Latest
Overview
Season so far
Tournament record
Ulster will hope Ireland captain Rory Best can take the confidence from his country's successful autumn campaign into their vital European Rugby Champions Cup clash with ASM Clermont Auvergne. - 08/12/2016 11:52
Ulster will hope Ireland captain Rory Best can take the confidence from his country’s successful autumn campaign into their vital European Rugby Champions Cup clash with ASM Clermont Auvergne.
Best led his country to historic wins over New Zealand and Australia in November, but returns to the Ulster side for this weekend’s meeting with the French giants.
The hooker is joined by fly-half Paddy Jackson in returning to action for the Irish outfit but although they’re on home turf, it’s Clermont who will be firm favourites. The French giants will be looking to maintain their status as Pool 5 table toppers, with Ulster boss Les Kiss admitting the TOP 14 leaders are a side everyone else in Europe fears.
Clermont, so impressive this season, have won both of their European games so far this term to boot, and Kiss said: “You look at them and you can't help but be impressed by what they can offer. You admire them but it puts the fear of God in you really.
“I'm not telling anyone anything new here. We've had a reality check when we looked at the video this week. They are a team that can attack you from anywhere.”
Clermont certainly have plenty of attacking weapons in their locker.
Chief among them is France centre Wesley Fofana, with the gifted playmaker showing his undoubted quality in Europe so far. Fofana tops the Champions Cup statistics in terms of defenders beaten (15) and is second on the list of clean breaks (seven), emphasising his danger to Ulster.
Kiss and his players will know full well they’ll have to keep a firm eye on the likes of Fofana and half-backs Morgan Parra and Camille Lopez if they are to have any chance of success, while David Strettle and Nick Abendanon both have great try scoring records in Europe.
Despite boasting a large number of internationals in their ranks, Clermont are wary of the threat Ulster can pose too. The return of Best and Jackson makes them an even stronger proposition, but Andrew Trimble, Craig Gilroy and Stuart Olding are all out injured.
On Ulster’s main dangers, Clermont’s French full-back Scott Spedding said: “It’s a team that has many Irish internationals, especially in the backs, who also have a lot of experience in the European Cup. We know this first game is going to be very important for them.
“They will want to put a lot of pressure on us, especially with their half-back partnership of Ruaan Pienaar and Jackson who kick a lot.”
On the challenge of playing at the Kingspan Stadium, Spedding added: “I've never played in this stadium before, but I've heard about it. The atmosphere is quite hostile.
“It’s up to us to play well in so Ulster can’t gain confidence because otherwise we risk having a very long afternoon.”
Ulster delivered a five-star performance to down Pool 5 front-runners ASM Clermont Auvergne 39-32 at the Kingspan Stadium. - 10/12/2016 14:52
Ulster delivered a five-star performance to down Pool 5 front-runners ASM Clermont Auvergne 39-32 at the Kingspan Stadium.
First-half scores from Luke Marshall, Iain Henderson and Paddy Jackson gave the hosts a slender advantage. Marshall completed his brace for the bonus-point score before Charles Piutau looked to have sealed the victory in a European Rugby Champions Cup thriller.
But Clermont, who stayed in it thanks to scores from Peceli Yato and Scott Spedding, earned two match points of their own when Nick Abendanon and Damien Chouly crashed over late on. The TOP14 heavyweights are now three points ahead of Ulster in the race for the quarter-finals.
The vocal Kingspan Stadium support were left stunned after just 69 seconds when the Pool 5 front-runners showed all of their Champions Cup credentials.
The kickoff was reclaimed by Clermont before Camille Lopez and Abendanon combined to send the visitors down deep into Ulster territory. Yato then picked up from close range to burrow over the try line, and Morgan Parra added the extras for an early 7-0 lead.
But Ulster were not going toile down and were soon level. Sean Reidy carried hard into the heart of the Clermont defence before Marshall ran a devastating angle to cut through on a short ball from Paddy Jackson to score. The Ulster fly-half levelled the scores with the conversion, before Parra nudged his side ahead again with a penalty.
The crowd did not have to wait long for another try in this Pool 5 thriller. Piutau broke clear downfield but could not find a scoring pass, but the breakthrough soon followed. With a penalty advantage, Ruan Pienaar delivered a perfectly weighted cross-kick to an airborne Tommy Bowe, before the Ireland wing offloaded to Henderson to score.
Jackson and Parra traded penalties to make it 15-13 before it was Clermont’s turn to showcase their deadly attacking skills. Lopez drew a pair of defenders before Yato drove towards the try line. Parra then picked up and found Lamerat, who used his quick hands to send Spedding over at the corner.
But the game swung back Ulster’s way once again when Jackson nudged a clever grubber kick through with his left foot before collecting a right-footed poke ahead to score. He added the conversion to send Ulster in 22-18 at the break.
And it was not long until they secured the four-try bonus-point through Marshall. Stuart McCloskey made some hards years in midfield before his centre partner crashed over. Piutau then gift-wrapped the result when he took the ball in midfield, beat Spedding and Remi Lamerat to dot down at the corner. Jackson was on-target with the touchline conversion and Ulster were causing at 36-18.
Abendanon raced over to give Clermont a glimmer of hope, before Chouly crashed over from close range to earn a try-scoring bonus-point and another point for getting within seven points.
LIVE - TEST - Commentary