was the prop's last act as boss Schmidt knew he could not risk another yellow card.
They did rally when O'Brien returned to the fray and his back-row colleague Shane Jennings gave the home fans hope with a try from a well-worked line-out with quarter of an hour left. Clermont were not to be denied though and another Parra penalty kept the score ticking over as the French never really looked like relinquishing their vice-like grip on the match.
A late yellow card for Julien Bardy gave Leinster a sniff of a losing bonus-point though and that was all the reigning champions needed as they capped a disappointing afternoon with a stunning counter-attack from inside their own half. That passage was finished with Sexton feeding McFadden to score in the corner and the single point could yet prove to be critical.
The scorers:
For Leinster:
Tries: Jennings, McFadden
Con: Sexton
Pen: Sexton 3
Yellow card: Sean O'Brien (50 mins)
For Clermont:
Try: Fofana
Con: Parra
Pen: Parra 7
Yellow card: Julien Bardy (74 mins)
Leinster: 15 Ian Madigan, 14 Fergus McFadden, 13 Gordon D'Arcy, 12 Andrew Goodman, 11 Isa Nacewa, 10 Jonathan Sexton, 9 Eoin Reddan, 8 Jamie Heaslip, 7 Shane Jennings, 6 Sean O'Brien, 5 Damien Browne, 4 Leo Cullen (capt), 3 Mike Ross, 2 Richardt Strauss, 1 Heinke Van Der Merwe.
Replacements: 16 Sean Cronin, 17 Cian Healy, 18 Michael Bent, 19 Devin Toner, 20 Kevin McLaughlin, 21 Issac Boss, 22 Andrew Conway, 23 David Kearney.
Clermont: 15 Lee Byrne, 14 Sitiveni Sivivatu, 13 Aurélien Rougerie (c), 12 Wesley Fofana, 11 Naipolioni Nalaga, 10 Brock James, 9 Morgan Parra, 8 Damien Chouly, 7 Julien Bardy, 6 Julien Bonnaire, 5 Nathan Hines, 4 Jamie Cudmore, 3 Davit Zirakashvili, 2 Benjamin Kayser, 1 Raphael Chaume.
Replacements: 16 Ti'i Paulo, 17 Vincent Debaty, 18 Daniel Kotze, 19 Loïc Jacquet, 20 Alexandre Lapandry, 21 Ludo Radosavljevic, 22 David Skrela, 23 Regan King.
Referee: Wayne Barnes (England)
Assistant referees: Martin Fox (England), Paul Dix (England)
Television match official: Geoff Warren (England)
Comments
Rosbif says...
@RobinMasters, I think I said something along those lines when I said after last week's game "What is clear beyond any doubt (if there was ever any?) is that Schmidt is superior to Cotter. Less money to spend, worse injury list, but infinitely better team preparation." I think I stand by that still. Just about. I don't think last night's result was because Schmidt suddenly got worse as a tactician. His team just ran out of gas against a more physical opponent. Long-term weaknesses were exposed. Losing Strauss early was unfortunate. Ross's technique was found out. Cullen is getting old for the combat. His 2nd row partner is no Brad Thorn. Healy was tired or carrying a knock? SOB was rusty. Heaslip gives away too many pens. Reddan is not as effective when his pack are not going forward. 11-15 were makeshift and it showed. etc etc.
In the end, you still have to hand it to Leinster. They didn't capitulate on 60 mins with the series of scrums on their 5m line. ASM crossed their line 3 or 4 times without grounding the ball. But Leinster were the ones that ended with 2 tries and "won" the 2nd half 15-12. And got the losing BP. On 10 points, they're now looking at Toulouse and Montpol both on 13 and Saints on 10 as contenders for best 2nd placed teams.
The irony, as Toulousain has pointed out, is that they could well go back to Clermont for a QF. Or Toulon. Those two are likely to be top 2 seeds given Ulster's loss.
Posted 09:46 16th December 2012
curates_egg says...
wouldn't be a Leinster thread on PR without some epic trolling by @makemehappy
Clermont totally deserved winners: they played Leinster off the park. However, Barnes was unbelievably generous to them. Defensive line offside all game. Players consistently offside at the breakdown without being blown up (whereas Leinster pinged for nothing). The scrum.
Posted 09:24 16th December 2012
ciaran1792 says...
Clermont deserved it our defense was terrible no rush defense, Stupid decisions to take a shot from halfway line instead if going for line out. Kicking to line out when the quick tap was on less than 5 meters away from their try line. These guys are professionals there paid to make the right decisions and they look lethargic. They are starting to become predictable with the inside balls and getting isolated in the tackle a lot lately. Last week it was Strauss's throwing in the line out which cost leinster this week it's terrible leadership from Cullen.
Leinster really need to wake up the lack of aggression in defense and at the ruck was unbelievable. O'Brien needs to time the tackles better he also cost the team today.
Posted 01:13 16th December 2012
Thirdpartyview says...
There should be a decent sized ban for o brien, Leinster outclassed and now destined to not reach the quarters, with munster not reaching the knock outs either, there will only be ulster.
Posted 23:47 15th December 2012
froggy73 says...
Leinster_goy: are you still alive ?
Posted 23:31 15th December 2012
makemehappy says...
As last year, Clermont deserved their win. Unlike last year they actually had it. A very flattering score for Leinster.
I thought Barnes certainly kept Leinster in that game. Their scrum was stuffed and some of the penalties against Clermont were an utter joke. Could you believe their yellow card LOL! And what about the "swimming" offence against Hines. Legal when bound, and then not legal when bound - utter bollocks!
Don't think even the most biased Leinster fan could say they deserved to win that game, and unless some of their very talented stars return soon, they don't look like getting through to the next round.
Key message though - well done Clermont for making sure that the result was the correct one, unlike last year (and before anyone says otherwise, I actually support Irish teams after the Welsh ones, I just don't like seeing daft decisions - just my opinion of course).
Posted 22:49 15th December 2012
rukrym says...
As a Leinster fan I'll be hoping the losing bonus point is enough to allow us to qualify as 2nd runners up, if not I'll be cheering Clermont on to the final
Posted 21:11 15th December 2012
Dannyboy says...
As a Leinster fan, all I can say is Well done Clermont, you did your homework. And you would be worthy champions.
To extract what little positives there are for Irish sides, at least this means, combined with the Ulster result, is that it's now far more unlikely that Leinster will meet Ulster in the Quarters.......some consolation!
Again, well done the Les Jaunes, and while I'm at it, congrats to the Saints, you learnt your lesson well. Kudos to Jim Mallinder, a man that never gives up!
Posted 20:48 15th December 2012
papachinzo says...
Leinster were very very poor, they really missed their star players. I don't see them going any further in this years H-Cup with defence like that. Congratulations to Clermont.
Posted 20:08 15th December 2012
lacroix says...
@curates egg- Barnes wasn't biased against leinster...he didnt have a great game i agree but there were decisions which looked suspect which hurt both teams. for a start the penalty at 78mins which allowed leinster to score at the close was extremely doubtful. leinster got pinged at the breakdown a lot in the second half and rightly so- they had to try something and slowing down or killing clermonts ball was about their only hope.
as toulousain says leinster arent quite out of it yet but even if they get out of the pool they're likely to struggle on this showing...a long season ahead though.
Posted 19:55 15th December 2012
3in4 says...
Barnes, why don't you just buy yourself a Clermont shirt
Posted 19:51 15th December 2012
curates_egg says...
Clermont totally deserved winners and deserve to finally kick on and win the thing. I'll be cheering for Ulster or them.
Strange to have the season effectively over at such an early stage. Just surprised/annoyed I didn't see it coming: all the signs were there throughout the season, with last weekend's performance from Leinster seemingly a blip.
It had no influence on the outcome but Wayne Barnes was extremely biased against Leinster. He should not be allowed to ref Leinster again.
Posted 19:18 15th December 2012
Toulousain says...
great match and great result for clermont. agree with you bambo and melkdave, clermont were the better team over the two games. in hindsight, they played a conservative game last week at home, and played with more freedom today. on the other hand, it looked to me like leinster ran out of puff. not used to playing 2 tough games in a row perhaps? (clermont's last 4 weeks have been toulon, toulouse and leinster twice, so i'm not surprised they lost their legs at the end). once leinster were not winning the collisions, all the extra speed, creativity and ambition were not as effective as usual. that said, given leinster could easily have lost at home in the first game vs exeter, they are doing ok to be on 10 points with 2 games left to play. it's not over yet by any means........
what price a clermont vs leinster qf at michelin in april? it's not impossible after all. and a leinster win is not impossible either!!
Posted 18:33 15th December 2012
lacroix says...
Clermont thumped them. the scoreline seriously flatters leinster who were outplayed from 1 to 22. thorougly undeserved losing bonus point but thats only a little consolation when they've been outplayed so comprehensively.
the signs were there last week when a seriously misfiring Clermont beat them all the same. leinster often looked ragged today and were out - thought as well as out -muscled. a few of their 'stars' are giving the lie to their reputations.
o brien could (should?) have been red carded for that offence- and he has previous form for that sort of thing. not edifying and left a bad taste. but a great game of rugby all the same.
Posted 18:12 15th December 2012
RobinMasters says...
Who was it who said last week that the narrow score was a result of Schmidt's superior coaching compared to Cotter's? What a powerful analysis. And today's game was the plain evidence of Schmidt's genius, wasn't it?
Posted 18:00 15th December 2012
Rosbif says...
Wow melkdave, you must have been watching with your laptop!
I wouldn't be so sure that Leinster won't win it again, if they can only get out of this group. ASM know this, so went for the kill, but in traditional ASM style they kind of butchered it by giving away the losing bonus point (how important that might be!). Remember Leinster in April is a very different proposition. And ST, RCT and ASM might look powerful now, but they will be over the hill and trending downwards come the Spring.
Thought Cronin having to come on so early was going to have a big impact. But then Byrne coming off was more significant imo. (N.B. Byrne and Malzieu leaving early pretty much lost ASM the game last season in Bordeaux). This time, they just about managed with Rougerie at 15, because Sexton didn't have enough front foot ball to test him.
PS. We might have to change Fofana's knick-name from "butter-fingers" to "telescope arm"
PPS. a citing for SOB or just bad timing/execution?
Posted 17:56 15th December 2012
Bambo says...
Great match. ASM look like they've found a steely edge that was missing previously. They also looked greedy for the score whereas before they've sometimes sat back with a lead in a match and let the game drift. After watching Toulouse wander aimlessly up and down the 'green green grass of home' (Fickou and a few others excepted) it was good to see a French side with ambition.
ASM - Top 14 and H Cup champions? For me they deserve a double. Allez!
Posted 17:43 15th December 2012
melkdave says...
Aaccomplished performance by both sides,but you have to say Clearmont,where the better team.Had Leinster beaten in the forwards and set piece for most of the game,and showed justhow much of contenders they are this year.Good fightback by Leinster,and showed they arnt going to give up the title without a fight.,but this year they dont look like they will retain it imo.
Posted 17:33 15th December 2012