Clermont - The Game

[leinster80]

Those last few minutes were absolute torture.

Why were we penalized at the last scrum? Fair play to SOB for winning that last penalty.

One game stands between back to back HC’s.

[Twist]

Does anyone else think Leinster came very, very close to throwing that away? A very cheap 80 metres given away at a crucial time. Soft penalty and the the wrong number in the line out - suicidal stuff against ASM

[tate]

Does anyone else think Leinster came very, very close to throwing that away? A very cheap 80 metres given away at a crucial time. Soft penalty and the the wrong number in the line out - suicidal stuff against ASM

Yup, if you get a certain allotment of luck we used all ours today.

[Jackal]

Those last few minutes were absolute torture.

Why were we penalized at the last scrum? Fair play to SOB for winning that last penalty.

One game stands between back to back HC’s.

Looked like Ross went straight to deck for last penalty from scrum but not one hundred percent on it

[kotenok]

Wayne Barnes had a very good game. Has a reputation a bit of a homer but did a very fair job today. Wonder would the Clermont fans agree though!?

So strange... Many rugby forums (Saracens, Leicester, Munster, Ulster) think that Barnes has his strongest game....

[Degz]

We need to sort our lineout.

[berniemac67]

Don't want to put a downer on things, but on the issue of fans, was anyone else disappointed by the Clermont supporters? I have to say I wasn't impressed, I know it was a big game with big pressure, but the booing every penalty that went against them was just a bit much.

Yes. I was. I generally think they're great fans and really nice people, but I didn't like their constant booing at every single little thing from Drico asking what a penalty was for to supposed high tackles to Sexton as he was about to take a kick.

And I love the double standards we have - it's not ok for Ulster fans to boo but it's absolutely fine when it's Clermont?

Exactly.

my issue with the ulstermen wasn't that they booed, but rather that they booed a guy who spilled blood for them

would have been like us booing hines

more disappointed by the ulstermen's lack of appreciation than anything else

was impressed by the full stadium today applauding the asm team who gave everything

what a bloody match

[LeRouxIsPHat]

What a defensive effort from everyone. That'll be my abiding memory from the game. Fofana should still have grounded the ball but what a tackle from Darce. With the pace and power that Fofana has and the angle he picked, Darce had no right to get to him at all, never mind stop him the way he did and force an awkward grounding.

It was really frustrating that it was our mistakes that kept Clermont in the game. Clermont have a fantastic team but I really don't think they showed much today. Partly because our defence didn't allow them to but also because they didn't play all that well. If our lineout hadn't been so poor then I think we'd have walked it. We gave away a lot of stupid penalties as well and probably should have gotten a yellow card at some stage but even so I never thought Clermont were much of a threat until the very end.

Yet again Joe earned his corn at half time. The way we came out of the blocks in the second half was just incredible. We actually started well too and I'd say Clermont were surprised that they didn't dominate that first 20 minutes.

Hard to single players out after such a fantastic effort but Kearney was simply phenomenal in those 10 minutes after half time. Darce and Bod managed to shut down Fofana and Rougerie brilliantly although I was a little surprised that they didn't flood Darce's channel more. I'm going to ignore the set piece when I say this but I thought the front five all worked their socks off and were excellent around the pitch. We were often isolated at the breakdown in the first half and for parts of the second but Thorn would just blitz any defenders in his path and all would be well again. SOB looked more like his old self, although I felt that the penalty he won at the end should have gone the other way because a ruck had already formed.

My motm would actually have been Heaslip. His workrate was exceptional for the entire 80 minutes and he coped with all those kick offs coming his way, the messy ball at the back of a retreating scrum and showed real leadership by putting himself forward in the lineout. I couldn't believe the energy he showed just before we won a penalty in the last quarter. He tracked the play across the pitch and then burst on to Sexton's offload and gained a few yards. It might not sound like much but to do it after the shift he had put in was simply immense. He did give away one stupid penalty but I'll forgive him for that and I'm not sure that a ruck had actually formed.

EDIT: I did SOB a disservice there. He did brilliantly to get his hands on the ball for the penalty at the end.

[desperado]

have to say what a performance from the Leinster travelling support also. Personally gutted that I've missed so many matches this season. Managed to get home for the Qtr but work dictates I'm in the US mostly for past yr. Bordeaux a bridge too far though for me if I was to get to the final. That performance today by the support was reminiscent of the Stand at the Stoop (which I'm happy to say I got to). Hats off to all those in Blue in the stands in Bordeaux today.

[tackle-bag]

Wayne Barnes had a superb game and went a long way towards dispelling his previously deserved reputation as a homer. I suspect that he's aware of the complaints made about him, and that he made a conscious effort to block the crowd out this afternoon. Geoff Warren also deserves a special mention for making a swift decision regarding Fofana's knock-on notwithstanding the cacophony.

Speaking of the crowd, I really have to disagree with some of the encomium that gets lavished on the Clermont fans on this forum. Individually, they might all be very nice people, but they behave like hooligans throughout the match. There was less jeering and hissing during the Old Firm derby which immediately preceded the game on Sky Sports. The general lack of respect for the kicker in France is another thing that really bothers me. Finally, I'm open to correction on this point, but from the TV it sounded like the Clermont fans boo-ed the Leinster players when they did their lap of honour. If that's the case, it really is poor form.

We deserved to win that game, but for the first time that I can recall I believe that Joe got the starting selection wrong. However, like all great coaches, he had the humility to mend his hand at an early opportunity. Reddan was an immense improvement on Boss, and his quick service was a key factor in the victory. Jennings was very poor in my opinion; the match stats show that in 63 minutes on the field, he only made 3 carries for negligible gain while completing just 5 tackles. McLaughlin must start the final in my view, particularly if the Thorn/Cullen combination is retained.

[artaneboy]

Does anyone else think Leinster came very, very close to throwing that away? A very cheap 80 metres given away at a crucial time. Soft penalty and the the wrong number in the line out - suicidal stuff against ASM

Yup, if you get a certain allotment of luck we used all ours today.

No offence- but that's rubbish lads! The revisionists are starting already. This is beginning to sound like Shelbyville here. Remember- we were playing a great team away from home- in their backyard. We never had it to throw away; it was always going to be a one score game... always!

And since when are our mistakes- 'a certain allotment of luck'. Tehy got chances and could not convert them. I guarantee you go back to the seminal Quin's quarter-final and you'd get as many cases of 'luck' There was nothing outrageous about any of the decisions that may be termed borderline. We made our own luck.

BTW, Clermont had their own share of luck too. On about three restarts they got the bounce of a very lucky ball- and Barnes could easily have yellow carded them for persistent infringement at the ruck through the game. Six of one.....! Aside from possibly sending a couple of players apiece to the bin, he got most of those offenses totally correct. I'm just glad Barnes had the bottle not to let the (understandably) very chauvinistic crowd influence him.

[Blåränderna]

Finally, I'm open to correction on this point, but from the TV it sounded like the Clermont fans boo-ed the Leinster players when they did their lap of honour. If that's the case, it really is poor form.

That's what I thought too, hence posting about it on here in the first place, I saw our boys doing a lap and the Clermont fans started booing, don't tell me it was at Barnes as he was off the pitch at that stage.

[Degz]

Thought we deserved it, just. Great championship minutes.

Kearney. What a guy.

[Terraceman]

Absolutely class performance. Clermont away is the hardest assignment in Northern Hemisphere rugby and we controlled the game in the second half. Those kicks in to the corner with the Leinster fans, one after the other were delightful. We gave Clermont one chance in the second half and they so nearly made us pay for it!

[cwebber82]

Watching the highlights on TG4 now. What went through Heaslip's head for that penalty in the 75th minute? That's one guy dreading the video analysis. Nowhere to hide with Joe!

Also, Sean O'Brien....best performance from him all season. Absolutely sensational.

[tate]

interviews on SS with BOD and Kearnage http://www.skysports.com/video/inline/0 ... 54,00.html

[HUDSOC]

Does anyone else think Leinster came very, very close to throwing that away? A very cheap 80 metres given away at a crucial time. Soft penalty and the the wrong number in the line out - suicidal stuff against ASM

Yup, if you get a certain allotment of luck we used all ours today.

No offence- but that's rubbish lads! The revisionists are starting already. This is beginning to sound like Shelbyville here. Remember- we were playing a great team away from home- in their backyard. We never had it to throw away; it was always going to be a one score game... always!

And since when are our mistakes- 'a certain allotment of luck'. Tehy got chances and could not convert them. I guarantee you go back to the seminal Quin's quarter-final and you'd get as many cases of 'luck' There was nothing outrageous about any of the decisions that may be termed borderline. We made our own luck.

BTW, Clermont had their own share of luck too. On about three restarts they got the bounce of a very lucky ball- and Barnes could easily have yellow carded them for persistent infringement at the ruck through the game. Six of one.....! Aside from possibly sending a couple of players apiece to the bin, he got most of those offenses totally correct. I'm just glad Barnes had the bottle not to let the (understandably) very chauvinistic crowd influence him.

Also the Jonny Penalty that wasn't given by the video ref. and might well have been - with only 10 minutes to go and knowing that they would have then needed a converted try just to take the game to extra-time,Clermont would have had to force the game much more so.

[Frederico]

Just watched the highlights....was able to enjoy it this time...nearly put a chair through the window during the last five minutes....that was some effort to hold them out at the end. Wonderful character.

[Blåränderna]

What was BOD laughing at towards the end there? How class he and Rob are?

[tate]

anyone with a youtube link to highlights, or the game, would have my infinite gratitude