Heineken Cup Round 1: Clermont Auvergne v Scarlets (Sat) TEAMS ANNOUNCED

Heineken Cup Pool 5
Venue: Stade Marcel Michelin Date: Saturday, 13 October Kick-off: 16:40 BST
TEAMS
ASM Clermont Auvergne: 15 Lee Byrne, 14 Sitiveni Sivivatu, 13 Aurelien Rougerie, 12 Wesley Fofana, 11 Naipolioni Nalaga, 10 Brock James, 9 Morgan Parra
8 Damien Chouly, 7 Gerhard Vosloo, 6 Julien Bonnaire, 5 Nathan Hines, 4 Jamie Cudmore, 3 Davit Zirakashvili, 2 Benjamin Kayser, 1 Thomas Domingo.

Bench - 16 Ti'i Paulo, 17 Vincent Debaty, 18 Daniel Kotze, 19 Julien Pierre, 20 Elvis Vermeulen Loic Jacquet, 21 Ludovic Radosavljevic, 22 David Skrela, 23 Benson Stanley.

Scarlets:Li Williams, G North, J Davies, Sc Williams, M Stoddart, R Priestland, T Knoyle,
P John, M Rees, S Lee, G Earle, J Snyman, A Shingler, J Turnbull, R McCusker (c),

Bench -: K Owens, S Hopkins, D Manu, S Timani, K Murphy, G Davies, A Thomas, G Maule.

Referee: Peter Fitzgibbon (Ireland)

Lock Tomas Vallejos is an 'option' for the Scarlets ahead of their Heineken Cup clash with Clermont Auvergne.

The 27-year-old, who signed from Harlequins in the summer, has been on Test duty with Argentina in the Rugby Championship.

The Scarlets face Clermont in Pool 5 at the Stade Marcel Michelin on Saturday.

"He is an option, but it is difficult with the lineout calls to throw someone straight in," said Simon Easterby, the Scarlets coach.

"He will be considered and the good thing is that we have players who have performed in the last few weeks and have earned the right to be selected as well."

The Pumas second row flew in from Argentina this week following the completion of the southern hemisphere's Rugby Championship.

He only appeared once during the Pumas' campaign — as a replacement during the home defeat to the All Blacks — so it is unlikely he will be involved in the Pool 5 clash at the Stade Marcel Michelin.

But his arrival will add further strength to the region's front-five resources.

"He is a player we looked at last season, playing for Harlequins in the Premiership," said Easterby.

"We are really pleased that he is able to sign but unfortunately he has missed a big chunk of the start of the season being at the Rugby Championship.

"He has come in and been really positive and enthusiastic and offers a slightly different second row option."

A trip to France does not hold any fears for the Scarlets, who beat Castres on their own patch in the Pool stages of last season's tournament.

Coach Simon Easterby, who is in his first season in charge at Parc Y Scarlets, reached three semi-finals with Llanelli and the Scarlets before the turn of the decade but each ended in a heart-breaking defeat.

The former Ireland flanker tasted defeat to Northampton Saints in 2000 and Leicester Tigers in 2002 and 2007 as he and his team-mates threatened to become the first Welsh team to lift Europe's most-coveted trophy.

But since those heady days, the Scarlets have failed to qualify for the Heineken Cup knockout stages since they were beaten by the Tigers at the then Walkers Stadium some five-and-a-half years ago.

The Scarlets do face a tough Pool , with Heineken Cup holders Leinster and last season's beaten semi-finalists ASM Clermont Auvergne and exciting English debutants Exeter Chiefs in their Pool.

The Scarlets did reach the Amlin Challenge Cup quarter-finals last season but were beaten 15-11 by Brive on French soil. Clermont lifted the same trophy in 1999 and 2007.

The Scarlets need just 14 points to reach the tournament 2,500 points mark, while David Skrela, the Clermont Auvergne fly-half, needs just 17 points to become only the seventh player to score 500 Heineken Cup points.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/rugby-union/19883003


A HEC campaign start doesn't get more difficult that this - lets hope the Scarlets pack really step up and can stop Clermont to some degree. It'll be very tough and I really hope we don't pick up any injuries - a losing bonus point is a must if we want to try and qualify, but a win would be a bonus (if unlikely).

Have you a preferred team that you would like to see from Scarlets.

I saw Clermont lost (AGAIN) away to Castres. They havent won there in 36 years.

However they rested a whole heap of players including Fofana, Domingo, Floch, Pierre and Lapandry.

They are going to be seriously up for this and Scarlets need to bring their early season form as well as that ability to score tries from anywhere if they are to win this. They also cannot afford for Priestland to have an offday with the boot.

I know, it's going to be a big ask - of course we can win out there, but we'll need a lot of things to go our way.

I'm not really sure about the team, backs pick themselves - Knoyle, Priestland, Fenby (or Stoddart), Williams, JD2, North, Liam Williams.

But with the pack we're still bedding in the new signings, and I'm unsure of the best combinations to face Clermont - I think though that the front row will have to be John, Rees, Manu - not a lot of choice Lee is too inexperienced to be chucked in IMO, but could be given a shot, and you could play Owens instead of rees.

I will put my neck on the line and say the Scarlets will win this one, they always start the HC with a bang, I think they could catch Clermont with thier trowsers down.

That would be great. can you deny them a bp too? Then get very tired during the week.

I'll be over to check on you next Friday.

Stag - I think if we will go for a team along the lines of

L Williams, North, S Williams, Davies, Fenby, Preistland/Thomas, Knoyle/Davies;
P John, Owens, Lee/Manu, Earle, Snyman, Shingler, Turnbull, McCusker
(Rees, P Edwards, Manu/Lee, Timani/Kelly, Murphy; Davies/Knoyle, Thomas/Priestland, Stoddart)

Probably not the best match to start hte HEC on, however maybe having them in France as a start could work to our advantage. Yes they will have done their homework on us, buat at the same time they may dismiss some of our games as just being lower level Rabo stuff. (its a very weak hope, please nobody take it away!)

It'll be a big ask for Snyman and Lee but hopefully that 2nd row will be able to compete with the Clermont pairing - and hopefully give us the grunt so that our front row and scrum doesn't get battered.

I'd forgotten that Lyons and Byrne play for Clermont as well, so should be interesting seeing them play. (hopefully not well though)

don't forget the delightful Regan, wouldn't mind getting to see him again

Super tough ask for us to go there first up.

Then again, if you'd have told me last year in the HEC we've have gone up to Saints and gotten a TBP win, I'd have been tempted to get you sectioned.

Tis the HEC and it's the Scarlets. Anything (good or bad!) can happen.

Smirnoffpriest wrote:I'd forgotten that Lyons and Byrne play for Clermont as well, so should be interesting seeing them play. (hopefully not well though)

rugbydreamer wrote:don't forget the delightful Regan, wouldn't mind getting to see him again

And Cudmore was with us (i believe). It seems like being a ex-scarlets are getting worse than the irish for being everywhere.

This week is one of those horrible starts, but if you think of it, if we lose then that was expected and no harm done. Leinster on the other hand are in a must win situation against Exeter as if they lose then that will be against the odds.

LordDowlais wrote:I will put my neck on the line and say the Scarlets will win this one, they always start the HC with a bang, I think they could catch Clermont with thier trowsers down.

With Fitzgibbon as ref?

PhilBB wrote:

LordDowlais wrote:I will put my neck on the line and say the Scarlets will win this one, they always start the HC with a bang, I think they could catch Clermont with thier trowsers down.

With Fitzgibbon as ref?

he was the ref when we got our away win against Saints last year

Stag, you have hit the nail on the head and have articulated the reason why Scarlets will not win. They do not have a reliable kicker. RP does not cut it from a kicking (penalty/conversion) point of view, never has. You need to be 100% with the boot to have a chance of winning out there

I think this is just about the hardest fixture you could have in the HEC. I love the passion of the Clermont fans & if any Scarlet fans have the pleasure of going on the trip you won't be disappointed.

Good luck you will need it

I'm flying out for it tomorrow, can't wait! It's going to be one big party, regardless of the result

rugbydreamer wrote:I'm flying out for it tomorrow, can't wait! It's going to be one big party, regardless of the result

I took my better half on Eurostar & travelled by train which was a great trip. Enjoy the party!

PhilBB wrote:

LordDowlais wrote:I will put my neck on the line and say the Scarlets will win this one, they always start the HC with a bang, I think they could catch Clermont with thier trowsers down.

With Fitzgibbon as ref?

This post is the reason Scarlets wont win.

Need to forget about who the ref is and just play the bloody match.

Dud you not see my response stag? We've won away games with him before, he shouldn't be the problem

Big trev - cheers! Will do

red_stag wrote:

PhilBB wrote:

LordDowlais wrote:I will put my neck on the line and say the Scarlets will win this one, they always start the HC with a bang, I think they could catch Clermont with thier trowsers down.

With Fitzgibbon as ref?

This post is the reason Scarlets wont win.

Need to forget about who the ref is and just play the bloody match.

You must be a Munsterman.

rugbydreamer wrote:Dud you not see my response stag? We've won away games with him before, he shouldn't be the problem

Big trev - cheers! Will do

Have you been to ASM before? If not, I can see why you'll confuse it with Franklin's Gardens and a late withdrawal of Ben Foden.

After the weekend, you'll see why Fitzgibbon won't be so accommodating in France.

Are you saying we won against the Saints because Foden wasn't playing?

Smirnoffpriest wrote:Are you saying we won against the Saints because Foden wasn't playing?

It was reported, by Steve James no less, as one of the major reasons.

Didn't his play at PyS make a huge difference in the return game?

That aside, my point about Fitzgibbon is that you don't really want an Irish ref when playing in France.

PhilBB - out of interest what side do you follow? Fitzgibbon ain't a bad ref, and he doesn't ever seem to show bias to any team, or against the Welsh/Scarlets. As for Foden that is a joke. Pisi did have an off day when we played in Franklins Gardens however you could also say in the refverse fixture Rhodri Williams (LLandovery - scrum half) threw the match away (literally) with the interception pass at the end, or even Gareth Davies and Co. with their white line fever minutes before. That is rugby, no one man wins or loses games.

Stag - I don't thin any Scarlets fans will be moaning about the ref too much, Fitzgibon is a ref we should know far more about that the French, and we should be able to adapt to any quicks of his quicker. If we do lose it will be becaus ewe are getting out muscled in the scrums, or Priestland will be off the radar when kicking, or McCusker will not be doing enough to persuade the ref that we are innocent of cheating and the opposition are cheating. I appreciate that after the Ospreys match there were a number of us displeased with the officials (and a few times after losing to munster), but in general we accept that refs have good and bad games, and accept that our team throws games away.

ScarletSpiderman wrote:PhilBB - out of interest what side do you follow? Fitzgibbon ain't a bad ref, and he doesn't ever seem to show bias to any team, or against the Welsh/Scarlets. As for Foden that is a joke. Pisi did have an off day when we played in Franklins Gardens however you could also say in the refverse fixture Rhodri Williams (LLandovery - scrum half) threw the match away (literally) with the interception pass at the end, or even Gareth Davies and Co. with their white line fever minutes before. That is rugby, no one man wins or loses games.

Stag - I don't thin any Scarlets fans will be moaning about the ref too much, Fitzgibon is a ref we should know far more about that the French, and we should be able to adapt to any quicks of his quicker. If we do lose it will be becaus ewe are getting out muscled in the scrums, or Priestland will be off the radar when kicking, or McCusker will not be doing enough to persuade the ref that we are innocent of cheating and the opposition are cheating. I appreciate that after the Ospreys match there were a number of us displeased with the officials (and a few times after losing to munster), but in general we accept that refs have good and bad games, and accept that our team throws games away.

Here's James' view (not mine): w=ww.telegraph.co.uk/sport/rugbyunion/club/9012910/Scarlets-17-Northampton-Saints-29-match-report.html

Fitzgibbon is a homer.

I'm a Cardiff man.

PhilBB - so you don't actually have your own views you just recycle the paper???

ScarletSpiderman wrote:PhilBB - so you don't actually have your own views you just recycle the paper???

My view is that Fitzgibbon is a huge homer and he is just the kind of ref you don't want in ASM. I thought that I had made that clear.

As for the game you mention, I caught half of it in the bar at the Majedski Stadium before watching a truly horrendous game between the Not Nots and Cardiff. I have tried my best to rid that day from my memory so please excuse me for being patchy on the details of whether Foden was the difference between the two teams over the two legs.

I missed your view on Fitzgibbon, sorry, I doubt I would read that in a paper about him

Team

Li Williamd
G North
J Davies
Sc Williams
M Stoddart
R Priestland
T Knoyle

P John
M Rees
S Lee
G Earle
J Snyman
A Shingler
J Turnbull
R McCusker (c)

Bench -: K Owens, S Hopkins, D Manu, S Timani, K Murphy, G Davies, A Thomas, G Maule

Is that the official team SS?

I was wondering when it would come out as things have seemed very quiet!

Yeah official team, just got the text now. Not sure where Fenby is though.

Good to see Stodds back, but big ask for him and Snyman and Lee as well - risky but could pay off handsomely!

Just seen this tweet
Rob Lloyd ‏@RobLloyd2
Scarlets close to full strength. Fenby out with dead leg so Stoddart starts on wing. Prop Samson Lee earns first Euro start

Will add team to OP, Cheers

I assume they want to go with two locks that know each other, so that would be Earle and Kelly or Snyman, and Kelly is just a bit lightweight against he monster ASM pack. AS for Lee I guess tomorrow we see how hard a little prop he really is.

I guess Stodds return was rather good timing if Fenby is out injured (well rested).

Itll b exciting to see how we go against them, its a very tasty backline,hopefully priestland can pull it out of the fire and lee, snyman and earle play like men possessed!

Priest - I make it something along the lines of 7 welsh international backs, 4 in the pack, and 1 on the bench.

Gods honest truth if we can get 40+% of the ball then we should be in for a really interesting game.

Yup it will definately - I just wish Iestyn Thomas hadn't retired and Rhodri wasn't injured, then I'd feel a lot more comfortable - nothing against Phil though, he's a really nice guy.

Spiderman - are you around in Aberdaugleddau tomorrow ?

Unconfirmed reports that this is the Clermont team -
Backs: L Byrne; S Sivivatu, A Rougerie (capt), W Fofana, N Nalaga; B James, M Parra.
Forwards: T Domingo, B Kayser, D Zirakashvili, J Cudmore, N Hines, J Bonnaire, D Chouly, G Vosloo.

Depressingly strong side - which was to be expected - with Byrnie in the team but no other Scarlets old boys.

That is indeed the team on the ASM website:

http://www.asm-rugby.com/121012-xv-depart.html

Confirmed here in a rather depressing review by Planet Rugby
Scarlets face the daunting tasks of travelling to Clermont Auvergne on the opening weekend on the Heineken Cup.
Clermont have a formidable European record at Stade Marcel Michelin where they have not lost in three years, including their last 11 Heineken Cup matches.
The French giants, who were knocked out by eventual winners Leinster in a classic semi-final last April, sit third in the Top 14 standings having won six of their opening eight fixtures.
The Scarlets lie second in the Pro12 and have scored more tries than any other team in that competition with George North claiming an impressive five tries in as many matches.
Scarlets have never beaten Clermont.
The French side have made nine changes to the side that lost to Castres last week, recalling French internationals Aurelien Rougerie and Morgan Parra. Loose forward Gerhard Vosloo starts as he continues his comeback from injury.
Brock James is preferred to David Skrela at fly-half while Thomas Domingo, Benjamain Kayser and Davit Zirakashvili from a formidable front row.
Naipolioni Nalaga, Sitiveni Sivivatu and Lee Byrne feature in one of the most dangerous back three combinations in the competition.
Meanwhile, Head Coach Simon Easterby said the Scarlets are under no allusion as to the challenge ahead of them and said their game would have to be "close to perfect" to get a result.
"It doesn't get much tougher than travelling to Clermont; the history they have in their home ground is second to nobody and we are fully aware of the task ahead of us. There are 47 teams before us haven't been able to win there - so we respect them and what they do at home," he said.
"However, we also have to impose our game on them, as much as their back line is full of quality, ours is too and in terms of quality on paper we are fairly evenly matched.
"Clermont have such depth they have a couple of teams they can put out on the field that are capable of winning any game; they are very extremely well-drilled and very well-coached. It's a mark of a good team that they haven't hit their straps yet but they've been winning games. We know this one will be a target for them at home after losing out to Castres.
Easterby had a full squad to pick from for the big European opener, apart from this season's star wing performer Andy Fenby who is not available for selection after failing to return to fitness from a dead leg injury at last weekend's fixture.
The Scarlets draw on an impressive international clad back-line with seven Wales capped backs on duty; Rhys Priestland at fly-half, Tavis Knoyle at scrum-half, Jonathan Davies and Scott Williams in centre partnership, George North and Morgan Stoddart on the wings and Liam Williams at full-back.
Up front, the Scarlets put a new South African duo into the second row with this season's signings Joe Snyman and George Earle combining for the first time. Impressive young Wales U20 tight head Samson Lee wins his place in the starting line-up after his man of the match performance last weekend against the Dragons alongside the very experienced front row performers Matthew Rees at hooker and Prop Phil John in an unchanged front row.

http://www.planetrugby.com/story/0,25883,3822_8159921,00.html?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

Huge test for Samson, Domingo is one of the most technically gifted looseheads in the world.

Yup, it'll be really difficult for him, I really hope he comes through it unscathed and it doesn't shatter his confidence. On the other hand if he gets parity/gets one over on Domingo then his confidence will be sky high and he'll be flying going into the next few games!

PenfroPete wrote:Spiderman - are you around in Aberdaugleddau tomorrow ?

Sadly I'm in work grabbing tomorrow, and then racing up to the mountains to catch the match at my old mans, I'm too cheap to pay for Sky. I guess your back visiting?

By the way does anyone know if there's any pubs in Cardiff showing the game? (the Mochyn Du maybe or Solos?) or if ESPN are showing it?

To be honest Samson is in a good position going into this game, it is pretty unlikely that too much research can be done on him by the opposition, also realistically we are not expecting the Scarlets pack to be much cop against them. So if everything does fall to poopie he should be able to dust himself down and mark it up as a lesson learnt.

Smirnoffpriest wrote:By the way does anyone know if there's any pubs in Cardiff showing the game? (the Mochyn Du maybe or Solos?) or if ESPN are showing it?

It's on SKY SPORTS 1 (under the red button)

You might find THIS useful. updated every week

PenfroPete wrote:

Smirnoffpriest wrote:By the way does anyone know if there's any pubs in Cardiff showing the game? (the Mochyn Du maybe or Solos?) or if ESPN are showing it?

It's on SKY SPORTS 1 (under the red button)

You might find THIS useful. updated every week

Shameless plug

ScarletSpiderman wrote:

PenfroPete wrote:Spiderman - are you around in Aberdaugleddau tomorrow ?

Sadly I'm in work grabbing tomorrow, and then racing up to the mountains to catch the match at my old mans, I'm too cheap to pay for Sky. I guess your back visiting?

Aye, heading down after work this afternoon. I know The Alma has Sky, do you any others ? I'll watch the Wasps v Dragons on S4C in The Avondale

Pete - being honest mate, i think most of them have Sky, it is just whether or not they will show 'egg chasing' instead of division 8 icelandic football is the major problem. The Bowling Alley are generally pretty good and will put the Rugby on (even S4C with the red button) if asked nicely enough. Apparently the Kimberly have Sky, so it may be worth a go boss.

Yup that's the problem in Cardiff, I a lot of pubs will be showing Prem/Championship football and while there will definately be pubs showing the rugby it's finding out which ones before kick off.

Smirnoffpriest wrote:Yup that's the problem in Cardiff, I a lot of pubs will be showing Prem/Championship football and while there will definately be pubs showing the rugby it's finding out which ones before kick off.

Good news on that front, i've been told it is international football this weekend, so the prem/championship are on hold.