Clermont keep title hopes alive

Clermont will face Toulouse in the Top 14 semi-finals after the defending champions fought back to beat Biarritz 27-17 on Friday.

Clermont will face Toulouse in the Top 14 semi-finals after the defending champions fought back to beat Biarritz 27-17 on Friday.

In an enthralling play-off at the Stade Marcel Michelin, the hosts scored 21 unanswered points in the second half after trailing 6-17 at half-time.

Biarritz looked to be in cruise mode after a healthy lead at the break, but had no answer to a spirited Clermont fightback after the home side at one stage looked dead and buried when they were down by fourteen points in the first half.

The match didn't come without controversy courtesy of two incidents involving two of Clermont's three tries.

The first was a quick-tap penalty taken by fly-half Brock James moments after Biarritz full-back Iain Balshaw was yellow-carded. With the Biarritz players unawares, James took full advantage and raced in to score untouched in the corner.

Biarritz were complaining that the ref had not blown his whistle or signalled play to carry on once Balshaw had left the field, and they had a valid point. James' try proved to be the start of Clermont's comeback.

Second was a TMO call that was the turning point in the match and handed Clermont the lead. A kick ahead by replacement Kini Murimurivalu was taken in and slammed down by Biarritz centre Marcelo Bosch over his tryline. The ball bounced up and was pounced on by Clermont flank Alexandre Lapandry, who couldn't believe his luck.

The TMO was called into action and after several minutes, a decision was finally made that Bosch didn't have complete control of the ball and a try to Clermont was awarded. It could have gone either way.

Clermont, who ended a 10-year wait for the title last season, will now face table-topping Toulouse in Marseille on May 27 for a place in the June 4 final at the Stade de France.

After Clermont full-back Anthony Flock and Biarritz veteran Dimitri Yachvili had exchanged penalties, it was the visitors who took an iron-grip on the play-off with two tries in the space of 10 minutes.

James was to lend a hand in both tries for the visitors.

After Biarritz inside centre Arnaud Mignardi split the Clermont defence, his pass was knocked back by James and when the ball ran loose, Yachvili was on hand to score under the posts.

Yachvili converted his try in the 30th minute to make10-3 which soon became 17-3 after 38 minutes.

Fly-half Julien Peyrelongue charged down a James kick before sprinting 60 metres to score. The try needed the confirmation of the TMO before Yachvili again succeeded with the conversion.

Clermont then kept in touch when scrum-half Morgan Parra popped over a penalty on the stroke of half-time to take his team into the break 6-17 down.

The champions were then handed a lifeline after 56 minutes when Balshaw was sin-binned. Clermont made the most of the one-man advantage when James went over for a try which was converted by Parra (13-17).

Then came the Lapandry/Bosch incident that gave the hosts a 20-17 lead before winger Jeremy Malzieu sealed the deal with a try under the sticks.

The scorers:
For Clermont:
Tries: James, Lapandry, Malzieu
Cons: Parra 2, James
Pens: Floch, Parra

For Biarritz:
Tries: Yachvili, Peyrelongue
Cons: Yachvili
Pen: Yachvili

Clermont: 15 Floch Anthony, 14 Wesley Fofana, 13 Marius Joubert, 12 Gonzalo Canale, 11 Julien Malzieu, 10 Brock James, 9 Morgan Parra, 8 Sione Lauaki, 7 Alexandre Lapandry, 6 Julien Bonnaire, 5 Thibaut Privat (c), 4 Jamie Cudmore, 3 Martin Scelzo, 2 Mario Ledesma, 1 Vincent Debaty.
Replacements: 16 Ti'i Paulo, 17 Lionel Faure, 18 Julien Pierre, 19 Elvis Vermeulen, 20 Kevin Senio, 21 Brent Russell, 22 Kini Murimurivalu, 23 Davit Zirakashvili

Biarritz: 15 Iain Balshaw, 14 Takudzwa Ngwenya, 13 Marcelo Bosch, 12 Arnaud Mignardi, 11 Ilikena Bolakoro, 10 Julien Peyrelongue, 9 Dimitri Yachvili, 8 Lakafia Raphaël, 7 Imanol Harinordoquy (c), 6 Magnus Lund, 5 Ian Taele Pelu, 4 Erik Lund, 3 Campbell Johnstone, 2 Romain Terrain, 1 Eduard Coetzee.
Replacements: 16 Eusebio Guinazu, 17 James Afoa, 18 Jérôme Thion, 19 Wenceslas Lauret, 20 Yann Lesgourgues, 21 Laurent Tranier, 22 Dane Haylett-Petty, 23 Sylvain Marconnet.

Referee: Jean Luc Rebollal