Latest
Overview
Season so far
Tournament record
Wing Ian Whitten is confident his Exeter Chiefs side will be more than a match for French giants ASM Clermont Auvergne who are being seen as one of the favourites to lift the Heineken Cup. - 19/10/2012 09:30
Wing Ian Whitten is confident his Exeter Chiefs side will be more than a match for French giants ASM Clermont Auvergne who are being seen as one of the favourites to lift the Heineken Cup.
The Chiefs suffered a narrow 9-6 defeat to the European champions Leinster Rugby in Dublin in their first Heineken Cup game last weekend, while Clermont were demolishing Welsh region the Scarlets 49-16.
Clermont has one of the biggest squads in the competition which is packed full of internationals, like French stars Morgan Parra, Aurelien Rougerie, Julien Bonnaire, Julien Malzieu, Wesley Fofana and David Skrela, Welshman Lee Byrne, Scotland's Nathan Hines and former New Zealand All Blacks winger Sitiveni Sivivatu.
But for a Chiefs side, who are in their first Heineken Cup season and pushed the reigning champions, Leinster, all the way in Dublin, last season's semi-finalists holds no fears.
“Clermont are a fantastic team but, if we play like we did against Leinster on Saturday, we don't need to fear anybody,” said Whitten.
“Hopefully we can continue playing that kind of rugby and, with our home support as well, that might be enough to see us over the line against them.
“It is a very exciting fixture for us and, if we can get four points, we won't have made a bad start to the competition, after having got a bonus point last Saturday.”
It was Whitten's 10th Heineken Cup appearance, having played in the competition before for Ulster, while for most of his Exeter team-mates it was a first taste of the showpiece tournament.
And, 11 of Exeter's starting line-up against Leinster were promoted from the Championship with the Chiefs in 2010.
Match Facts
Exeter were the first team to prevent Leinster from reaching double figures in the Heineken Cup for 26 matches. The province last scored less than 10 in a 12-9 defeat to London Irish in October 2009
The Chiefs have lost their last two European matches.
Exeter have won their last five European fixtures at Sandy Park.
Clermont have lost just one of their last five Heineken Cup encounters: 15-19 to Leinster in last season’s semi-final.
Clermont’s only loss in their last five clashes with English opponents was 19-23 at Leicester on 17 December 2011.
Grosse performance des Auvergnats qui reviennent d'Exeter avec un bonus offensif (49-12) avec six essais inscrits. Ils sont en tête de la poule avant de défier par deux fois le champion d'Europe du Leinster. - 20/10/2012 21:25
ASM Clermont Auvergne turned on the style in the second half to secure a bonus-point victory over Exeter Chiefs at Sandy Park.
Last seasons’ beaten semi-finalists prepared for December’s mouth watering back-to-back clashes with Heineken Cup holders Leinster with a 46-12 success against the tournament newcomers.
Clermont clocked six tries for the second week running as they opened up a two-point lead at the top of Pool 5 thanks to Heineken Man of the Match Julien Bonnaire andSitiveni Sivivatu and a brace apiece from Wesley Fofana and Napolioni Nalaga.
Only one of those scores arrived in the first half, however, as Exeter opened up a 12-10 lead at the break.
The Chiefs were unlucky to lose 9-6 to Leinster at the RDS in Round 1 and they set about showing that performance was far from a fluke with a fine first-half display.
Four Gareth Steenson penalties cancelled out Nalaga’s 17th-minute score to see Exeter 12-7 in front after 25 minutes but only Clermont troubled the scoreboard from there on in.
Morgan Parra’s first successful penalty four minutes before the end of the half cut the gap to two points with Exeter’s Richard Baxter in the bin and the visitors’ extensive European experience and their power up front and class out wide saw them stun the home support in the final 40.
Parra had Clermont in front shortly after the interval before tries from Fofana and Bonnaire in the space of three minutes established a 13-point gap at 25-12 with just shy of half an hour remaining.
Exeter’s defensive line stayed solid for the next 20 minutes but Sivivatu crossed for the bonus-point score with nine minutes left, before Fofana touched down two minutes later and Nalaga completed the rout with the final play.
LIVE - TEST - Commentary