At the end of a crazy, unbridled and spectacular match, it was finally Leicester who won at Clermont (29-44), at the start of the third day of this Champions Cup, the two teams winning an attacking bonus in front of 14,000 enthusiastic spectators. Matt Scott’s interception in the 3rd minute (0-7) on a long telephone pass from Anthony Belleau cut off Clermont’s legs for twenty minutes, but after Bautista Delguy’s try at the end of a long sequence (24th , 7-10), the pace of this match accelerated and tries – nine in total – followed one another.
With their sharp initiatives, hooker Étienne Fourcade, scrum-half Baptiste Jauneau and winger Alivereti Raka created intervals for their partners. A time led 7-24 after the third try of Leicester Tigers happy to find themselves in numerical superiority (yellow card against Lee, 32nd), the Clermontois regained their handicap thanks to Fourcade (36th) then Belleau (42nd), who knew how to keep a cool head after his initial blunder.
Too much indiscipline for Clermont
While the English thought they had done the most difficult by obtaining their offensive bonus with the double from center Matt Scott (44th), the Auvergnats, euphoric, accelerated and the untenable Paul Jedrasiak planted his fourth try. This offensive bonus boosted ASM.
The Clermontois may regret some clumsiness and approximations (61st-69th), and above all a lot of indiscipline. During this game with an uncertain outcome, these penalties conceded – sixteen in total – allowed Leicester to repel the Auvergne threat and score three welcome penalty goals (21st, 40th, 76th) which, in the end, prevented ASM to get a defensive bonus.