Clermont beat La Rochelle to end barren spell

Clermont Auvergne snapped a six match Top 14 losing streak by defeating title contenders La Rochelle 21-17 at the Marcel Michelin.

Franck Azema’s men have been poor this season and were concerned about potentially being drawn into a relegation battle, but this result will have eased their worries slightly.

Clermont were much improved against a side who were intent on continuing the home team's barren spell, and Peceli Yato rewarded Les Jaunards' positive start by touching down.

Despite that setback, La Rochelle maintained their philosophy of running the ball from deep and, under pressure, Auvergne infringed and conceded successive penalty opportunities.

Alexi Bales duly slotted two three-pointers as the visitors moved 6-5 in front. The respective scrum-halves then traded efforts off the tee either side of the interval, leaving Patrice Collazo’s side 12-11 ahead, but the hosts soon began to find some confidence.

Les Jaunards put their opponents under duress and Arthur Iturria crossed the whitewash from close range before Greig Laidlaw added a third penalty to secure the victory, despite Gregory Alldritt’s last minute try.

The scorers:

For Clermont:
Tries: Yato, Iturria
Con: Laidlaw
Pens: Laidlaw 3

For La Rochelle:
Try: Alldritt
Pens: Bales 4

Clermont: 15 Nick Abendanon, 14 Noa Nakaitaci, 13 Peter Betham, 12 Remi Lamerat, 11 Remy Grosso, 10 Dorian Lavernhe, 9 Greig Laidlaw, 8 Peceli Yato, 7 Alexandre Lapandry, 6 Judicael Cancoriet, 5 Flip van der Merwe, 4 Arthur Iturria, 3 Aaron Jarvis, 2 Benjamin Kayser, 1 Etienne Falgoux
Replacements: 16 Yohan Beheregaray, 17 Beqa Kakabadze, 18 Sitaleki Timani, 19 Maxence Barjaud, 20 Luke McAlister, 21 Scott Spedding, 22 Julien Ruaud, 23 Michael Simutoga

La Rochelle: 15 Arthur Retiere, 14 Kini Murimurivalu, 13 Vincent Rattez, 12 Pierre Aguillon, 11 Steeve Barry, 10 Jeremy Sinzelle, 9 Alexis Bales, 8 Victor Vito, 7 Kevin Gourdon, 6 Levani Botia, 5 Mathieu Tanguy, 4 Jason Eaton, 3 Uini Atonio, 2 Pierre Bourgarit, 1 Dany Priso
Replacements: 16 Hikairo Forbes, 17 Leo Aouf, 18 Romain Sazy, 19 Gregory Alldritt, 20 Jean-Victor Goillot, 21 Benjamin Noble, 22 Rene Ranger, 23 Luc Mousset

Referee: Pascal Gauzere
Assistant referees: Cedric Marchat, Patrick Pechambert
TMO: Eric Briquet-Campin