EPCR SEMI-FINAL V CLERMONT

[ronk]

Te'o is there ahead of Jamie Roberts, not Ringrose.

[dropkick]

They'll look at the video tomorrow and will be kicking themselves.

They were extremely nervy at the start of the match. The person calling the lineout should have used a bit of common sense.

[neiliog93]

Re-watched the game there. Extremely winnable game. We were good enough. Next season, with more experience, an even more settled coaching team, and Lowe and Fardy on board, we'll have a very good chance of winning in Europe, even against Saracens.

[John23]

Can't help but think that the errors that happened at crucial times were at the hands of the senior members of the group. Isa for the yellow. Johnny for the re-start and Fergus for the grubber/kick to the corner or whatever was on his mind at the time.

[CiaranIrl]

I'd say the locals in Scotland will be a bit disappointed. The city will be like a ghost town compared to what it might have been like if Munster & Leinster had gotten through.

[Blueberry]

Amazing atmosphere at the game and so proud of the lads, amazing fightback and performance from the young lads, backrow outstanding, Ringrose and Carberry are both the real deal, that was a try for the ages from Ringers, Gatland is mad not be taking him to NZ. Second row is still the glaring weakspot for us and I hope Fardy can step in next year and make a huge impact and please just start Nugget in big games !!

Ruddock deserves special mention.....he is a monster !!!

We have the team there to get the fourth star in the next season or two. Bilbao anyone next year ??

Good luck to Clermont, best fans out there and god do they deserve it.....fingers crossed for them.

[Blueberry]

I'd say the locals in Scotland will be a bit disappointed. The city will be like a ghost town compared to what it might have been like if Munster & Leinster had gotten through.

Bar owners around the city cancelling that extra holiday and the new car.....as we speak....

[nc6000]

Who was the official MOTM? I was at the game so didn't notice it being announced. For me it was Rhys Ruddock, he was absolutely outstanding going forward.

[riocard911]

A: Camille Lopez.

[Gearzbox2]

The biggest case of "the one that got away" I can recall in recent times...crazy game from start to finish but every time we clawed our way back we just left them right back in with stupid penalties from tackling in the air to Concedibg at the breakdown....
I thought our attack was superb in the second half and we had them on the ropes...set piece was awful but we kept plugging away

Stand out performances both positive and negative
Positive
Rhys Ruddock is a horse that keeps going, incredible I thought
Ringer was immense, possibly try of tournament
Johnny was good once he got motoring
Jack Conan was also to the fore on some big carrys

Negatives
Isa looked all over the place which was so unlike him
Strauss was just woeful, supposedly there for his throwing, and as much as people think I love Cronin, wasn't the nuggets greatest outing either around the park
Big Tadgh was a bit quiet
Bench didn't really have any impact

[LeRouxIsPHat]

Pretty much everything that could have gone wrong did go wrong in the first half. A lot of it was our own making, some of it wasn't. To come back from that with a relatively inexperienced team was brilliant, gutting not to finish the job.

Lineout was shocking, I'd have taken Strauss off in the first half. I know you can't blame the hooker for everything and I too was disappointed we didn't try and rob any of their throws but there were three overthrows, that can't be a coincidence and I thought he looked really nervous when he dropped Ringrose's flick on. Admittedly it was hard to take but I thought he looked very jumpy. Thought taking Jack off was an odd one. The scrum was starting to struggle alright but I thought he was having a cracker around the park and didnt look tired to me, thought we could have waited at least five mins.

Rhys kept us in the game IMO, he was sensational and really tried to grab the game by the scruff of the neck. I agree that Conan was very good but I thought he drifted in and out of the game. At times I forgot he was playing but then had short bursts when he made a great impact. Leavy was quiet IMO, I'd have had Josh on earlier. That said, I feel like he allows others to play better so maybe he did more than I thought given that the others played well. Don't blame him for the try, that happens all the time and he was unfortunate that it got picked up.

Triggs has become much more physical over the last few months IMO and has been in great form, but today showed that we're lacking in the second row. I'm not absolving their Irish partners but I thought today illustrated what happens when you skimp on NIQs. In Triggs' case the lineout malfunctioned and he blew a simple overlap by taking the ball into contact. Isa was targeted and made loads of errors. They both did a lot of good things too and by and large have had great seasons, but my question around NIQs has always been "will they give us a chance in an away semi in France?" And on today's evidence I'd have to say that they don't. Really don't mean to be overly harsh, I'm talking about the tiny margins we need to improve on to win this tournament and thankfully we've lined up improvements for next year. Whatever about Fardy offering more grunt, he's good in the lineout and we have James Ryan to step up too. Thought Molony was also excellent when he came on and it's great to see him finishing strongly after a fairly average season. Obviously then we have Lowe to play on the wing and potentially Larmour bolstering the back three as well.

To finish the point about the partners of the NIQs, Dev was very poor early on but thought he grew into it. Been disappointed by his form recently but expected a big one today. Didn't happen and as someone suggested maybe its because he needs a break. Ferg offered very little and that kick on the full was the worst thing to happen today. Even if it had stayed infield, what was the point of it? Had the non try been allowed then his performance would have looked better because he did do well for the break. I had no problem with him starting and still don't really, but I think it was a mistake not to have ROL or Adam on the bench. I'd have plumped for ROL because of his ability to cover centre but the last 15 mins were crying out for Adam.

Fair enough we looked good in attack but I was disappointed that Luke reverted to be Sexton's servant. I've said recently that his brilliant performances have been more akin to the ones that made him a superstar in school but don't think he played his own game today. Our attack was good though and the centres were superb.

There's enough mistakes there to have cost us the game but I thought Owens still had a huge impact on the result. Clermont were allowed to do whatever the hell they liked at the breakdown and you could see the disbelief on the faces of our players at times. If you just look at the incidents with Isa, in isolation I have no issue with the yellow, but Ringrose was taken out a second later. Isa's offence was first and definitely worse, but Owens never even mentioned it. Personally I reckon a penalty and a talking to to both sides would have been fair. The challenge in the air was perfectly fair IMO, can't understand that one at all. Then of course he missed Isa being taken out late and the TMO didn't get involved in that one, hard to believe the TMO missed that unless he'd gone for a piss. Some of that is subjective but it felt like we were very harshly treated and the breakdown was definitely a joke in terms of what they got away with and what we were penalised for.

I think we're in good stead for the rest of the season though. Clermont have found some flaws that we can improve on, we've shown that we can live with a team like that, and it looks like we've a clean bill of health. I think this defeat will really help us in the long run.

[Cianostays]

It's all been summed up already. Lineout and narrow defence led to Clermont taking advantage (superbly it must be said) and we simply gave ourselves too much to do. Given the circumstances, that team showed a hell of a lot of balls to fight back the way we did in the 2nd half. I want to add myself to the list of posters praising Ruddock. He was huge when we were on the back foot and without him, it could have been a much larger Clermont lead than 15pts.

We can quibble over some decisions here or there but that start and Leavy's non try cost us. Also, had we claimed the final restart, I'd have backed us to score in the end.

Best of luck to Clermont in the final. It'd be wonderful for the competition if they win it.

[curates_egg]

We can quibble over some decisions here or there

Always hard to tell at the game. My reading was that two of the decisions against us/Isa were harsh/wrong: seems like both the officials and Clermont targeted him. Harsh yellow and never a penalty for him challenging in the air.
However, what stuck in the craw was us getting reffed off the pitch in the first half and the officials letting Clermont away with seeming murder in the rucks and offside line.
That ten point decision was a huge, huge moment in the match. It would have been easier to take if the officials applied the same standard to Clermont.

but that start and Leavy's non try cost us.

Was always an uphill battle after that but I thought it was very gratifying to see a team in which most players were under 26 show so much steel.
Clermont's experience and a super performance by Lopez saw it out for them. I pointed out earlier on in this thread that he is the main positive change between Clermont 2012 and now...and it counted in the end.

Best of luck to Clermont in the final. It'd be wonderful for the competition if they win it.

Amen to that.

[curates_egg]

A lot of people here seem to be slating Leavy. Real time it looked like he put in a phenomenal shift, making loads of tackles...but of course made a couple of big errors.
Ruddock definitely seemed to be superhuman out there. Their pack owned us in almost every aspect (ruck, maul, scrum, lineout)...but Ruddock still seemed like the best forward on the pitch.

At the game, it seemed like McGrath had a bad day at the office - slow in getting to and getting the ball away from the breakdown. Maybe that perception wouldn't be backed up if I get the chance to rewatch on telly though?
Would be a shame if so, as it really looked like he had finally totally established himself as a top class 9.

5 of the starting pack and 4 of the backs were under 26.
As disappointing as it was travelling home yesterday, there was a lot of solace in that fact and the thought that we could have an exciting few years ahead of us.

[OTT]

A lot of people here seem to be slating Leavy. Real time it looked like he put in a phenomenal shift, making loads of tackles...but of course made a couple of big errors.

I think it is more a mark of how highly he is rated when people say he was not his usual self because as you say he was still very good. The Strettle try should have been stopped. They had no where to go and we had loads of numbers Leavy not being a winger left space on the outside I would expect him to make that tackle because he should and would 9 times out of 10 (more then that actually) it was a killer to let them in so cheaply. The disallowed try he got he did everything right I thought unless every time anyone from either side held someone around the ruck area which would have resulted in about another 20 penalties during the game. Rougerie did a Quinlan and milked it fair play to him but he could have got free if he really wanted (it wouldn't have got him to make the tackle though), it was a penalty but so were all the other acts of holding off the ball that were not given. He is probably getting judged on the lack of turnovers compared to Clermont but that was on the whole pack.

Ruddock definitely seemed to be superhuman out there. Their pack owned us in almost every aspect (ruck, maul, scrum, lineout)...but Ruddock still seemed like the best forward on the pitch.

Ruddock was unbelievable. He got us any bit of go forward we had in the first half, he was putting them back behind the gainline he was everywhere huge engine. When you see a performance like that from him you realise how bad he has had it with injuries the last couple of years. Our scrum was actually pretty decent Nige just wasnt gonna give any scrum panalties period, it worked for us the last 20 when our scrum went to shite after the substitutions.

At the game, it seemed like McGrath had a bad day at the office - slow in getting to and getting the ball away from the breakdown. Maybe that perception wouldn't be backed up if I get the chance to rewatch on telly though?
Would be a shame if so, as it really looked like he had finally totally established himself as a top class 9.

I thought Luke was decent I have to say. He didnt take to much on himself but he gave decent service when we had the ball. One super trademark cover tackle kept us in the tie also.

5 of the starting pack and 4 of the backs were under 26.
As disappointing as it was travelling home yesterday, there was a lot of solace in that fact and the thought that we could have an exciting few years ahead of us.

Future is bright for sure!

[the spoofer]

A lot of people here seem to be slating Leavy. Real time it looked like he put in a phenomenal shift, making loads of tackles...but of course made a couple of big errors.
Ruddock definitely seemed to be superhuman out there. Their pack owned us in almost every aspect (ruck, maul, scrum, lineout)...but Ruddock still seemed like the best forward on the pitch.

At the game, it seemed like McGrath had a bad day at the office - slow in getting to and getting the ball away from the breakdown. Maybe that perception wouldn't be backed up if I get the chance to rewatch on telly though?
Would be a shame if so, as it really looked like he had finally totally established himself as a top class 9.

5 of the starting pack and 4 of the backs were under 26.
As disappointing as it was travelling home yesterday, there was a lot of solace in that fact and the thought that we could have an exciting few years ahead of us.

I don't think there was a single ruck where McGrath didn't have a Clermont player under his feet.

[curates_egg]

A lot of people here seem to be slating Leavy. Real time it looked like he put in a phenomenal shift, making loads of tackles...but of course made a couple of big errors.
Ruddock definitely seemed to be superhuman out there. Their pack owned us in almost every aspect (ruck, maul, scrum, lineout)...but Ruddock still seemed like the best forward on the pitch.

At the game, it seemed like McGrath had a bad day at the office - slow in getting to and getting the ball away from the breakdown. Maybe that perception wouldn't be backed up if I get the chance to rewatch on telly though?
Would be a shame if so, as it really looked like he had finally totally established himself as a top class 9.

5 of the starting pack and 4 of the backs were under 26.
As disappointing as it was travelling home yesterday, there was a lot of solace in that fact and the thought that we could have an exciting few years ahead of us.

I don't think there was a single ruck where McGrath didn't have a Clermont player under his feet.

As I say, I may need to rewatch it. We did up the tempo when JLP came on but we also were much better at avoiding rucks then.
There was a sequence of play near us where Strauss went scrumhalf for a couple of phases and it seemed to speed things up - not sure what was going on there.

[Cianostays]

Clermont were very, very clever with the tackling player making sure he got in the way of our players looking to clear out the poacher. Borderline legality at ruck time that they executed perfectly in the first half resulting in turnovers and or cr@p ball for McGrath.

[artaneboy]

A lot of people here seem to be slating Leavy. Real time it looked like he put in a phenomenal shift, making loads of tackles...but of course made a couple of big errors.
Ruddock definitely seemed to be superhuman out there. Their pack owned us in almost every aspect (ruck, maul, scrum, lineout)...but Ruddock still seemed like the best forward on the pitch.

At the game, it seemed like McGrath had a bad day at the office - slow in getting to and getting the ball away from the breakdown. Maybe that perception wouldn't be backed up if I get the chance to rewatch on telly though?
Would be a shame if so, as it really looked like he had finally totally established himself as a top class 9.

5 of the starting pack and 4 of the backs were under 26.
As disappointing as it was travelling home yesterday, there was a lot of solace in that fact and the thought that we could have an exciting few years ahead of us.

I don't think there was a single ruck where McGrath didn't have a Clermont player under his feet.

As I say, I may need to rewatch it. We did up the tempo when JLP came on but we also were much better at avoiding rucks then.
There was a sequence of play near us where Strauss went scrumhalf for a couple of phases and it seemed to speed things up - not sure what was going on there.

Luke had an okay game- didn't make many breaks; but made few mistakes either. His consistent flaw is the speed of delivery- that and seeking to referee the game. There were Clermont bodies all over the rucks and Nigel was weak on enforcing that- but Luke didn't help with his theatrics.

A bit unfair to compare them, as when Gibson-Park came on the momentum had already changed but he seemed to get the ball away much quicker.

[Fan with smartphone]

Will be a lot of regrets, going right the way back to not getting that top 2 seeding and the benefits that come with that. Going to have a hell of a team next year, but this was a great chance that just slipped away.