Clermont V Leinster next Sunday

First topic message reminder :

Immovable object meets unstoppable force.

Leinster unbeaten in Europe since their last visit here exactly 2 years ago. Clermont now have a 50 game unbeaten home run in all comps, stretching back over 3 years.

Expect thunder, lightning, and balls to the wall Rugby action.

Clermont clear favourites, but Leinster will not let it go easy.

Leinster need the win as Clermont are 2 points ahead going in.

Leinster with full pack and a possible edge in the back row. Clermont have the edge most other places especially the backs where Leinster have a lot of injuries.

Watch this space……

Leinster

15: Ian Madigan
14: Fergus McFadden
13: Gordon D'Arcy
12: Andrew Goodman
11: Isa Nacewa
10: Jonathan Sexton
9: Isaac Boss

1: Cian Healy
2: Sean Cronin
3: Mike Ross
4: Leo Cullen CAPTAIN
5: Damian Browne
6: Kevin McLaughlin
7: Sean O'Brien
8: Jamie Heaslip

REPLACEMENTS:

16: Richardt Strauss
17: Jack McGrath
18: Michael Bent
19: Devin Toner
20: Shane Jennings
21: Eoin Reddan
22: Fionn Carr
23: Andrew Conway

ASM CLERMONT AUVERGNE

15 Lee Byrne
14 Sitiveni Sivivatu
13 Aurélien Rougerie CAPTAIN
12 Wesley Fofana
11 Napolioni Nalaga,
10 Brock James
9 Morgan Parra

1 Vincent Debaty
2 Benjamin Kayser
3 Davit Zirakashvili
4 Jamie Cudmore
5 Nathan Hines
6 Julien Bonnaire
7 Alexandre Lapandry
8 Damien Chouly

REPLACEMENTS:

16 Ti’i Paulo
17 Raphael Chaume
18 Daniel Kotze
19 Julien Pierre
20 Julien Bardy
21 Ludovic Radosavljevic
22 David Skrela
23 Regan King

That is superb from leinster there.... pity this stream is awful

9-9 Leinster playing very well so far

rodders wrote:That is superb from leinster there.... pity this stream is awful

Pm for you rodders

What an atmosphere!

Will you pm me too please Golden?

Feckless Rogue wrote:Will you pm me too please Golden?

Done

God, Clermont are so awful creatively.

Hmmm. Difficult match for both sides. Leinster had possession and territory for a while and got a penalty from it.

But they've handed back advantage to Clermont who've taken their chances and kicks very well.

15-9. A tight game but still all to play for.

If Leinster can take the LBP from this, they'll have had a good day at the office. Anything more would be a great bonus.

Thanks Golden, found a new one in french.

Leinster have really played very well but need to score next. If Clermont get the next score they could be in trouble.

Leinster need to be much more in Clermont's face. It's actually quite tame from them so far - which could be a bad signal, as in the sharper pace won't be there today at all - or a good one if they're holding off a bit and were just trying to contain Clermont's exuberance in the first half and stay close..

Thanks. Better than the one I had.

Couple of decisions have gone their way, such as the first scrum and the penalty they got after the restart, when their players went of their feet.
Could prove crucial.

PM for Feckless and Golden....

Thanks.

Leinster playing quite well, but need tries.

McFadden, Madigan and Boss having massive games here....

Wtf was that sexton..

What's the latest score please?

15-9 to Clermont Cari....

Thanks Rodders. Come on Leinster...you can do it...how long left?

Was that Conway warming up? Hope Mcfadden stays on, playing really well

51 minutes on the clock Cari

Superb scrum there!

First Ireland start mullering Argentina in the scrums.

Then Ulster demolish the famed Northampton front row.

Munster scupper Saracens.

And now Leinster have just shoved Clermont into a penalty.

Something put in the Irish water recently?

The more Leinster look like they might grind back, the more nervous I become. It's actually worse having hope!
They still need extra aggression to get there though. Hope they have it.

whoa Leinster got lucky there...the defence was back peddling big time....

Very well played by Leinster there.

Toner on. The longer Leinster stay in touch the more nervous Clermont will get

Risky move taking off Brown...will that take away Leinster scrum dominance?

Great kick by D'arcy.

Strauss's throwing is poor.

Has the Line out gotten worse since Strauss and Toner came on?

Golden wrote:Toner on. The longer Leinster stay in touch the more nervous Clermont will get

Indeed. It's looking like that at the minute. Pressure on the Frenchmen.

Excellent footwork by Fofana, better handeling and they were in there

Here comes the impact subs in Jennings and Reddan

Sivivatu touched that, should be leinster ball

Time for Leinster to try a draw if they get into position.

Come on now!

How pish has Strauss been today

mucho

Leinster have pretty much dominated the match but since Strauss has been on, he has given away the ball and field position with his shocking throwing and missed tackles.

To quote Mr Forsyth

Good game, good game.

Clermont keep their home record intact. Leinster get the crucial LBP.

well we got the minimum needed, we just need to stop them getting one next week

All over. There was one badly missed kick from Sexton in the first half. Could turn out to be the difference between topping the group or not.

Unless we get a tbp win in Dublin

Strauss seems a tad over-eager to impress since getting the Ireland shirt. He should realise he doesn't have to do anything extra, just play his normal game. He needs to calm down now after the heady AI season.

Leinsters lineout cost them the game.

Were 3 games in and have only scored 1 try. Thats not a stat you would have seen in the last two seasons.

Result of the weekend?

Not this one.

Connacht 22 -14 Biarritz

Schmidt and the players went with the idea that this was a very very tough game...but that all would not be lost with a close loss (and a loss was being predicted by most observers)

So a loss if it was coming - well, that's the best we could have gotten out of one. Containing them from scoring tries, keeping the score close, and getting the losing bonus.

Wouldn't say it's over just yet.

Well done Clermont.

Great performance by Leinster, their best of the season by miles. They should have really won that though, too many squandered chances unfortunately. Their pack really fronted up big time.

The LBP keeps their chances alive though, so not a bad result but could have been better.

What a brilliant game. Such a pity the lineout fell to pieces in the last 20 minutes or I reckon Leinster would have taken them... Still a LBP in the Marcel Michelin is nothing to be sniffed at... McFadden, Boss, Madigan and O'Brien outstanding and Goodman was solid in defence and ferocious in attack. I reckon Clermont will be worried come next Saturday!