Heineken Cup – Toulouse stroll on; Last-gasp agony for Clermont and  Stade Francais

14 December 2008

An afternoon and evening of high drama in the Heineken Cup saw Toulouse and Montauban both register wins, while Clermont, Biarritz and Stade Francais all fell to narrow defeats – the latter with the final kick of another absorbing match.

The Paris club appeared set to avenge last week’s home defeat against Harlequins in Pool 4 when they led the Londoners 17-16 deep into time added on, only for Kiwi fly half Nick Evans to make two breaks in a 29-phase play before slotting a scuffed drop-goal to send The Stoop into wild celebration.

It was harsh on the Stade Francais players, who had given their all in the rain and mud, and now leaves the capital’s giants with a mighty struggle to qualify for the quarter-final stages.

It was another backs-to-the-wall performance from Harlequins and spoke volumes of their depths of belief and resilience, especially after a dominant Stade Francais had opened an 11-3 advantage after just 10 minutes.

Evans and Stade scrum-half Falie Oelschig exchanged early penalties, before the latter went over for the opening try when he fully capitalised on Will Skinner’s missed tackle from the back of a five metre scrum.

The South African missed the conversion but added a second penalty just minutes later as the hosts struggled to contain their aggrieved visitors.

Evans, who had an absolutely magnificent match, cut the deficit to five points when he landed a 20^th-minute penalty and Harlequins then found themselves ahead on the half hour when Jordan Turner-Hall raced through to score under the posts. It was a notable double for the young centre, having also scored at the Stade de France last week.

Evans duly converted to make it 13-11 to the Guinness Premiership side, but there was still time for Oelschig to land one more penalty before the break as the match continued its see-saw nature.

Evans landed his third penalty of the afternoon to hand the initiative back to Quins seven minutes after the restart and scoring chances became less frequent as the conditions worsened.

The score stayed 16-14 in the home side’s favour until seven minutes from the end when Juan-Martin Hernandez slotted a potentially match-winning drop-goal as he made up for an earlier penalty miss.

But just when it seemed that revenge would be achieved Harlequins capitalised on a wasteful Sergio Parisse kick and somehow strung together 29 phases before Evans’ dramatic finale.

Three-times champions Toulouse had no such alarms as they overcame Newport Gwent Dragons 26-13 to continue their inexorable march towards the knock-out stages.

Winger Maxime Medard set them on their way with a fourth-minute try and not even the early loss of fly-half David Skrela could disrupt the French side’s rhythm. Mind you, it helps when you have a player of Freddie Michalak’s class to bring on as a replacement.

The latter kicked a brace of penalties and a 31^st-minute drop goal to open up a 16-0 advantage, but the home side rallied through a Rhys Thomas try shortly before the interval to give the vociferous Rodney Parade crowd something to cheer.

But any hopes of a sustained Welsh revival were brushed aside soon after the restart, with Cedric Heymans going over in the 44^th minute and Medard grabbing his second score 12 minutes later.

The result leaves Toulouse sitting pretty in Pool 5 with four wins from four, setting up their away clash at Bath (who play on Sunday) as the group decider.

Top 14’s other Heineken winners came from a more unlikely source, with Montauban overturning Pool 1 leaders Sale 16-12 at the Stade Sapiac.

Fijian wing Vilimoni Delasau was the Montauban hero, scoring the game’s only try after 30 minutes as the home side opened up a 10-3 lead.

Sale fly-half Charlie Hodgson landed two first-half penalties to reduce the arrears to four points at the break, and the former England No 10 added a further brace early in the second half as the lead was pared to just one.

But Montauban kept their nerves in check and retained their composure admirably, finally sealing a memorable win when Petra Mitu kicked a 78^th minute penalty to secure to their maiden home victory in the competition.

Clermont Auvergne were less fortunate in the other Pool 1 clash, going down 23-13 away to Munster as two late tries by the home side put a distorted slant on the scoreline.

Indeed, the valiant visitors came within four minutes of stunning the champions for the second week in succession, a feat made all the more heroic as they played with a man down for an hour after Jamie Cudmore was senselessly sent off for punching home captain Paul O’Connell.

O’Connell was yellow-carded for his retaliation but the loss eventually took its toll on brave Clermont as Marcus Horan and Niall Ronan both went over for late tries as the visitors wilted in the dying minutes.

And just to complete the champions’ day Ronan O’Gara – who had a mixed afternoon with the boot – slotted the final conversion to become the first player to rack up an incredible 1,000 points in the Heineken Cup, much to the delight of another sell-out crowd at Thomond Park.

It was a case of close but no cigar for ‘Les Jaunards’ who didn’t even get a bonus point for their heroic efforts.

Cudmore’s sending off eventually cost them dearly, but initially it had galvanised them into action as they rallied from an 11-3 half-time deficit to lead 13-11 with just four minutes remaining thanks to Julien Malzieu’s try and eight points from the boot of Brock James.

But just when it seemed the improbable might occur Munster dug deep to score twice in quick succession, leaving Clermont to rue their needless numerical disadvantage.

Biarritz were the other Top 14 side in action, but their miserable recent run continued as they stumbled to a 10-6 home defeat by Cardiff in Pool 6.

They certainly couldn’t be faulted for their effort, but for all their second half dominance the French side couldn’t turn possession into points and slipped worryingly to their sixth successive defeat.

Elsewhere, Bourgoin and Mont-de-Marsan both fell to away defeats in the European Challenge Cup – to Worcester and Viadana respectively – but evidence of Jake White’s influence was clear as Top 14 strugglers Toulon thumped Montpellier 30-9.

Second-half tries from Sisa Koyamaibole, Jerry Collins and Steve Kefu sealed the win, with Ramiro Pez kicking all three conversions and a hat-trick of penalties to give Toulon their most impressive victory of the season.
 

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