Clermont v Leinster - European Rugby Champions Cup: Semi Final 2

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Didn't see a thread for this unless I am blind... If there is one, please remove this Mod's

Clermont: S Spedding; D Strettle, A Rougerie, R Lamerat, N Abendanon; C Lopez, M Parra, R Chaume, B Kayser, D Zirakashvilli, A Iturria, S Vahaamahina, D Chouly (capt), P Yato, F Lee.

Replacements: J Ulugia, E Falgoux, A Jarvis, P Jedrasiak, A Lapandry, L Radosavljevic, P Fernandez, D Penaud.

Leinster: J Carbery; F McFadden, G Ringrose, R Henshaw I Nacewa (capt); J Sexton, L McGrath, J McGrath, R Strauss, T Furlong, D Toner, H Triggs, R Ruddock, D Leavy, J Conan.

Replacements: S Cronin, P Dooley, M Bent, R Molony, J van der Flier, J Gibson-Park, R Byrne, Z Kirchner.

Anyways, c'mon Leinster.

Not often the Leinster scrum is dominated.

Was Nacewa taken without the ball then when a breakaway was on?

eirebilly wrote:Was Nacewa taken without the ball then when a breakaway was on?

It certainly looked like it.

Meh!!!
Cowards points

I think the game has slipped from Leinster now.

eirebilly wrote:In fairness to Ringrose, he has not had the best game but he starting to look a threat in open play when Leinster keep the ball.

I may have called that earlier

Sure he's overrated.

What were people saying about ringrose earlier?

Josh van der Flier to score the winning try for Leinster. You heard it here.

Maine man wrote:Maybe it's just me and I hope he proves me wrong, but I just don't see what everyone else sees in Ringrose. I know he's a good player but can't help feel that people are going overboard about him.

I know what you mean.

That's a touch of class. Could he not have done that earlier a couple of times

Playing in the wrong area of the field. Sometimes I do not understand Irish teams.

Why not just clear your line. Strange idea I know

In my defence I did say that I hope he proves me wrong!

Feck.

Spedding should get this.

Game over if he does.

Maine man wrote:In my defence I did say that I hope he proves me wrong!

In fairness you did.

And he did.

Poor game management will cost Leinster here and it has...

Rubbish kick.

That was so poor from Sexton. Game over.

Brain dead stuff

Stupidity in the extreme Sexton.
I'm of to cook a chicken..........
Not a metaphor

Now they have no choice but to run it!

Really gutted for Leinster and their fans. Great team and did themselves and their fans proud but they must feel terrible, just a supreme lack of composure throughout the game has cost them.

Cant see Clermont beating Sarries, Leinster were the only team I could see beating them.

What a crap weekend.

Ah well.

Too much of a climb back.
12-19 in the second half was a good response but not enough.

Congrats Clermont. Deserved.

Future is bright. Experienced players let us down today and the young lads did everything to drag us back into that.

I was hoping for an all Ireland final as I'm going to the final. I now will be cheering on clermont. Went to clermont in 2011-12 and it was the best atmosphere in a rugby ground I've ever been at. Their fans are immense.

I'm absolutely gutted neither Leinster or Munster were able to reach the final. Let's hope we get an all Irish final for the Pro12.

The result of this game has dictated whether or not I'd attend the final. Always wanted to see Clermont live and now I get the chance. Commiserations guys, but it was nice to see drop goals getting nailed again.

Agreed. But I'm not sure that Clermont have enough invention to combat the juggernaut that is Saracens.

Rory_Gallagher wrote:What a crap weekend.

On the contrary! Glaws through to another Challenge Cup final and Bath knocked out. Sarries in the big boy's final.

What could be better?

It was an excellent game though lads, very enjoyable

Exiledinborders wrote:

Rory_Gallagher wrote:What a crap weekend.

On the contrary!  Glaws through to another Challenge Cup final and Bath knocked out.  Sarries in the big boy's final.

What could be better?

He was talking from an Irish rugby point of view.

eirebilly wrote:Cant see Clermont beating Sarries, Leinster were the only team I could see beating them.

Clermont will be underdogs for sure but they do have a big squad and arguably more talented backs than Saracens, so they can't be written off just yet.

Clermont will really need to put some points on Sarries from the off and then see if they can hang on. The commentators are right though about the French not looking like an 80 minute team, again they started to flag badly in the last quarter of that game but had the game management to get them through it.

One thing you can certainly say about sarracens is that they won't fade and will only get stronger as the game goes on. They will be strong favourites, but don't seem to mind that tag.

Both Semi finals were exciting, with this game being the pick of the bunch - Leinster were dead and buried in the first half but in true Leinster style were right back in it but Clermont hung on.

On a side note, I watched a few BBC Breakfast 'sport' bulletins this weekend - the Champions Cup got very little coverage. Even the Saturday morning one which is around 10 minutes long - they talked about FA CUP, EPL, Scottish Cup, Woman's tennis, Rugby league, golf and a few other things then only mentioned the Champions Cup at the very end. Then again this morning they didn't even mention the game yesterday at all!

Without bringing up the whole debate again I don't remember this happening in the Heineken Cup days!

I almost feel sorry for the Irish........almost.

RDW_Scotland wrote:Both Semi finals were exciting, with this game being the pick of the bunch - Leinster were dead and buried in the first half but in true Leinster style were right back in it but Clermont hung on.

On a side note, I watched a few BBC Breakfast 'sport' bulletins this weekend - the Champions Cup got very little coverage.  Even the Saturday morning one which is around 10 minutes long - they talked about FA CUP, EPL, Scottish Cup, Woman's tennis, Rugby league, golf and a few other things then only mentioned the Champions Cup at the very end.  Then again this morning they didn't even mention the game yesterday at all!

Without bringing up the whole debate again I don't remember this happening in the Heineken Cup days!

BBC hate rugby unless its the 6 nations, yet they continue to give womens football so much coverage when they would be better off showing Sunday League football.

Sarries V Clermont is probably the final the money counters didn't want due to the number of fans they'll bring - if an Irish team was in the final then the stadium would be full! Especially when so many Irish live in Scotland.

Edinburgh is a very easy city to get to  but 67,500 seats is a lot to fill...

RDW_Scotland wrote:Sarries V Clermont is probably the final the money counters didn't want due to the number of fans they'll bring - if an Irish team was in the final then the stadium would be full! Especially when so many Irish live in Scotland.

Edinburgh is a very easy city to get to  but 67,500 seats is a lot to fill...

Agree. It's a lot to fill. If the final was in France you'd get a lot of Clermont fans but Edinburgh? Not sure....

You never know, quite a few Irish fans might have bought tickets already. I bought my tickets a while back now.

Have to get your tickets earlier if you want a good seat. Edinburgh is a nice city.

Can't just focus on the rugby because sometimes it can disappoint.

Clermont are a good side, won't be easy.

Nearly a brilliant come-back from Leinster there but a good win by Clermont. A combination of Sarries being a fantastic side with very few weaknesses and Clermont's usual wobbles should see the trophy staying with the holders.

One thing I noticed was Sexton screams at the ref a lot and is always arguing over decisions (more so for Leinster than Ireland?). His tantrums remind me of Biggar sometimes. Nacewa asking Owens to card a Clermont player was a bit distasteful too. I wish refs would clamp down on that a big harder.

Cyril wrote:Nearly a brilliant come-back from Leinster there but a good win by Clermont. A combination of Sarries being a fantastic side with very few weaknesses and Clermont's usual wobbles should see the trophy staying with the holders.

One thing I noticed was Sexton screams at the ref a lot and is always arguing over decisions (more so for Leinster than Ireland?). His tantrums remind me of Biggar sometimes. Nacewa asking Owens to card a Clermont player was a bit distasteful too. I wish refs would clamp down on that a big harder.

So do I, there was a lot of play acting from Munster to win penalties too.

Not something I want to see in Rugby.

I'd put it at 20 sarries fans, 300 Clermont, the rest neutral. Seems like there might be a lot of neutrals, the whole city is sold out of hotels, but you can get a three star out of the centre for £1k a night...

Needless to say if anyone needs travel or accommodation advise pop over to the Glasgow and Edinburgh ongoing banter thread.

Edinburgh is very easy to to travel to if you're staying elsewhere in Scotland.

Scottrf wrote:I'd put it at 20 sarries fans, 300 Clermont, the rest neutral. Seems like there might be a lot of neutrals, the whole city is sold out of hotels, but you can get a three star out of the centre for £1k a night...

19! Beshocked can't make it due to 606v2 commitments.

RDW_Scotland wrote:Both Semi finals were exciting, with this game being the pick of the bunch - Leinster were dead and buried in the first half but in true Leinster style were right back in it but Clermont hung on.

On a side note, I watched a few BBC Breakfast 'sport' bulletins this weekend - the Champions Cup got very little coverage.  Even the Saturday morning one which is around 10 minutes long - they talked about FA CUP, EPL, Scottish Cup, Woman's tennis, Rugby league, golf and a few other things then only mentioned the Champions Cup at the very end.  Then again this morning they didn't even mention the game yesterday at all!

Without bringing up the whole debate again I don't remember this happening in the Heineken Cup days!

The BBC is a joke. The fact we're forced to pay their subscription fee makes it an even bigger joke. Their sport coverage, or lack there of has seen them elevating some fringe sports to the fore, soccer of course being the number one staple. Rugby union seems to have fallen off their radar. I don't mind anymore to be honest as I go to other sports news outlets for any reports. I still have to pay for the BBC though, despite not watching it apart from the Ulster games.

Good game, Leinster will be champions in the next year or so. The main difference between the sides was Clermont had home advantage.

Hopefully Clermont win this year.

Plus Clermont's lineout worked, they dominated the scrums, controlled the breakdown for the first half and had a stand off that dropped two fantastic drop goals and hardly put a foot wrong all day. Plus Parra picked out his wingers amazingly well for the two tries.
Apart from that I guess it was mainly home advantage that got them through.
From a Lions perspective the way Furlong and McGrath got pushed about for many of the scrums, (they lost 1 or 2 on their put in) was somewhat alarming.
Also thought that Sexton looked less than assured for large chunks of the game culminating in the last play when he half tackled Fritz Lee as Lee attempted to join the last ruck in the match resulting in a friendly slap in the chops from Lee!

sensisball wrote:Plus Clermont's lineout worked, they dominated the scrums, controlled the breakdown for the first half and had a stand off that dropped two fantastic drop goals and hardly put a foot wrong all day. Plus Parra picked out his wingers amazingly well for the two tries.
Apart from that I guess it was mainly home advantage that got them through.
From a Lions perspective the way Furlong and McGrath got pushed about for many of the scrums, (they lost 1 or 2 on their put in) was somewhat alarming.
Also thought that Sexton looked less than assured for large chunks of the game culminating in the last play when he half tackled Fritz Lee as Lee attempted to join the last ruck in the match resulting in a friendly slap in the chops from Lee!

All that is true but Leinster tend to win these games at home as much as Clermont tend to struggle away from home. Home semi makes all the difference.