Champions Cup Review - Clermont Auvergne 13 - 9 Saracens

It’s amazing what can change in 12 months.  One year ago, I didn’t own a house and now I do.  I didn’t have a fiancé, and now I do.  I was clean shaven and now...I have a clumsy attempt at facial hair that can best be described as ‘brave’.  One day it will look good though, mark my words.  But perhaps nothing has changed as starkly as a semi-final result between two powerhouses of their respective countries, Clermont and Saracens.  In the 2014 edition of the contest between these two, the men in black ran riot thanks to a bruising defence and a clinical level of precision that saw them embarrass the pre-game favourites.  Instead, this time on ‘home’ soil (well, in Saint Etienne), the French outfit were determined to run an altogether tighter ship.

Saracens, with the Vunipola brothers Billy and Mako in powerful running mode, took a 15th-minute lead when Hodgson showed his experience to land an angled drop-goal to reward an impressive spell of pressure, but Clermont quickly responded through a reminder of their attacking prowess.  Wesley Fofana swivelled brilliantly in and out of a tackle near the Saracens posts, and Clermont looked to have sent Napolioni Nalaga over in the corner, but Chris Ashton careered across the pitch to shunt the big man into touch before he managed to get the ball down.  I use the word ‘shunt’ because there was a pretty decent argument that it was an illegal hit – the former England man certainly didn’t use his arms, and it wasn’t a million miles away from being a mirror image of ‘that’ hit Liam Williams pulled out the bag to (nearly) save a try against South Africa just under a year ago.  In that instance, Williams was given a yellow card for his troubles and then watched his side marched under the sticks as a penalty try was called by Steve Walsh, so by all accounts Ashton could count himself pretty lucky on this occasion - referee George Clancy consulted the television match official Simon McDowell on the validity of the score before it was ruled out, but no judgement was made on Ashton's tackle. 

Brock James, a brilliant kicker from hand but as reliable as a second hand Alfa Romeo of the tee, then tied things up with a penalty that went over via the post, but Saracens had successfully avoided a first-half surge from Clermont – the kind of surge which had obliterated Northampton, and an intriguing semi-final tussle remained firmly in the melting pot.

Hodgson missed a long-range penalty chance 10 minutes before half-time, yet he then bisected Clermont's posts from an identical spot last season's beaten European finalists ahead. Clermont still had their moments – such as when Jonathan Davies somehow conspired to drop the ball when faced with an enormous overlap – but in truth they had not remotely threatened to hit the heights of a breathtaking performance against Northampton, although much of that was down to Saracens' defensive resilience and impressive intent to play the game on their terms.  The first half had been attritional and brutal, with the power players like the Vunipola brothers and Damien Chouly prominent, with limited space for the fleet-footed speedsters like Nick Abendanon and Chris Ashton to run free, but there was no doubt that Sarries believed that another semi-final upset was on the cards – even it wasn’t quite proving to be the landslide it was 12 months ago.

Clermont needed a bit of trademark sparkle, and they responded brilliantly early in the second period, opening up Saracens' defence through a clever James kick that was gathered on the bounce by Fofana, who touched down complete with the obligatory celebratory dive. James added the conversion to give Clermont a 10-6 lead, which was arguably rough justice on Saracens, but it gave the French side a head of steam as they began summoning reinforcements from the bench, including scrum-half star Morgan Parra to the delight of the French crowd.

Farrell joined the action approaching the final quarter for his first piece of competitive action since January, and Saracens were by no means out of the contest, yet the marginal calls were starting to go against them as Clermont targeted a territorial edge. Farrell kicked a penalty with 14 minutes remaining to set up an intense finale, but Clermont were not to be denied, and another James penalty six minutes from time sealed the deal, with the final score at 13 - 9.   Sarries had worked hard but, truth be told, there was a lack of creativity when it mattered to really make the space count – there was only so much the big power carriers could do by themselves.  Or the wolf pack, for that matter.

Sometimes, contrary to the old saying, offence is the best form of offence.