Heineken Cup Review - Clermont Auvergne 22 - 16 Leicester Tigers

 

Disappointment is quite an odd concept.  As an emotion that’s tied to failure, it’s not necessarily the case that the feeling gets stronger the more emphatic the failure is.  By way of example, I am not particularly disappointed I never made it as a professional rugby player because, despite some of my exaggerated ramblings after a couple of shandies, I never even came close.  But if I had fallen at the last hurdle – for example, an injury in professional trial – then I would be devastated, having had the taste of potential success.  Sometimes the narrow defeats hurt far more than if you had been at the end of a walloping.  And you can bet that this week, the curious workings of the emotion of disappointment will be causing no-end of hurt at Leicester’s training ground.

They had no right to go into this game with any optimism.  Sure, the Tigers have looked a rejuvenated force of late, with the return of Manu Tuilagi and the form of Niki Goneva giving the team much needed focus in attack, whilst the pack looks to have found its hunger again under the inspirational captaincy of lock Ed Slater.  But they were walking into the Lion’s Den; the Stade de Marcel Michelin, the lair of Clermont which had gone 74 games without breach.  And it was easy to see why – Clermont, unofficially the best team in Europe for the last 3 seasons, are packed full of both local and international talent, from Wesley Fofana and Morgan Parra to Brock James and Napolini Nalaga.  Mission impossible didn’t really do the scale of the task justice.

But, for the briefest of moments, it looked like the visitors would be the ones to strike at the most impregnable fortress in world sport.  After a cagey opening 5 minutes, Julian Salvi spotted the ball was out of a ruck and flicked it to Manu Tuilagi, who thundered towards the line with Goneva on his left and Tait in support behind.  With Goneva marked, Tuilagi tried to draw in the defenders and offload an inside ball, but a combination of a poor pass and Tait not reading the play meant the ball went to ground.  It felt like only a half chance at the time, but it would transpire to be a crucial moment in the context of the game.

The opening 10 minutes were filled with intent on both sides – but plenty of turnovers, too.  Wesley Fofana made one searing break up the middle of the field, and Owen Williams was varying play nicely with the boot, but neither side was able to gain a real foothold in the other’s territory.  Gradually, though, the power and brutal physicality of the Clermont pack began to tell.  The first points came courtesy of Morgan Parra’s boot after a barrelling run from loosehead prop Thomas Domingo, and soon it was the tighthead, Davit Zirakashvili, getting his mitts on the ball to set up the first try of the game.  It came when captain Aurelian Rougerie found himself with nowhere to run on the openside, so he switched play brilliantly back to the narrow channel, where Zirakashvili drew in Jordan Crane and offloaded back inside to Fofana, who flew over the line.  It was a superb try and almost a carbon copy of what the Tigers had tried to do in the opening exchanges – but Clermont, at home, are so clinical.  Parra provided further evidence of that with a magnificent touchline conversion to give the hosts a 10 – 0 lead which, even at this early stage, seemed unassailable. 

The tide was now all white, yellow and blue.  Leicester were becoming frustrated, losing the collisions and giving away penalties, and Parra made them pay again with a well-struck 3-pointer from 40 metres.  This was the suffocating display that has seen 74 teams previously fail to win at Stade de Marcel Michelin, with Nathan Hines and Damien Chouly magnificent over the ball in the rucks.  The sense of despair only deepened for the visitors when their first attempt at points – from the boot of Williams – kissed the flag on top of the posts.  No goal. 

The Tigers were hanging on by the skin of their teeth, with only superb defensive work by Marcos Ayerza and the Youngs brothers stopping Davit Zirakashvili from touching down following a driving maul, but another penalty from Parra was still conceded and, with a 16 point deficit, there was a now a real danger of a rout.  But then, out of nowhere, the Tigers finally bared their teeth.  From a seemingly harmless position in the middle of the pitch, Owen Williams spotted a huge gap out wide and launched a perfect kick for Jamie Gibson to take in acres of space.  He fed American Blaine Scully – fast becoming a favourite at Welford Road – who showed wonderful composure to step inside, draw two defenders, and offload to the onrushing Jordan Crane, who crashed down by the posts.  Williams’ conversion made the score 16 – 7, and all of a sudden there was a slightly different feel to the game.  Was there hope?  Even another Parra penalty on the cusp of halftime couldn’t shake the feeling that maybe there was.

Owen Williams added to that feeling after 5 minutes after Rougerie was penalised for a high tackle on Tuilagi, as the young Welshman slammed over a superb penalty from inside his own half with 5 metres still to spare.  Parra then missed a kick of his own, shaving the right hand upright, before Williams’ siege-gun boot struck again on 50 minutes to take the score up to 19 – 13 after good work at the breakdown by Salvi and Tom Youngs.

Suddenly it was Leicester who were winning the collisions, and Brock James’ kicks bouncing too far, where in the first half everything went Clermont’s way.  The Tigers were threatening, too, with a Goneva inspired break putting Mathew Tait away up the right, before a superb Ben Youngs pass gave Manu Tuilagi space down the touchline, only for strong defence by Nalaga to bundle the big man out of play.  And, once James had missed a long range penalty, the Tigers had another 3 points to show for their efforts, with Williams nudging over another well-struck kick after Scully had magnificently taken a cross-field kick from the Welshman.  A quarter of the match left, and Leicester had, unbelievably, hauled the score back to within 3 points. 

They were close. So close.  But it would prove to be as close as they would come.  Thomas Waldrom, fresh onto the field, gave away an unbelievably brainless penalty in a harmless situation by coming into a maul from the side whilst it was still 40 metres out.  Alain Rolland, who had warned the Tigers before, promptly showed the yellow card, and Waldrom was off, 3 points were Parra’s and the impossible hope was now, surely, gone. 

But still Leicester fought for everything, defending their own line as Clermont launched carrier after carrier at the whitewash, only to be met by heroic defence.  And then, with the clock running into red, the visitors launched one last assault.  Scully wriggled forward, then Graham Kitchener, and then captain Ed Slater charged to within 2 metres of the line.  Then Rolland’s whistle went.  Tigers fans might claim that Morgan Parra, the tackler who won the penalty, never released before going back in over the ball, but it was ultimately not to be.

You don’t get to 75 games unbeaten at home by luck, or the referee’s whistle.  You get there by being the best, and beating the best when they throw everything at you.  And that’s what Clermont managed against Leicester.  It was a phenomenal encounter between two immensely proud and powerful teams.  For Clermont, the chance to avenge their loss in the final last year remains theirs to take.  For Leicester, another year of brave heartbreak.  Another unhappy déjà vous that, somehow, reminds everyone that they are still a force to be reckoned with in Europe.

Let’s take a look at what happened in the other Heineken Cup quarter finals:

Munster 47 – 23 Toulouse:  Munster emphatically dispatched of Toulouse as they made yet another Heineken Cup semi-final.  Tries from Keith Earls, Dave Kilcoyne, CJ Stander, Casey Lualala, Simon Zebo and Paul O’Connell made it a rout, with only scores from Hosea Gear and Joe Tekori providing a break from the monotony of try scorers in red.

Ulster 15 – 17 Saracens:  A red card for Jared Payne in the first 5 minutes proved decisive at Ravenhill as Sarries overcame a brave 14 man Ulster side.  All of the hosts’ points came from the boot of Ruan Pienaar and Paddy Jackson, whilst tries by Chris Ashton (2) and Mauritz Botha proved decisive for the visitors.

Toulon 27 – 16 Leinster:  Toulon ran out surprisingly comfortable winners at home against Leinster, despite seeing talisman Jonny Wilkinson leave the field after only 15 minutes.  Tries from Xavier Chiocci and Drew Mitchell proved crucial for the French outfit, with replacement Jordi Murphy providing the visitors’ solitary try.