Heineken Cup Semi Final Review - Clermont Auvergne 16 - 10 Munster

It’s not the dog in the fight, it’s the fight in the dog.  If ever there’s a motto to remember when you’re odds on favourites to get hammered, then this is the one.  Of course, in most situations, it makes sod-all difference – the ‘brave’ team still gets a royal spanking, and any pats on the back seem condescending in all honesty.  But there are a couple of occasions when such a statement may just ring true – where, despite being outclassed in almost every department, you can still go toe-to-toe through grit, aggression, determination and an unwavering will to win.  And any Munster team, no matter if it is a ‘transitional’ side, will always have that quality – the Clermont Auvergne faithful found this out the hard way as they suffered an underwear-destroying last 30 minutes against an opposition largely written off as no-hopers.

But this underdog pack had a fair bit of bite about it - the opening 5 minutes were dominated by the big red machine, slowing down the hosts’ ball and piling into them at the breakdown.  The lineout looked like an area of strength too, and it was from a ferocious driving maul that the visitors were awarded a penalty after the ‘usual suspects’ Jamie Cudmore and Nathan Hines conspired to bring it down illegally.  Ronan O’Gara stepped up and hit a flawless penalty to give Munster a surprise lead.  Was this the start of something special?

The hosts answered that question emphatically three minutes later.  Wingers Napolioni Nalaga and Sitiveni Sivivatu were starting to get their hands on the ball and barrelling through tackles with brute force, with centres Regan King and Wesley Fofana keeping the move flowing with a couple of delightful offloads and, after stretching the men in red from left to right, Nalaga ignored a 5 man overlap and stepped through a couple of defenders to score under the posts.  Morgan Parra added the extras, and 2 minutes later he added another 3 after Clermont’s offloading game had caused havoc amongst the visitor’s defence.  Keen to prove that they are not just a team of flash pretty boys, the host’s pack then smashed the Munster forwards back 15 metres with a lineout drive to earn another 3 points for Parra.

Munster were in danger of being overwhelmed, but to their credit they launched an aggressive fight back.  Simon Zebo was looking sharp on the counter and solid under the high ball, whilst Casey Lualala was making some inroads with clever footwork.  But time after time, the visitors were stopped dead by a wall of white that was starting to display a physical dominance that the Irish province themselves would have been proud of.  To make things worse, the set piece was also starting to creak, with neither the lineout nor the scrum providing clean ball.  Fofana was now starting to purr and twice the French international scythed through the red defence, leading a surge of Clermont dominance that was to become the norm for the rest of the half, with Parra finding plenty of joy bringing in his big runners into play around the fringes.  But, try as they might, they couldn’t take the final step over the tryline as they were consistently let down by poor handling or indiscipline – usually by the angelic Jamie Cudmore.  This Munster team were showing the type of bloody-mindedness that has etched the names of previous sides into legend – as the whistle for halftime came, they were on the ropes, but they certainly were not on the canvas at only 13-3 down.

They came out swinging after the break as well, after a trademark, eye-of-the-needle kick from O’Gara pushed them into striking distance of Clermont’s line, but the pack couldn’t get the momentum they needed - despite a decent bust by Dave Kilcoyne - and a shocking pass from Conor Murray literally threw the opportunity away.  Instead it was the hosts who got the points after they applied their own pressure in the Munster 22 and forced another penalty, simply slotted by Parra once again. But Munster simply would not wilt and came back ever harder than before, charging towards the Clermont line with relish – and there was a brief glimmer of an opportunity when Zebo skipped past Sivivatu to put Lualala into space, but the Kiwi centre could only find Brock James with his offload.

Other than that, it seemed that Clermont were dealing with the Munster attacks with ease – but then Ronan O’Gara stepped up.  The 36 year old has had a difficult year, maligned for his international displays, but with a red shirt on he is a different animal – and after a series of pin point kicks had probed the touchline, he plonked one behind the hosts’ defensive line and it bounced up beautifully into the hands of the onrushing Dennis Hurley, who touched the ball down on the right.  O’Gara underlined his class with a superb conversion, and suddenly Munster had dragged themselves back within a score through a frankly unnerving level of determination.

The nerves were starting to jangle, and the aesthetics were draining out of the game as the home side tightened up in the pressure cooker atmosphere that was building in Montpellier.  The scrum was still a source of comfort for the hosts though and it earned Parra another crack at goal, but the French 9 shanked his attempt under the stress.  But that minor set back could now halt the belief was now surging through the men in red, and for a split second it seemed that the unthinkable had happened – a Lualala kick through bounced awkwardly and the onrushing Felix Jones was centimetres away from regathering.  On such small margins are Heineken Cup semi finals won and lost – but in the last quarter, there were a collection of such margins.  A Conor Muray dropped ball with an overlap in sight of the tryline, a skin-tight forward pass call by Nigel Owens with a wave of red surging upfield – these small factors all fell in favour of the hosts who, by now, were clinging on for dear life.

The final whistle went and Clermont had the victory 16-10 – and an audible sigh of relief could be heard from the vociferous crowd – but even Ebenezer Scrooge on a particularly miserable day would struggle to feel anything except respect for this Munster side.  Clermont are a stunning team – and this is their year – with guys like Fofana, Hines, Kayser, Nalaga, Parra and Sivivatu all stepping up.  But seeing the eyes of Paul O’Connell (tear-less, unlike several of his team mates) after the game told you one thing - this underdog will be back next year.  And I bet they’ll still pack one hell of a bite.

 

Clermont Auvergne Player Ratings

Byrne – 6 – A solid presence under the high ball but didn’t see him making too many inroads with the ball in hand.  Some decent kicks under pressure though

Sivivatu – 8 – Still an utterly class act.  He was decent in defence, but whenever he got his hands on the ball the home side looked dangerous.  So much speed, so much power.

King – 6 – Was shown up a couple of times by Lualala but also displayed his wonderful handling ability with a couple of deft offloads.

Fofana – 7 – Such a wonderful player to watch.  He glides through defences, and although he wasn’t as prominent in the second half, dealt with the ‘extra’ attention paid by the Munster backline very well.

Nalaga – 8 – When your wingers can double up as power-packed fringe runners, you’re always going to be pretty hard to stop.  A couple of wobbly moments in defence couldn’t take away from an otherwise effective display of footwork and strength.  He took his try superbly after I thought he had butchered an overlap.

 James – 6 – Didn’t look as smooth as he has done previously, but then again he is only just coming back from injury.  Got the men outside purring in the first half, got stuck into his defensive duties in the second.

Parra – 7 – Some wonderful kicking in the first half was complimented by some sharp decision making, but his influenced waned as the visiting pack began to dominate.

Domingo – 7 – A strong display in the scrum but we didn’t get to see any of the barrelling runs that he has become renowned for.

Kayser – 8 – This guy is a real unsung hero of both Clermont and French rugby.  The hooker is accurate in the set piece and insanely powerful around the park, and he put everything into halting the Munster resurgence after an impressive attacking display in the first half.

Zirakashvili – 6 – A good showing in the scrum but showed naivety at times with carrying away from his support – he needs to either get out of the way or learn to pass.

Cudmore – 7 – Gave away a couple of penalties as usual, but was a key reason that the home side were dominant early on, clattering into his opponents with a rage that even surprised Paul O’Connell.  A shame he went off injured.

Hines – 7 – One moronic offload aside, a strong display from the ex-Scottish international.  Put in a monumental shift in defence and was a reliable source of lineout ball as well.

Bonnaire – 9 – Another unsung hero.  The flanker was absolutely everywhere and prevented  a couple of scores for Munster by putting his body on the line in defence time and time again.  An inspiration to his side when they were under pressure – man of the match.

Bardy – 7 – Some impressive carries caught the eye but looked shell shocked at the Munster resurgence before a facial injury forced him to depart early.

Chouly – 6 – Some strong runs early on impressed but then seemed to fade out of the game.  Didn’t see enough of him at the coal face.

Subs

Debaty – 7 – A couple of huge carries helped Clermont gain field position at crucial times, and maintained the scrum dominance as well.

Paulo – Not enough time to have an impact

Ric – Not enough time to have an impact

Pierre – 5 – Solid in the set piece but failed to disrupt the Minster pack as perhaps the coaches would have hoped

Lapandry – 6 – Lively with the ball in hand but struggled to stem the increasing momentum of the red wave in the second half.

Nakaitaci - Not enough time to have an impact.

 

Munster Player Ratings

Jones – 7 – Almost invisible early on but really came into own later with some purposeful bursts from deep, and was inches away from getting a winning touch down for his side.

Earls – 6 – Didn’t get as involved as he would have liked but always looks assured when he’s in possession.

Laulala – 8 – Caused no end of problems for the Clermont defence with some delightful running and a couple of deft kicks that led to try scoring opportunities.

Downey – 6 – Solid, but not the impact he would have liked.  After  a dominating performance against Harlequins, he would have wanted to flatten James and Fofana on a regular basis – it didn’t happen, unfortunately.

Zebo – 7 – Showed his class with a couple of fine recoveries from dangerous kicks but didn’t get the space he would have liked to show off his running abilities

O'Gara – 8 – A masterful performance with the boot in the second half.  When he started to get the ball, he knew exactly what to do with it.  Phenomenal kick through for Munster’s try.

Murray – 6 – A real hot and cold display, characterised by some superb defence at times as well as some poor handling errors at key moments.

Kilcoyne – 6 – The big man may have been second best in the scrum but a couple of his carries got the hosts on the back foot.

Sherry – 5 – Struggled occasionally with his throwing and couldn’t impose himself with any real venom in the loose.  Solid defensive effort though.

Botha – 5 – Another to show his worth in defence but it couldn’t mask the fact that he was bested considerably in the scrum.

D Ryan – 7 – A real workhorse performance once again, getting through a mountain of work on the clear-out and refusing to take a backwards step.

O'Connell – 8 – A quiet first half was eclipsed by a stunning display in the second half where he seemed to be everywhere, surging forward with the ball in hand and taking cross field kicks out wide.  An inspirational figure once again.

P O'Mahony – 8 – Like O’Connell, brings raw aggression and nastiness to proceedings and began to physically impose himself in the last 30.

O'Donnell – 8 – This lad showed he has an unbelievable engine on him and his prowess on the carry was a real thorn in Clermont’s side, even when they were dominating in the first half.

Coughlan – 6 – A brave bit quiet performance from the big number 8, with no real charges of note to get the red army surging forward.

Subs

Varley – 6 – Contributed to an increased energy and vigour from the visitors in the last 30 but made a critical overthrow at a key moment late in the game.

Hurley – 8 – What an impact sub.  Scored one try and posed a constant menace to the home side with some deft footwork. Raised the bar when he came on.