Heineken Cup: Clermont's
seven tries prove in vain as Munster sweep into the last
eight
16 January
2009
|
Pool 1 |
|
Clermont 43 |
Montauban 10 |
|
Munster 37 |
Sale 14 |
|
Pool 2 |
|
Edinburgh 32 |
Castres 14 |
Clermont’s seven-try demolition of Montauban was in vain on
Friday night as defending champions Munster swept aside Sale
Sharks to become the first team to book their quarter-final
berth.
Clermont
knew they had to get a bonus-point victory to have any
chance of progress from Pool 1, but they were also hoping
that Sale could do them a favour by upsetting the odds with
a win in Ireland.
But
Friday’s results mean Clermont could only qualify as one of
the two best runners-up from the six groups, a virtual
impossibility now given that the maximum points they can
attain – with another bonus-point win in their final match
away to Sale – would be 18.
Ultimately, it was October’s disappointing 24-16 home defeat
by the Manchester club which cost them realistic hopes of
qualification, and ended their Heineken Cup dreams for
another season.
A
first-minute try by French international Julien Malzieu set
the tone for Clermont at the Parcs des Sports Marcel
Michelin, and the home side surged further ahead when Loic
Jacquet rounded off a flowing move for try number two after
12 minutes.
Scrum-half Pierre Mignoni added a third shortly before
half-time and the bonus point was secured when flanker
Alexandre Audebert scored 10 minutes after the restart.
Montauban’s under-strength team simply had no answer to
Clermont’s attacking verve and there were further tries in
the last 20 minutes for Mignoni, replacement prop Thomas
Domingo and John Senio.
Montauban did manage a late score when Yohan Della Riva went
over for an individual score in the final minute, but the
match – like Clermont’s hopes – had become irrelevant by
then.
Meanwhile, over in Ireland, Munster captain Paul
O’Connell led his team to a six-try rampage against Sale in
front of another sell out crowd at Thomond Park.
Sale,
who went into the match with the best defence in the
Guinness Premiership, were simply bulldozed aside by a sea
of red as the defending champions put in their most
impressive performance of the campaign so far.
O’Connell triggered the onslaught with his fifth-minute try
and Jerry Flannery followed up soon after as the Irish made
their intentions clear.
Penalties from Charlie Hodgson and Luke McAlister reduced
the arrears (although the former was also wayward with a
couple of attempts) but a 12-6 half-time advantage was soon
extended by the home side when David Wallace burst through
for their third try minutes after the restart.
Substitute scrum-half Dwayne Peel briefly offered Sale (and
Clermont) a glimmer of hope when his quickly taken penalty
set up Hodgson for a try – narrowing the points gap back to
five – but Munster’s response was emphatic with Ian Dowling,
Tomas O’Leary and Paul Warwick all going over in the final
quarter.
Sale
captain Juan Martin Fernandez Lobbe summed up the match
afterwards when he said: “We had a really, really bad game
and they had a great game.”
The
result means Munster have now qualified for their 11th
successive quarter-final.
The
evening’s other round five match saw Castres crash to
a 32-14 away to Edinburgh.
The
French side, who have only registered one victory in Pool 2,
were well placed for an upset after first-half tries from
hooker Romain Terrain and Iosefa Tekori gave them a 14-10
interval advantage. But the Scots regrouped during the break
and eventually ran away with it thanks to scores from Ben
Cairns, Phil Godman, Ross Ford and Andy Kelly.
Over in
the European Challenge Cup it was another night of
mixed success for French sides.
Top 14
strugglers Toulon went down 37-19 at home to Bristol
in Pool 2 – their 15th defeat in their last 18
matches – but Dax did finally manage their first
European win with a narrow 22-20 victory against Italian
side Rovigo in Pool 1.
Fly-half
Maxime Petitjean was the home side’s hero as he kicked 17 of
their points, with the remainder coming courtesy of a
penalty try.
The other French sides in
action came face-to-face at the Stade Jean Dauger where
Bayonne overcame Mont-de-Marsan 33-19 thanks to
tries from Filimoni Bolovucu, Vincent Inigo and Louis
Massabeau. Scrum-half Cedric Garcia chipped in with four
penalties and a brace of conversions, while Philip van
Schalkwyk grabbed the visitors’ only try.
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