EPCR SEMI-FINAL V CLERMONT

[erskinechilders]

That result changes things quite a bit for us! Clermont now only 4 points clear of Montpellier in the race for the top 2. Montpellier play Bayonne at home which means a guaranteed 5 points. Clermont will probably have to put out a very decent team to try and get a result away to Grenoble, regardless of where they are in the table... Good lads Brive!

[Cianostays]

That result changes things quite a bit for us! Clermont now only 4 points clear of Montpellier in the race for the top 2. Montpellier play Bayonne at home which means a guaranteed 5 points. Clermont will probably have to put out a very decent team to try and get a result away to Grenoble, regardless of where they are in the table... Good lads Brive!

Surprise result alright but it'll be a very different team we'll face in Lyon. Seems like they'll have a full dress rehearsal vs Grenoble. Could be good for them. Certainly worth keeping an eye on that game anyway.

[erskinechilders]

I think it will be advantageous to us though. I would have imagined their plan would have been to win comfortably at the weekend to allow their first team a week off in the build up to us. Now that they've effed up they can't afford to that because Montpellier have a game in hand and can go ahead of them! I can't see us putting out a full team against Connacht for example

[riocard911]

I think it will be advantageous to us though. I would have imagined their plan would have been to win comfortably at the weekend to allow their first team a week off in the build up to us. Now that they've effed up they can't afford to that because Montpellier have a game in hand and can go ahead of them! I can't see us putting out a full team against Connacht for example

I would assume the same thing. Makes our victory in Swansea even more significant!

[wixfjord]

I think it will be advantageous to us though. I would have imagined their plan would have been to win comfortably at the weekend to allow their first team a week off in the build up to us. Now that they've effed up they can't afford to that because Montpellier have a game in hand and can go ahead of them! I can't see us putting out a full team against Connacht for example

They'd a complete second string side out at the weekend, so I'd say the plan was probably always to play the first string against Grenoble. We seemed to take the tactic of playing half and half against Ospreys/Connacht, so interesting to see which approach pays off.

[wixfjord]

Toeava gone for the rest of the season like Nakitaci.

Clermont's options are decreasing all the time. Will likely be
Spedding, Abendanon, Rougerie, Lamerat, Strettle, Lopez, Parra if they all come through Grenoble.

Lots of smarts and experience there, but certainly doesn't have the same look to it as previous Clermont backlines.

[Ruckedtobits]

Based on the season to date, it's very unlikely that Rougerie along with a couple of the forwards, can get through two high paced games in succession.

Grenoble will certainly try and move them around the pitch and in that regard it's a good dress rehearsal for them. But the bigger picture is that they've lost four of last five Top14 games and only won three games in total (Bayonne, Pau & Toulon in QF) since the end of January. Castres, Montpellier, Racing92 and now Brive have all stood up to their pack in the first half of their games and reaped the reward.

At this point, this is not looking like a typical Clermont season of accelerated through 6N period and in full stride for Barrage and European end games.

[riocard911]

Based on the season to date, it's very unlikely that Rougerie along with a couple of the forwards, can get through two high paced games in succession.

Grenoble will certainly try and move them around the pitch and in that regard it's a good dress rehearsal for them. But the bigger picture is that they've lost four of last five Top14 games and only won three games in total (Bayonne, Pau & Toulon in QF) since the end of January. Castres, Montpellier, Racing92 and now Brive have all stood up to their pack in the first half of their games and reaped the reward.

At this point, this is not looking like a typical Clermont season of accelerated through 6N period and in full stride for Barrage and European end games.

Which kind of explains, why RO'G was predicting a Leinster win in Lyon on the "The Hard Yards" podcast last week.

[curates_egg]

Toeava gone for the rest of the season like Nakitaci.

Clermont's options are decreasing all the time. Will likely be
Spedding, Abendanon, Rougerie, Lamerat, Strettle, Lopez, Parra if they all come through Grenoble.

Lots of smarts and experience there, but certainly doesn't have the same look to it as previous Clermont backlines.

You think? I don't think it is that much worse than the backline we played 5 years ago.
Clearly with Toeava, Nakitaci and Fofana, it would be much stronger...but still.

2012 2017
15. Byrne Spedding - Byrne only sparkled sporadically for Clermont. Spedding has also been sporadically good but generally effective. Abendanon has consistently delivered.
14. Sivivatu Strettle - no contest in terms of ability but Sivivatu was also a sporadic performer
13. Rougerie Rougerie - 2017 Rougerie is definitely a shadow of his 2012 iteration
12. Fofana Lamerat - two totally different players: I'd have Fofana over Lamerat but Lamerat is very effective
11. Nalaga Abendanon - Nalaga was very powerful but Abendanon is definitely a better and more effective player for Clermont
10. James Lopez - Lopez can be flakey but I'd have him over Brock James any day
9. Parra Parra - I'd have 2012 Parra but 2017 Parra is still pretty handy

[curates_egg]

FYI - before everyone gets totally ahead of themselves, Clermont (for whatever reason) played a very clearly 'B' side against Brive - they started no player that started against Toulon.
That makes me a little concerned they are targeting Europe.

[wixfjord]

Toeava gone for the rest of the season like Nakitaci.

Clermont's options are decreasing all the time. Will likely be
Spedding, Abendanon, Rougerie, Lamerat, Strettle, Lopez, Parra if they all come through Grenoble.

Lots of smarts and experience there, but certainly doesn't have the same look to it as previous Clermont backlines.

You think? I don't think it is that much worse than the backline we played 5 years ago.
Clearly with Toeava, Nakitaci and Fofana, it would be much stronger...but still.

2012 2017
15. Byrne Spedding - Byrne only sparkled sporadically for Clermont. Spedding has also been sporadically good but generally effective. Abendanon has consistently delivered.
14. Sivivatu Strettle - no contest in terms of ability but Sivivatu was also a sporadic performer
13. Rougerie Rougerie - 2017 Rougerie is definitely a shadow of his 2012 iteration
12. Fofana Lamerat - two totally different players: I'd have Fofana over Lamerat but Lamerat is very effective
11. Nalaga Abendanon - Nalaga was very powerful but Abendanon is definitely a better and more effective player for Clermont
10. James Lopez - Lopez can be flakey but I'd have him over Brock James any day
9. Parra Parra - I'd have 2012 Parra but 2017 Parra is still pretty handy

There's much less explosive potential in the current iteration. Strettle, Lamerat and Abendanon might be good players, but they're more limited, structured and far less likely to run over fellas or spark counter attacks than Nalaga/Sivi, Fofana. James might've been flaky, but he was brilliant for that side at keeping momentum going. Very underrated due to high profile flakiness imo.

They also had the likes of King, Malzieu, Buttin, to come on. This time around it'll be guys like Rado, Benson Stanley and Plante.

Rougerie is a big opportunity for us to attack imo. I hope Sexton/Ringrose will be combining for a few wrap arounds and we get speedy forwards like Leavy/VDF/Cronin running at him in wide channels.

[Dave Cahill]

Naps Nalaga was genuinely frightening - over 100 tries in something like 160 apps for ASM - thats a scary strike rate before you even look at all the tries he created through the havoc he caused

[wixfjord]

Naps Nalaga was genuinely frightening - over 100 tries in something like 160 apps for ASM - thats a scary strike rate before you even look at all the tries he created through the havoc he caused

Aye frightening is a word I'd use to describe that Clermont backline, less so the one we'll be facing this time around. It's full of class, but less of the X Factor that Nalaga, Sivi and Fofana in particular bring.

The difference in Fofana and a 32 year old Rougerie to Lamerat and a 36 year old Rougerie alone will slow things down a bit, as will the loss of Nakitaci.

[Lar]

That's my take also - the absence of Fofana, Toeava and Nakataici may not be felt so hugely in the starting backline but it absolutely limits any bench impact Clermont may have and whilst I have not checked I presume Rougerie must struggle to stay on the pitch for 80 minutes these days.

[dropkick]

Anyone know how I can watch this on my phone as I will be in Germany on the day of the match, I will be up the mountains all day so can't watch it in a bar, Thanks


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Try DAZN. It's a new Netflix style sports site which shows rugby. Not sure if champions cup rugby is on it but they've all the major leagues like the pro 12.

[curates_egg]

They also had the likes of King, Malzieu, Buttin, to come on. This time around it'll be guys like Rado, Benson Stanley and Plante.

They also have Grosso, who is a Malzieu clone. We've played him a few times when he was with Castres. Big and powerful on his day but not much else. He will probably bench for them and could even start ahead of Strettle.

There is no doubt we have some fortune that they are missing 3 key players but I wouldn't be complacent about their backline.
Lopez has had them clicking more often than not over the past two seasons. I'm not buying into the James revisionism. I know they loved him in Clermont but I thought he held them back.

[hugonaut]

Naps Nalaga was genuinely frightening - over 100 tries in something like 160 apps for ASM - thats a scary strike rate before you even look at all the tries he created through the havoc he caused

He averaged 15 tries a season in his seven full seasons in Clermont. He was [and still is] an absolute monster.

[curates_egg]

Naps Nalaga was genuinely frightening - over 100 tries in something like 160 apps for ASM - thats a scary strike rate before you even look at all the tries he created through the havoc he caused

Yeah. Maybe I am wrong about him. I guess we managed to keep him contained when we played him, so that coloured my view (I think he only played for them the year we had them in our group and not in the 2010 or 2012 knock-out games)...but those stats are pretty impressive.
Didn't Malzieu score a hatrick against us in 2010? He was a one trick pony as well but it was a good trick for a couple of seasons.

[wixfjord]

They also had the likes of King, Malzieu, Buttin, to come on. This time around it'll be guys like Rado, Benson Stanley and Plante.

They also have Grosso, who is a Malzieu clone.

Malzieu has 20 caps for France, Grosso has 1. He also has double the number of career tries that Grosso has.

We should know all about him too: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wiXwbH38oUY

We've played him a few times when he was with Castres. Big and powerful on his day but not much else. He will probably bench for them and could even start ahead of Strettle.

Eh that doesn't really support your thinking that this Clermont backline is similar to the 2012 version! It's objectively worse.

[Tiny206]

Grosso can't play in Ccup with Clemont, he played for Castres early in the season.